The Bobby G Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in Colorado high-school musical theatre. The sixth annual awards take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24, at the Buell Theatre. (Reserve your seat here)

Today we continue our rollout of the five students who are finalists for Outstanding Lead Actor. The winner will advance to represent Colorado at The Jimmy® Awards/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards™ (NHSMTA).

JEREMIAH GARCIA

Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde
Pomona High School
Class of 2018

• Twitter bio: Sagittarius and a tenor. Loves reality TV and long walks on the beach. Pretty loud but infectious laugh and a Vine obsession. Takes things one bag of hot Cheetos at a time. Have Fun, Be Young and Drink Pepsi.
• College plans: I will be studying Musical Theatre in New York at Marymount Manhattan College in the fall
• What’s your handle? @liljaymiah on Instagram and Twitter
• First role: I played The Cheese in our Kindergarten musical, It’s The Cheese If You Please
• Why do you perform? To recognize peoples’ stories and struggles through my interpretation. Performing allows me to capture someone else’s story given my own experience in life. Overall, I enjoy exploring the many fascinating fathoms humanity has to offer.
• One time you saw greatness play out in front of you: It was 2013, in middle school, I had the opportunity to see the matinee of Pomona’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I was absolutely blown away and couldn’t wait to be on that stage myself. I went home that night and memorized all the music to the show so I could go back for the evening performance and sing along. It was a turning point for me that I will never forget.
• Ideal scene partner: I am constantly in awe of Eva Noblezada, who played Kim in the 2017 Broadway revival of Miss Saigon. I’d love to share the stage with a powerhouse like her. I might just have the tiniest crush. No biggie.
  

• What’s playing on your Spotify right now? Childish Gambino, of course. I’d also recommend Post Malone’s new album if you’re feeling a little down. But you can never go wrong with the classics: Whitney Houston, Prince, Celine Dion, Diana Ross.
• Favorite moment from your show: Without a doubt, it was the dog auditions. It was heaven. I may be allergic but that didn’t stop any of the belly rubs. And boy, did I give lots of belly rubs.
• How does it feel to be nominated? It is so humbling. I’ve stalked the nominees on social media since freshman year and dreamed of what this moment might be like. It’s been a dream come true to stand in the shoes of the talented young people before me. When I told my mom about it, we cried.

Reserve your seat for the May 24 Bobby G Awards

• What has this experience taught you about the value of arts education and extracurricular activities at your school? The experience of an arts education in a child’s life is irreplaceable. I’ve been blessed with a surplus of accessibility to arts education in my school and community, and that has helped me to be successful both academically and artistically. Arts education gave me the academic balance I needed and brought so much color to my world. I couldn’t be more grateful to the many exceptional theatre educators I’ve had the pleasure to work with in these short 18 years. We have to continue to fight for these opportunities to be provided to every student moving forward. Our future depends on it.

Our featured nominated actors and actresses to date:

• Coco Justino, Denver School of the Arts
• Anton Karabushin, Eaglecrest High School, Aurora
• Abby Lehrer, Castle View High School, Castle Rock
• Travis Turner,  Fossil Ridge High School, Fort Collins
• Will Warner, Lakewood High School

Selected recent coverage of the Bobby G Awards:

• 2018 Bobby G Award finalists are announced
• 2017 Bobby G Awards: Persistence pays off at Valor Christian
• Video: The 2017 Bobby Awards welcoming montage
• Videos: Complete coverage of the 2017 Bobby G Awards
• 2017 Bobby G Award finalists are announced
• Mamma Mia‘s Cashelle Butler returns to Cherry Creek High School
• Authentic voices: 2017 student playwriting winners announced

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter