A recent Charlotte Northwest School of the Arts graduate won a Jimmy award, the top national award for high school musicals. Renee Rapp won Best Performance by an Actress for her role as Sandra in the school’s production of “Big Fish.”
Rapp graduated this month and went to the national competition after winning Best Actress at Charlotte’s Blumey Awards. She was among 40 high school actresses competing for the national prize. They went through a nine-day training course leading up to performances at Monday’s awards ceremony.
Rapp said she felt called to the role of Sandra and that a lot of hard work went into the school’s performance.
“It was an unreal experience," Rapp said. "The show is so beautiful. It highlights the importance of your family and I’m so close to my family and it was so meaningful to do ‘Big Fish’ and to do it my senior year with all my friends."
Rapp also sings R&B and pop. She’s sticking around New York this week to record some of her own songs. She plans to study musical theater at Texas State this fall.
Rapp is actually the Charlotte region’s second national Jimmy Awards winner. Amina Faye won in 2016. Northwest School of the Arts alum Eva Noblezada was a finalist in 2013 and was a Tony award nominee last year for her role in “Miss Saigon.”
