Rita Moreno Awards
San Jose, CA
2026 Ceremony Date: May 18, 2026
The Rita Moreno Awards recognizes outstanding achievement in high school musical theater in California from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County.
This progam is also known as The Rita Moreno California High School Musical Honors and was formerly known as the Bay Area High School Musical Theatre Stage Top Honor Awards.
Nominees
2025
Nico Bennett
Nick Bottom, Something Rotten!
Burlingame High School
Levana Geshuri
Alice, Alice By Heart
Archbishop Mitty High School
2024
Mitchell Henderson
Cornelius, Hello, Dolly!
Buchanan High School
Venice Ella Mayor
Phoebe D'Ysquith, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Bellarmine College Preparatory
2023
Kavan Bhatia
Seymour, Little Shop of Horrors
Bellarmine College Preparatory
Gabbie Jison
Matilda, Matilda
Mercy High School Burlingame
2022
Isabella Paragas
Katherine, Freaky Friday
Franklin High School
Carl Robinett
Frederick, Young Frankenstein
Novato High School
2021
Kasey Hernandez
Novato High School
Milo Mee
Archbishop Mitty High School
2019
Luciano Castaldo
Gomez Addams, The Addams Family
Inspire School of Arts & Sciences
Lauryn Thomas
Paulette, Legally Blonde the Musical
Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts
2018
Veronica Ballejos
Millie Dillmount, Thoroughly Modern Millie
Cosumnes Oaks High School
Cole Sisser
Igor, Young Frankenstein
Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts
2017
Natalie Bourgeois
Jo March, Little Women
Saint Francis High School
Eric Gaydon
Curly, Oklahoma!
Valley Christian High School
2016
Frank Demma
Alfred P. Doolittle, My Fair Lady
Novato High School/Marin School of the Arts
Samantha Gorjanc
Jo March, Little Women
Archbishop Mitty High School
2015
Perry Anne Borders
Frau Blücher, Young Frankenstein
Marin School of the Arts
Sam O'Byrne
Frederick, Young Frankenstein
Novato High School
2014
Abby McLachlan
Baker's Wife, Into the Woods
Valley Christian School
Tyler Reynolds
Baker, Into the Woods
Valley Christian School
2013
Rodd Farhadi
Bobby Strong, Urinetown
Los Gatos High School
Myha'la Herrold
Olive Ostrovsky, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Archbishop Mitty High School
2012
Hanna Kristen Berggren
Princess Winnifred, Once Upon a Mattress
Menlo-Atherton High School
Nicholas Spain Wetherbee
Sky Masterson, Guys and Dolls
San Mateo High School
2011
Trevor Bates
Man in Chair, The Drowsy Chaperone
Archbishop Mitty High School
Maya Maniar
Hope Cladwell, Urinetown
Castilleja School
2010
Katherine Dela Cruz
Aida, Aida
Irvington High School
Matthew Hill
Freddy Benson, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Archbishop Mitty High School