After Casa Grande High School theater students were selected to participate in the Sara Bareilles Awards in San Francisco on Sunday, one student will be flown to New York City for the prestigious National High School Musical Theatre Awards this summer.

Samara Castro, the lead in the east side high school’s production of “Carrie: The Musical,” won in the Outstanding Lead Actress category. 

“I feel incredible,” she told Petaluma Voice the day after her win. “I was so excited. I put New York in my calendar just in case. I made no plans that week … so it feels awesome that my dreams are coming true.” The work isn’t over yet, though, as she prepares for the finals in June.

Justin-Siena High School in Napa won for Overall Cast Performance at the regional awards.

Castro said she and her classmates practiced for months, at least five days a week, leading up to the musical’s opening in late March.

The Orpheum show “was a really nice way for the whole cast to come together one last time and to do our show again for a super big audience,” she said.

While at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, the cast members had individual backstage dressing rooms and participated in workshops with theater professionals. They met students from other high schools as well as Sara Bareilles, a two-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Tony Award nominee for whom the awards are named, Castro said.

The production was a collaboration between the Casa Grande theatre arts program led by Jonathan Mazer and the music program led by Sean Millard. Bridget Codoni led choreography. 

Millard said this experience highlights the “desperate need” for the new performing arts center that is slated to be built next to Casa’s campus, he said. The building, which has been “sorely lacking for decades,” can be “greatly utilized” by the district’s art programs and many others.

The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards, are “a national celebration of outstanding student achievement, recognizing individual artistry in vocal, dance, and acting performance,” according to the website. Several past participants have gone on to establish careers on Broadway, including Eva Noblezada, Reneé Rapp, and Antonio Cipriano.

Castro’s mother, Jodi, who has spent many nights watching theater videos on YouTube with her daughter, described the Jimmys as the biggest award show for teenage musical theater.

She said the regional and national awards “help raise awareness of the amazing theater that’s going on at school,” and put the spotlight on kids who are often overlooked for choosing the arts over sports.

In preparation for last weekend’s awards, she said her daughter practiced her selections “over and over again until it was perfect and her throat was hurting,” later adding that Samara was under the weather the day of the show. “When she wants something, she really goes for it big. It’s not just that she’s talented; she really practices her singing. A lot.”

As soon as Castro discovered theater in fourth grade, she knew it was the place for her. Samara recalled asking her parents to let her quit soccer so she could focus on theater. She has been involved ever since.

After graduation, Samara plans to double major in music and political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “But I definitely want to keep doing theater,” she said.