Coal City Theatre Department’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is nominated for two Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards—Best Production and Best Performer in an Actor Role.
The awards serve to recognize and celebrate high school students involved in musical theatre productions, highlighting their talent and dedication to the craft.
Nominated in the best actor category is senior Mason Natyshok for his portrayal of Beadle Bamford. Mason is one of 12 nominees in the actor category.
Mason had this to say about his nomination, “It’s really wild! I worked really hard at my role, but it’s not very often that someone gets nominated for a role with as little stage time as mine. I think it’s really a testament that you don’t need stage time to make an impression, just passion and an idea of what you want to do with the character.”
The musical theater awards presented by Broadway in Chicago recognized excellence in high school theatre throughout the state of Illinois. Each year 24 performers—12 actors and 12 actresses—are selected to participate in the program with two students moving on to the National High School Musical Theatre Awards known as the Jimmy Awards®.
The 24 performers were selected from over 315 students from 85 participating schools. Each has been invited and will participate in the awards program in Chicago. The ceremony will feature a student group number and Broadway workshop supported by cast members from the current Chicago production of Titaniqūe. Each of the nominees will perform for a panel of judges made up of industry professionals to adjudicate and select the top six finalists—three actors and three actresses. The top two will then advance to The Jimmy Awards® being held this June in New York City.
As he heads into the awards program, Mason said, “I hope to find further enjoyment out of theatre! I always love meeting people who do theatre who don’t come from my environment, so I’m very excited to meet my fellow nominees and create friendships with them. I’m hoping the awards just illustrate to the world why it is I perform and who I do it for.”
Mason’s list of stage credits go back to intermediate school and include school and community productions. He has been a part of three high school premiere productions with the Coal City Theatre Department—Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: High School Edition, Hadestown: Teen Edition, and Alice by Heart. He has also been in his school’s productions of Mary Poppins, Anastasia, Holes, Phantom of the Opera, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, and Frozen, Jr. to name a few. He appeared in Small Town Theatrics productions of Grease and Newsies, and he has been a part of two Illinois Theatre Festival All-State Productions—Shrek, The Musical in 2023 and The Prom earlier this year.
The son of Nick and Andrea Natyshok, Mason recently committed to Illinois State University’s School of Theatre and Dance where he will be double majoring in musical theatre and dance.
As he looks to pursue a career in performance, one might ask Mason what theatre means to him. To that he said, “I don’t really know how to describe it! It’s freedom, it’s joy, and it’s adrenaline. A lot of people do it for a challenge or to fuel their own ego. I really just think that theatre makes me a better person. I’ve yet to exit a process not feeling a little different, a little improved. The characters I’ve played help me understand myself better and fully realize myself. Theatre is the ultimate therapy and it really just helps me grow! Not to mention it’s fun.”
Since entering the awards program in 2014, Coal City students have earned 14 IHSMTA Best Actor or Actress nominations. Previous nominees were Jackie McCollough, Tyler Rogers, Gavin Williams, Sophia Jakubowski, Riley Nevin, Aiden Kostbade, Chloe Peacock, Collin Dames, Izzy Kostbade, and two time nominees Derek Carlson and Stephen Byers, Jr. In 2021, Riley Nevin was named among the three best actors for his performance as Shakespeare in Something Rotten. Three of those nominees, like Mason, have decided to pursue acting as a career—Nevin, Carlson, and Byers.
Overall, the Coal City Theatre Department has earned 27 IHSMTA nominations—the second highest since IHSMTA began in 2012. Coal City has earned nominations in the categories of Best Performance by an Actor or Actress, Best Scenic Design, Best Direction and Best Production. The program received two wins in Best Scenic Design based on sets designed and completed by Celeste Sheridan, and Coal City theater director Jack Micetich was awarded Best Direction in 2023 for his work on Anastasia.
This year’s Best Production nomination is the fourth consecutive for the program and highlights the overall production as one of the five best in the state. Micetich shared, “This is no easy feat. Art is subjective, which is why I always tell the students that we can’t focus on accolades, but rather create the most high caliber productions we can for our audiences. If we can continue to do that, we’ve already won.”
Sweeney Todd was led by Mason Hamilton and Melody Kinder, in the respective roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett. The cast also featured Theo Fritz, Olivia Sage, Brody D’Orazio, Mason Natyshok, Logan Hausman, Madison Wilson and Martin Ramirez. Along with Maxx Kramer, Julian Micetich, Alec Waliczek, Eliana Chernesky, Bella Byers, Aubrey Grunwald, Austin Harding, Leo Mcants, Jordan Olson, Anthony Royster, Gianna Savarino, Sam Vota, Evelyn Wills, Cora Armstrong, Bella Bartholomew, Ethan Donnelly, Wyatt Chase, Caroline Childers, Gavin Clubb, Kyah Hawkins, Isabella Palacios, Anastasia Papach, Kyle Odam, Jack Steinhouse, Gabby Vanduyne, Charlotte Banks, Gianna Carver, Lexi Dearth, Jolene Jones, Victorya Morales, and Brady Pierson.
Contributing to the production were crew members: Cade Poyner, Hunter Gill, Abby Kodat, Gavin Berger, Mason Garner, Cooper Morris, Talen Vandewerken, Gavin Vestal, Ben Watson, Bridget Feeney, Gabriel Hamilton, Jimmy Norris and Tyler Phillips.
The 14th Annual Broadway in Chicago IHSMTA Awards—sponsored by NBC 5— will be presented at the Broadway Playhouse on Monday, May 12.