The Shuler Awards are organized by the Georgia High School Theater Awards to celebrate the brilliant high school musical theater programs across the state. These awards were made to commemorate the Tony Award winner and Georgia native, Shuler Hensley. As such, he hosts the awards show with a red carpet and television broadcast through PBS to honor the winners and nominees with a party and a moment on the big screen. The North Atlanta Band was nominated for the Best Orchestra amongst four other schools for their performance in the spring musical, Mean Girls. On April 19th, 2024, band teacher Adam Brooks took home the prize of the Shuler Award for the North Atlanta Band and its prestigious hard-working musicians.
Part of the flair of the Spring Musical’s performance is the live music done by the North Atlanta Band. In order for a school to be nominated for the award, they must submit an application for judges to come to one of the shows, view the performance, and compare it to the other schools. Depending on their review and the school’s performance, they will be nominated as one of five schools. A group of judges came on Mean Girls’s opening night and Brooks believed that the performance was outstanding enough to be nominated but not quite perfect enough to win. “The performance was electrifying,” he said. “I knew that the kids were playing very well for sure.”
This is not North Atlanta’s first Shuler nomination but it is their first win. The Pit Orchestra was also nominated for their live music in the performance of the Footloose soundtrack before the shutdown from COVID-19. They were finally about to reclaim their lost glory at the awards show. The Shuler Awards hosts an Oscar-like award show at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre with a red carpet and live performances. Brooks was unable to attend this year and had the director of arts attend in his place. However, since it was a televised event, he was watching the show when his name appeared live on-screen. It was a surreal moment that surpassed his own expectations and grew his pride in the North Atlanta Band and their abilities. “It was the first award of the night and I’m glad that I was able to tune in on time,” Brooks said.
This award was an honorable accomplishment, not just because of Brooks’ leadership but also because of the band’s students’ musical excellence and skill. The combined effort between both groups was what put on a beautiful performance to showcase the North Atlanta theater department. This prestigious award will be another award to add to the books for the North Atlanta Band, with hopefully more to come in the future.
