On April 25th, the 18th annual Basie Awards nominations were announced, first at a private ceremony and then publically at 6:00 pm. Modeled after the Tony Awards, the Basies considers all high schools in Monmouth County for their fall plays, comedic and dramatic, and spring musicals. Each production is assessed on a rubric based on acting and directing to set and costume design, choreography, lighting, and orchestra. The Basie Awards occurred May 24th at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. 

Colts Neck High School was honored enough to receive 7 nominations for the fall play Don’t Tell Mother and the spring musical Grease. Nominations and nominees for each show are listed as follows:

Don’t Tell Mother:

Outstanding Female Featured Performance in a Comedy

Ria Karam 

Outstanding Male Featured Performance in a Comedy

Joshua Ricatti 

Outstanding Female Lead Performance in a Comedy

Anastasiya Vasilenko

Outstanding Company in a Comedy

Alex Risi, Carly Cavanaugh, Anastasiya Vasilenko, Aidan Gardner, Jessica Terlato, Reese Figueiredo, Saverio Renda, Joshua Ricatti, Iyun Franklyn-Ayeni, Ria Karam

Grease:

Outstanding Female Featured Performance in a Musical

Juliana Magarelli

Outstanding Male Supporting Performance in a Musical

Saverio Renda

Outstanding All-Student Orchestra

Emma Fretz 

Congratulations to all the students nominated for this prestigious award ceremony and who attended the Basies! Also, congratulations to Joshua Ricatti, who took home a Basie for his performance in Don’t Tell Mother!