Local Schools Shine in Jester Awards as Salina Central, Southeast of Saline and Sacred Heart Are Honored

Salina Central High School’s production of Into the Woods has earned 14 nominations for the 2026 Jester Awards, including Outstanding Production. The official nominations released by Music Theatre Wichita also include Barbara Hilt for Direction of a Show, Madison Berndt for Leading Performer for her role as the Baker’s Wife, and Mac Sheforgen for Supporting Performer for Cinderella’s Prince.

Additional nominations for Salina Central include Ensemble/Chorus, Production Number for “No More,” Orchestra Direction for Lindsay Modin, Vocal Music Direction for Ryan Holmquist, Artistic Guest for Maggie Spicer-Brown, Technical Achievement and Costume Design for Addilyn Jagodzinske, Scenic Design for Alyxandria Aldrich, Sound Design for Dominic Brosi and Guillermo Rodriguez, and Program Design for Sarah Day and Barbara Hilt.

A four-minute performance from Into the Woods will be part of the 24th Annual Jester Awards on Sunday, May 3, at Century II Performing Arts Center’s Convention Hall in Wichita. Music Theatre Wichita lists the 2026 ceremony for 3 p.m. and says the event includes nominee announcements, live performances, and scholarship presentations.

The Jester Awards are Music Theatre Wichita’s statewide high school musical theatre awards program. MTWichita says this year’s event celebrates work from 51 schools across Kansas. The organization describes the program as a way to bring recognition to casts, crews, directors, designers, and other students and faculty involved in school productions.

The program has grown well beyond Wichita over the years. In a 2025 press release, Music Theatre Wichita said the Jester Awards had expanded across Kansas and that 65 trained volunteer judges evaluated 152 performances from 49 productions involving more than 3,000 students. Which is a fairly serious operation for something people still casually call “school theater,” as if that magically makes it small.

The 2026 Jester Awards nominations also included recognition for other area schools beyond Salina Central. Along with Central’s nominations for Into the Woods, the official list shows Southeast of Saline High School receiving a Cameo Performer nomination for Beckett Murray as Vince Fontaine in Grease: School Edition, while Sacred Heart High School earned a Pre-High School Performer nomination for Fortunato Carrazco as Ugly in Honk!.