Slovak nominated for a ‘Tony of Monmouth County’

Annie Ruoff

Many call the Basie Awards “The Tonys of Monmouth County,” and as shown by its attendance, this year’s was no exception. The sold-out 11th Annual Basie Awards took place at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank on May 18, and hundreds of high school performers, directors, friends and family gathered to celebrate the arts and arts education.
Twenty-six schools were represented in the selection of nominees. Among them was sophomore Jonathan Slovak of Spring Lake Heights. Slovak was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for his role as Juror 8 in Drama Club’s fall production of “Twelve.”
Despite not winning, Slovak still spoke fondly of his first Basie experience.
“I had a really good time at the Basie’s. The performances were very impressive, and I had a great time watching them,” Slovak said.
The night consisted of awards, scholarships and several performances. All nominees for Outstanding Musical performed a song or medley from their show, and the nominees for Best Lead Actor and Actress in a Musical performed their solos in the form of a medley.
Freshman Summer Ward of Oceanport performed at the Basie’s with Shore Regional High School’s “The Music Man.”
“Everyone was so much more into it than I expected,” Ward said. “It was so loud and everyone was so excited to be there.”
According to the Count Basie website, a team of professional Basie’s judges come to the shows throughout the year to review them and rate both the individual performances and overall production. Then, the judges select the best of the best to be nominated for a variety of categories such as Outstanding Set Design, Choreography and Supporting Actor, just to name a few.
The best overall awards are Outstanding Production-Drama and Outstanding Production-Musical. This year, the highest drama award went to Red Bank Regional’s Amadeus, while Best Musical went to Howell High School’s production of “Catch Me If You Can”.
The awards show may not have a red carpet, $10,000 dresses or exclusive coverage from E! News, but the real reason people call the Basie Awards the Tonys of Monmouth County is the passion and excitement that the students, faculty and directors all share for the theatre and for the arts.