MIDLAND — The Henry Mancini Awards return May 18, celebrating outstanding student achievement in high school musical theater in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

The awards ceremony takes place at the Lincoln Park performing Arts Center.

The keynote speaker will be Pittsburgh-born actor Joe Serafini, best known for his role as Seb on the Disney+ hit, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.” A graduate of Bethel Park High School, Serafini most recently returned home with his
holiday show, “Christmas Live! with Joe Serafini & Friends” at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and starred as Jack in Pittsburgh CLO’s “Into the Woods.”

Held at Lincoln Park since 2014, the Mancini Awards recognize individual artistry and honor the dedication and professionalism of students and educators and their schools’ commitment to performing arts education.

Seventeen schools joining this year are Ambridge Area High School, Beaver Area High School, Beaver Falls High School, Central Valley High School, Freedom Area High School, Freeport High School, Hopewell Area High School, Knoch High School, Laurel High School, Mars Area High School, New Castle High School, North Catholic High School, Riverside High School, Rochester High School, Slippery Rock High School,
and Western Beaver Jr./Sr. High School.

The 2025 nominees list:

Best Musical (Budget 1) Beaver Falls, “Tuck Everlasting”; Freeport Area, “Les Miserables”; North Catholic, “The Addams Family.”
Best Musical (Budget 2) Hopewell, “Anastasia”; Riverside, “Mame”; Slippery Rock, “Shrek the Musical.”
Best Musical (Budget 3) Knoch High, “Catch Me If You Can”; Mars Area, “Peter Pan”;
New Castle, “Something Rotten.”

 

Best Actor: Kash Stevenson, Beaver Falls High; Ethan Burkhammer, Central Valley; Troy Palochak, Hopewell High; Harrisyn Schlipp, Knoch High; Aidan Krepin, Mars;
Anderson Franco, Slippery Rock High.

Best Actress: LeReyne Wukawitz, Central Valley; Bella McKivigan, Freeport Area; Katelyn Biskup, Hopewell; Abby Brown, North Catholic; Morgan Myers, Riverside;
Madison Beckman, Western Beaver.

Best Supporting Actor: Rudy Young, Beaver; Stephen Boyd, Beaver; Joseph Barnes, Central Valley; Mario Lesko, Freeport; Jacob Franks, Freeport; Grant Kingston, Slippery Rock.

Best Supporting Actress Faith Aguirre, Ambridge; Italia Cercone, Central Valley; Anna Kruse, Freeport; Remmy Kovac, Knoch; Kelley Karavias, Laurel High; Jenna Smith, Mars.

Best Choreography (Budget 1) Beaver Falls, Freeport, Moniteau.
Best Choreography (Budget 2) Hopewell, Riverside, Slippery Rock.
Best Choreography (Budget 3) Central Valley, Knoch, Mars.

Best Costume Design (Budget 1) Beaver Falls, Freeport, North Catholic.
Best Costume Design (Budget 2) Hopewell, Riverside, Slippery Rock.
Best Costume Design (Budget 3) Laurel, Mars, New Castle.

Best Crew/ Technical: (Budget 1) North Catholic, Rochester, Western Beaver.
Best Crew/ Technical (Budget 2) Hopewell, Riverside, Slippery Rock.
Best Crew/ Technical (Budget 3) Mars, Laurel, Knoch.

Best Ensemble Budget 1 Beaver Falls, Freeport, Moniteau.
Best Ensemble Budget 2 Hopewell, Riverside, Slippery Rock.
Best Ensemble Budget 3 Central Valley, Knoch, Mars.

Best Lighting Design Budget 1 Beaver Falls, Freeport, Western Beaver.
Best Lighting Design Budget 2 Ambridge, Hopewell, Riverside.
Best Lighting Design Budget 3 Knoch, Mars, New Castle.

Best Scenic Design Budget 1 Beaver Falls, Rochester, Western Beaver.
Best Scenic Design Budget 2 Ambridge, Hopewell, Riverside.
Best Scenic Design Budget 3 Knoch, Mars, New Castle.
Best Student Orchestra Beaver, Freeport, Knoch, Mars.

CLO Academy Scholarship Winner TBD
CLO Academy Scholarship Winner TBD
RMU Scholarship Winner TBD
Special Judge Award: Rochester Area High School
Outstanding Student Artist: Kelsey Miller, Knoch.

 

Under the sponsorship of the Pittsburgh CLO, this year’s Mancini Awards are part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmy Awards). The Mancini winners for Best Actor and Best Actress will join the winners from the CLO’s Gene Kelly Awards as well as winners from across the nation in New York City for a nine-day experience including private coaching, master classes, and rehearsals with theatre professionals. Their journey concludes with a production on
stage at Broadway’s Minskoff Theater, home of Disney’s  ‘The Lion King, ‘ with a panel of industry experts selecting
exceptional students for The Jimmy for Best Performance by an Actress and Actor. Jimmy nominees receive opportunities

The Mancini Awards ceremony will be held at Lincoln Park at 7 p.m. May 18, and will feature performances by the schools nominated for Best Musical, students nominated for individual awards, and two representatives
from each participating school in the show stopping finale number.

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: PennDOT, PSP, PTC, Construction Industry Highlight National Work Zone Awareness Week)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Darlington Township, PA) On Monday morning, a semi-truck that had garbage from a demolition turned over in Beaver County. This occurred on Cannelton Road on the intersection of that road and Constitution Boulevard. According to officials, the truck was carrying debris from a demolition in Aliquippa. The driver of the truck suffered a shoulder injury and traffic did not get any impacts since the crash happened.  

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Moon Township, PA) On Monday, a conditional permit was requested by Revival Today Church of Moon Township so they can return to their outside services. The church did not have these services last year because of noise complaints. The planning commission of Moon Township has to give a recommendation for the church before the outside services begin again. Moon Township’s Board of Supervisors also need to make a final decision on the services of the church before they resume.

(Photo of Robert Love Courtesy of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Aliquippa, PA) The City of Aliquippa Police Department issued information on Facebook today that eighty-one-year-old Robert Love has been missing since Monday at around 2:45 p.m. Sylvia Love, who is the wife of Robert, told Giordano he went to park their vehicle after dropping her off at home and never came home. The vehicle that Love owns is a 2016 Chevrolet Impala in a gold color with the license plate number of PA MM 00218. Love is a bald man who is six feet tall and 190 pounds and is possibly wearing a cap, along with wearing black sweatpants and a shirt that is lime green. A be on the look out report also has been issued for the search for Love, and if you find him, either call 911 or 724-378-8000.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – In this Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, file photo, a woman pumps gas at a convenience store in Pittsburgh. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday, March 15, 2020, that gas prices could continue to fall as demand shrinks amid the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices are four cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at about $3.59 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The report states that at this time a year ago, gas prices in Western Pennsylvania were about $3.85. The report also notes that the average price that you can expect for a gallon of unleaded gas here in Beaver County is $3.67. According to AAA East Central’s gas price report, here are the average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various Pennsylvania areas:

$3.453      Altoona
$3.670      Beaver
$3.599      Bradford
$3.514      Brookville
$3.671      Butler
$3.481      Clarion
$3.479      DuBois
$3.533      Erie
$3.572      Greensburg
$3.624      Indiana
$3.578      Jeannette
$3.636      Kittanning
$3.574      Latrobe
$3.680      Meadville
$3.637      Mercer
$3.501      New Castle
$3.540      New Kensington
$3.699      Oil City
$3.606      Pittsburgh
$3.472      Sharon
$3.656      Uniontown
$3.697      Warren
$3.624      Washington

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A man was arrested after being accused of stealing multiple cars in Pittsburgh. According to Pittsburgh Police, twenty-one-year-old Richard Raspanti has been arrested on several warrants for vehicle theft. Detectives confirm that seven Hyundai or Kia vehicles were taken by Raspanti in a span of eight months beginning in September. Raspanti has committed this crime before because he was arrested in April for stealing eight vehicles in Oakland in the span of two days.

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) An evidentiary hearing in the trial of Sheldon Jeter Jr. was recently ruled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Jeter is guilty of murdering Tyric Pugh in Aliquippa in 2020 but was not charged in the murder of Rachel Deltondo in 2018. The attorneys of Jeter investigated whether a juror did something suspicious or had undisclosed bias, but a judge refused a hearing. The appeal lawyers of Jeter were given favor from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Dauphin County, PA) According to Dauphin County officials, the 911 dispatcher who took the call from the suspected firebomber of the residence of Governor Josh Shapiro did not escalate the call. Chief Clerk Eric Hagarty confirmed that the dispatcher did not follow county policy by not escalating the call. This occurred within an hour of the suspect, Cody Balmer, setting the residence on fire. Hagarty also wrote an email on Friday that the mistake will be addressed and that it is very serious. 

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: A view of the scene Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday, March 6, 2023 that Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, file)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(East Palestine, OH) The East Palestine City School District is planning to file a federal lawsuit against Norfolk Southern on Wednesday for broken promises after the 2023 East Palestine train derailment. According to a complaint, emergency response costs were not reimbursed and a $30 million plan was ignored to rebuild athletic facilities in the district and invest in a community wellness center. A request for a comment was made to Norfolk Southern, but they did not respond immediately. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – University of Pennsylvania signage is seen in Philadelphia, May 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated laws guaranteeing women equal opportunities in athletics by letting a transgender swimmer compete on the school’s women’s team and into team facilities.

The administration’s statement does not name Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022 and was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title that year — an award Thomas now faces losing.

But the investigation opened in February by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights focused on Thomas, who became a leading symbol of transgender athletes and a prominent political target of Republicans and President Donald Trump.

The department said Penn violated a law barring sex discrimination in schools and colleges, called Title IX, by “denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

Penn had no immediate comment Monday, but Penn has said in the past that it always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams, both when Thomas swam and currently.

The department said Penn has 10 days to voluntarily resolve the violations or risk prosecution.

The department wants Penn to issue a statement saying that it will comply with Title IX; effectively strip Thomas of any awards or records in Division I swimming competitions; and apologize to each female swimmer “whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the university for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.”

The Trump administration in March suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for Penn over its decision to let Thomas compete, the White House has said. The Ivy League school’s federal money came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2022, the NCAA used a sport-by-sport approach to allowing transgender athletes to participate, deferring to an individual sport’s national governing organization, international federation or prior established International Olympic Committee criteria.

Thomas competed under those guidelines, which allowed female transgender swimmers who had completed one year of hormone replacement therapy to compete.

The NCAA changed its policy the day after Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 that was intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports. That ended its sport-by-sport practice in favor of a blanket policy that only allows athletes assigned female at birth to participate in women’s sports.

The Education Department also opened reviews of San Jose State University volleyball, Denver Public Schools, Portland Public Schools, Oregon School Activities Association and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

It also sued the state of Maine to force it to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports or face prosecution.