While the 18th annual Freddy Awards per se will not be presented, an April 9 press release statement from Shelley Brown, President and CEO, State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, seems to raise the curtain on some possibilities.

“With Governor Wolf’s school-closure announcement today [April 9], it has become impossible for us to present our annual live television special in its usual form,” Brown, Executive Producer, Freddy Awards, stated in the press release, adding, “We are working with our production partner, WFMZ, right now to determine what is possible this year.”

That would seem to indicate the possibility of some kind of telecast.

The 2020 Freddy Awards ceremony was to be held 7-10 p.m. May 21 in the State Theatre and telecast live on WFMZ and wfmz.com

When contacted, Jamie Balliet, Senior Vice President, Marketing, State Theatre Center for the Arts and Producer, Freddy Awards, stated in an April 10 email to The Press, “The Producers are working on a telecast for May 21.”

Brown in her press release statement seemed to forecast that: “We are doing everything we can in this difficult environment to capture the Freddy spirit in a creative way.

“The Freddy program is more than the television special, and the good news is that the program’s scholarship and grant program is still in place.

“We thank the colleges and scholarship grantors for their dedication to the students.

“We encourage students to go to our Freddy website for application information,” Brown stated.

The link is:

http://freddyawards.org/scholarships-award

Said Brown in her statement, “The Freddy program is a celebration of all of the participating high schools, and we know how disappointed the musical-theater community is. Our hearts break especially for the seniors that have been waiting for this year’s show.”

The 2020 Freddy Awards had 29 participating schools. The adjudication of the musicals was to have begun in late February.

It was Friday the 13th in March when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered public schools and charter schools closed March 16-27, which he extended “indefinitely” in a March 30 order and then April 9 announced an order closing schools through the 2019-20 school year, which typically extends into the first week and part of the second week in June. Also, on March 25, Wolf issued a “stay-at-home” order for Lehigh and Northampton counties residents.

In the circulation area of Lehigh Valley Press, it’s believed that only Moravian Academy and Northwestern Lehigh High School were able to present their shows.

Moravian Academy was to present “State Fair,” Feb. 28, 29 and March 1. Northwestern was to present “All Shook Up,” Feb. 27, 29 and 29 and March 1.

After the governor’s order, Salisbury High School was one of the first schools in the Freddys Awards contest to postpone its production, that of “Into the Woods,” March 12, 13, 14 and 15.

The hope was, among student actors and directors, that the shows could still be presented at a later date before the end of the school year. Those hopes are now dashed.

The Lehigh Valley Press Focus section published its annual High School Musicals series, Feb. 19 through April 19, on the road to the 18th annual Freddys with profiles and photos about 19 productions of schools in the Lehigh Valley Press circulation area.

Not only judges were on the road to the Freddys. Students and parents were, too.

Parents and students don’t only see the musical at the high school in their home district. Increasingly, folks spread out across the Lehigh Valley region to attend as many as four and sometimes more high school musicals.

The Freddys recognizes and rewards accomplishments in the production and performance of musical theater in high schools in Lehigh and Northampton counties, and Warren County, N.J. The Freddys are named after J. Fred Osterstock, whose birthdate is May 21.

Tickets to the State Theatre awards ceremony are first made available to participating schools. If tickets remain, they were to go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. May 18.

This year, there again was to be an opportunity to see a portion of the Freddys before the annual ceremony.

The “2020 Freddy Preview Night” was to have been held 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m. May 20 at the State Theatre. The dress rehearsal was to include performances of opening and closing numbers, lead actor and actress medleys, and overall musical nominees.

A preview party, 4:30 p.m.-8 p.m. May 20, in the Easton Hospital Gallery and Annex at the State Theatre, was to offer a buffet and beverages and a silent auction. Preview party tickets included open seating on the mezzanine level for the dress rehearsal. Tickets were to have gone on sale in March.

The Freddy Awards telecast received regional Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2011; five Emmy nominations; six Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Awards, including the 2008 Award for Outstanding Television Program Designed for Children, and six Associated Press Awards for Public Affairs.

The 2008 Freddy program was the subject of a feature-length film documentary, “Most Valuable Players,” by Canyon Back Films, Los Angeles. The film, released in 2010, is part of Oprah Winfrey Network’s (OWN) documentary film club and is available on DVD and streaming on Netflix.

Since 2003, more than $1.5 million in college scholarships, paid internships and community awards has been awarded to Freddy Awards participating students.

For a list of the Freddy Awards 29 participating high schools and musicals, and information: www.freddyawards.org