Nominated lead Emiko Dunn as accompanied by the nominated pitt orchestra performing the song “The Prince is Giving a Ball,” which they will perform on the night of the Metros. (Play photos courtesy 4 Sons Photography)

Every year, the Metropolitan High School Theater Awards (aka Metros) are held at Purchase Performing arts center to highlight outstanding theater departments at the high school level. Over seventy schools from the counties of Putnam, Westchester, Bergen, and Rockland submit their shows for adjudication in different categories including, acting, choreography, pit orchestra, set building, lighting, and more.

Last year, Brewster’s production of Once On This Island, received eight nominations and won three awards: for Ariana Arocho’s performance as Ti Moune, Ava Fernandez’s performance as young Ti Moune, and the biggest award of the night, “Overall Production of a Musical.” With nominations being announced on May 18th, Brewster’s 2026 production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella proved to also be very successful, receiving nine nominations in total.

For their phenomenal performance of difficult music, the pit was nominated for “Performance by a Student Orchestra” and Nico Mennella on the drums was nominated for “Student Pit Musician.” For their work on the large and detailed set pieces used in the show, Tony Kimble and Alexis Orwick were nominated for “Achievement in Scenic Design.” Ava DiBenedetto was nominated for “Achievement in Technical Production” for her elaborately-detailed handmade masks used in the masquerade ball. Jacob Caraballo was nominated for “Outstanding Performance in a Featured Male-Identified Role” for his performance as Sebastian, the prince’s chancellor. This year’s production featured fantastic dance numbers including “The Waltz,” “The Pursuit,” and “The Prince is Giving a Ball,” which led to our choreographer Michelle Aravena being nominated for “Achievement in Choreography.”

For his hard work as director, Richie Grasso was nominated for “Achievement by a Director.” The absolutely amazing, leading lady Emiko Dunn was nominated for “Outstanding Performance in a Leading Female-Identified Role,” demonstrating an amazing overall performance in the vocal, dramatic, and dance categories. And the entire cast, crew, and pit orchestra received the nomination for “Overall Production of a Musical,” showing that the hard work put into this production really paid off.

Congrats to those nominated. We can’t wait to see the results on June 15th!