The 15th annual Henry Mancini Musical Theatre Awards, honoring high school musicals in Beaver, Lawrence and Butler counties, were announced Wednesday evening at a festive showcase at Geneva College in Beaver Falls. College president Ken Smith welcomed a packed and appreciative audience to Metheny Fieldhouse, then turned the emcee duties over to a suitably informal and enthusiastic Ian Rosenberger.

All 14 high schools entered in the competition staged excerpts from their spring musicals, while guest presenters announced multiple awards in each of 13 categories.

The Mancini awards are named after the Grammy award-winning composer and Aliquippa native. The most notable guest this year was his grandson, Luca Mancini, a west coast singer, composer, writer and producer.

[A fuller account of the evening's festivities, which filled three hours with song, dance and cheers, will appear here and in the West zoned edition next Thursday.]

This year's Mancini judges were Cindy Cherico, Gene Karmazyn, Jim Neutrelle, Bob Simoni and Lynn Stewart.

The 2009 Mancini Awards

(All the nominees for each award are listed, with the multiple winners printed in boldface type.)

Male in a lead role: Ian Taylor, "Beauty and the Beast," Beaver County Christian School; Braden Pontoli, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," Beaver Area High School; Alex Munroe, "Jesus Christ Superstar," Center Area High School; Christian Beck, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Freedom Area High School; Derek Wilber, "Grease," Riverside High School; Bradley Chieze, "Oklahoma,!" Shenango High School.

Female in a lead role: Madelyn Tomko, "Starmites," Ambridge Area High School; Kristen Lancaster, "How to Succeed in Business," Beaver Area; Bekah Knab, "Beauty and the Beast," Beaver County Christian; Emily Oravitz, "Little Women," Big Beaver Falls High School; Hanna Beightley, "The Wizard of Oz," Rochester Area High School; Hillary Hopkins, "The Music Man," Western Beaver High School.

Male in a supporting role: Ashton Williams, "Ain't Misbehavin'," Aliquippa High School; Jake Nardone, "How to Succeed in Business," Beaver Area; George Milosh, "Jesus Christ Superstar," Center Area; Steven McFee, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Freedom Area; Mike Ludwig, "Back to the 80's,"cq musical's style on 80's New Brighton Area High School; Christian Guerdan, "Grease," Quigley Catholic High School.

Female in a supporting role: Mary Regney, "How to Succeed in Business," Beaver Area; Sara Deppenbrook, "Little Women," Big Beaver Falls; Nicole DiPitetro, "The Pajama Game," Hopewell Area High School; Bethany Menjivar, "Starmites," Ambridge Area; Jenna Jurich, "Back to the 80's," New Brighton Area; Veronica Umstott, "Grease," Riverside; Elicia Cutchall, "Oklahoma!," Shenango.

Other performance by an individual: Matt Torres, Andrew McCullogh, "Jesus Christ Superstar," Center Area; Nick Grieco, David Mine, Jon Krouse, "Beauty and the Beast," Beaver County Christian; Jordan Cinderich, Nathan Novak, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Freedom Area; Hannah Oliver, Casey Shee, Angela Vallecorsa, "Little Women," Big Beaver Falls; Daniel Woodruff, "Back to the 80's," New Brighton Area; Cara Koshut, John Michael Taormina, Katie Dore, Kevin Lukes, Alexandra D'Errico, "Grease," Riverside; Cody Park, "Oklahoma!," Shenango.

Performance by a group: Fiona Smith, Kate Carson, Anna Neely, Caylie Barr, "Beauty and the Beast," Beaver County Christian; Caleb Jantsch, Jon Krouse, Zac Stanley, "Beauty and the Beast," Beaver County Christian; Michael Kiliany and Jed Lee, also Maria Coladonato, Cady Goss and Erica Durham, also Jenna Dascanio, Lindsey Osborne, Shawnna Roknick and Mallory McLaughlin, all in "Jesus Christ Superstar," Center Area; Becca Fleming, Jordan Kusich and Kaitlyn Schaub, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Freedom Area; Nicole DiPitetro, Amy Kerlin and Angela Bakopoulos, "The Pajama Game," Hopewell; Ashton Williams, Sharneka Carter, Katie Pettis, Ryan Johnson, "Ain't Misbehavin'," Aliquippa.

Student orchestra: Beaver Area High School, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; Big Beaver Falls Area High School, "Little Women"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Rochester, "The Wizard of Oz."

Vocal ensemble: Beaver Area, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; Beaver County Christian, "Beauty and the Beast"; Big Beaver Falls, "Little Women"; Center Area, "Jesus Christ Superstar"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Quigley, "Grease."

Dance performance: Aliquippa, "Ain't Misbehavin' "; Ambridge Area, "Starmites"; Center Area, "Jesus Christ Superstar"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; New Brighton Area, "Back to the 80's"; Western Beaver, "The Music Man."

Costumes: Beaver Area, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; Beaver County Christian, "Beauty and the Beast"; Big Beaver Falls Area, "Little Women"; Ambridge Area, "Starmites"; Center Area, "Jesus Christ Superstar"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Sets: Ambridge Area, "Starmites"; Beaver County Christian, "Beauty and the Beast"; Big Beaver Falls, "Little Women"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Shenango, "Oklahoma!"; Western Beaver, "The Music Man."

Technical achievement: Ambridge Area, "Starmites"; Big Beaver Falls, "Little Women"; Center Area, "Jesus Christ Superstar"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Hopewell High School, "The Pajama Game"; Shenango, "Oklahoma!"

Overall production: Beaver Area, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"; Beaver County Christian, "Beauty and the Beast"; Big Beaver Falls, "Little Women"; Center Area, "Jesus Christ Superstar"; Freedom Area, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"; Shenango, "Oklahoma!"