Every year O-pa selects two outstanding students from our Nebraska Theater Academy program to represent the state’s musical theater talent on the national stage. This year Carter Pflug (Westside High School) and Kolaya Wilmer (Fremont High School) were Nebraska’s official nominees for the Broadway League Foundation’s Jimmy Awards®!
They traveled to New York City for a week of coaching and mentorship with Broadway artists and industry professionals. After days of rehearsals, guidance, and collaboration, the students made their Broadway debut on the Minskoff Theatre stage on June 22 as they performed at the Jimmy Awards. Carter earned a Rising Star Award for his impressive growth during the program! Here’s what they have to say about the transformative experience and how the Nebraska Theater Academy paved the way.
1. When and how did you discover your passion for theater?
Kolaya: I discovered my passion for theater at a very young age. I was 6 years old when I started participating in productions at the private school I attended. I was very lucky to have a teacher who noticed my interest in singing and asked me to step in and play the lead role in our school musical because our lead was sick. I learned all of the lines in one day and had my first experience making the audience laugh. That moment confirmed for me that this is my passion and something I want to be a part of forever.
2. What is your favorite thing about performing?
Kolaya: My favorite thing about performing is its power to change lives. Acting allows you to step into a new life on stage; you can portray someone of a different age than you, or even a tragic character that can bring the audience to tears. Performing is so freeing and offers so many possibilities to become extraordinary.
3. How did you find out about the Nebraska Theater Academy?
Carter: I found out my freshman year when I came to the Nebraska Theater Academy Showcase to see my school’s production of Shrek which won Outstanding Production. There were some seniors I wanted to see who were auditioning to be finalists, but they unfortunately didn’t get in.
Kolaya: I found out about the Nebraska Theater Academy when I was in eighth grade. I was friends with a group of high schoolers who were a part of the showcase ensemble, and it was the absolute most inspiring thing to me at that age. It became a goal of mine to be a part of anything I could there. Then, in my sophomore year, our school received an Outstanding Production award, and I was able to perform on the Orpheum stage. It changed my life, and from that very moment, I began working extremely hard towards all of my goals.
4. How did you feel when you found out you had been selected as a national nominee?
Carter: I was so excited and a tiny bit overwhelmed, but I knew I was ready to take on the challenge and went into it full steam ahead.
Kolaya: I felt extremely overjoyed and emotional upon finding out I was selected as a national nominee. This is something I have been working toward for years, and to hear my name called on that stage instantly brought me to tears.
5. What was it like going to New York City and performing at the Jimmy Awards?
Carter: I was really grateful and just over the top excited and didn’t know how to process it in the moment. I just kind of wanted to soak it in at that moment. I was ecstatic and smiling and didn’t know what to do when I walked across the stage.
Kolaya: Performing at the Jimmy Awards was a life-changing experience for me. Making my Broadway debut at 18 years old is an incredible gift and blessing that has enriched my life. It felt like the most rewarding experience ever to be able to step on that stage and give it my all alongside all of the wonderful nominees.
6. What’s the most important thing you learned in NYC?
Carter: I learned how much work it takes to give a good performance, like Joshua Henry said, “You can’t deliver an uncooked performance.”
Kolaya: I learned to trust in my abilities and how to ground myself before a performance to relieve any anxiety or worry about messing up on stage. Every coach that I worked with had such amazing advice to help me through any of my worries about performance. We also worked with a fitness instructor who incorporated breathing techniques and confidence-boosting exercises into each of our mornings. This was extremely helpful to me.
7. What are your plans and/or hopes for the future?
Carter: My hopes for the future are to study Musical Theater at Pace University and hopefully book a national touring production, a Broadway show, or something else in the performing arts.
Kolaya: I plan to continue performing on stage as it is my life passion and something that I will never stop doing. I would love to be able to be in a Broadway musical someday, and I hope to inspire others to lead their lives with kindness and love. Being a Jimmy Awards nominee helped me further know that performing is something that I want to do for the rest of my life.
