2026 Basie Awards: See Which Theatre Productions Are Under Consideration

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — The Count Basie Center for the Arts has revealed this year’s slate of student productions under consideration for the 2026 Basie Awards.

Each year, the Basie Awards program invites all Monmouth County high schools to submit their musical and drama productions for awards consideration.

Adjudicators are then sent to each presentation to assess scores in categories ranging from acting, directing and choreography, to technical categories such as set and costume design and lighting, officials said.

For 2026, a total of 57 high school productions will vie for nominations at this year’s ceremony, which is set to take place on May 19th at the Basie Center’s Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre.

Nominations will be made public on April 27, with tickets going on sale on Friday, May 1, at 10 a.m.

“When it’s all said and done, our evaluators will attend nearly sixty high school productions,” said Anthony Greco, the Count Basie Center’s Senior Manager of Arts Education and Outreach and director of this year’s Basie Awards.

“It’s an incredible task, but it’s one that consistently demonstrates to us that Monmouth County is unique in its support and enthusiasm for high school theatrical programs,” Greco continued. “The Basie Awards are one of our favorite nights of the year, and as we celebrate the Basie Center’s centennial, we’ll celebrate not only our nominees, but the history and future of theatre itself.”

The productions being evaluated for this year’s Basie Awards include:

• Allentown High School: Bright Star (Spring)
• Biotechnology High School: Freaky Friday (Spring)
• Christian Brothers Academy: Our Town (Fall), Grease (Spring)
• Collier School: This Murder Was Staged (Fall)
• Colts Neck High School: Play On! (Fall), A Chorus Line (Spring)
• Communications High School: Love, Esme (Fall)
• Freehold High School: Curse of the Cobra’s Kiss (Fall), Footloose (Spring)
• Freehold Township High School: CLUE (Fall), The Little Mermaid (Spring)
• Henry Hudson Regional School: Be More Chill (Fall)
• High Technology High School: This Murder was Staged (Fall), Little Shop of Horrors (Spring)
• Holmdel High School: Puffs (Fall), Cinderella (Spring)
• Howell High School: Blithe Spirit (Fall), Twelfth Night (Fall), Chicago (Spring)
• Keansburg High School: Dracula (Fall), Ride the Cyclone (Spring)
• Keyport High School: RENT (Spring)
• Long Branch High School: The Addams Family (Spring)
• Manalapan High School: The Matchmaker (Fall), The Addams Family (Spring)
• Manasquan High School: An Exceptional Childhood Center (Fall), Little Women (Spring)
• Matawan Regional High School: Blithe Spirit (Fall), Leap of Faith (Spring)
• Middletown High School North: The Diary of Anne Frank (Fall), Once Upon a Mattress (Spring)
• Middletown High School South: Iphigenia in Tauris (Fall), Guys and Dolls (Spring)
• Monmouth Regional High School: CLUE (Fall), Seussical! (Spring)
• Neptune High School: Songs for a New World (Fall), Chicago (Spring)
• Ocean Township High School: Rumors (Fall), Once Upon a One More Time (Spring)
• Ranney School: Little Women (Fall), Anything Goes (Spring)
• Raritan High School: CLUE (Fall), The Wizard of Oz (Spring)
• Red Bank Catholic High School: Peter and the Starcatcher (Fall), Grease (Spring)
• Red Bank Regional High School: Little Women (Fall), Legally Blonde (Spring)
• Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School: Frozen Jr. (Fall), Evil Dead the Musical (Spring)
• St. John Vianney High School: Christmas One-Act Festival (Fall), Godspell (Spring)
• St. Rose High School: CLUE (Fall), Mary Poppins (Spring)
• Trinity Hall: The Book of Will (Fall), Come from Away (Spring)
• Wall High School: Eurydice (Fall), Into the Woods (Spring)

Following Basie Center tradition, an annual Lifetime Achievement Award will also be awarded to a figure central to the preservation and celebration of arts in the community.

This year’s recipient, as well as this year’s official nominees, will be announced on April 27.

To learn more about the 2026 Basie Awards, you can click here.