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Through the Isaacs, ACT has awarded more than half a million dollars in college scholarships to local students and more than $100,000 to area high school musical theatre programs.
In May 2006, the Isaac Awards for High School Musicals started with 10 schools. By its 20th anniversary, the Isaacs had expanded to two nights with 18 high schools participating from six counties.
The mission of the Isaac Awards is to encourage and support excellence in high school musical theatre in our region through an annual awards event that recognizes student achievement.
2026 Isaac Awards
The 21st Annual Isaac Awards for High School Musicals will be held May 23 and 24, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at Altoona’s historic Mishler Theatre.
We send judges to attend each of the participating schools’ performances beginning in November and ending April 30. Due to the number of high schools that wanted to participate in the Isaac Awards, we expanded to two nights in 2017. Each night has their own set of judges and their own set of awards. In early May, the judges confer and select nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Production, and more. Those nominations are released in early May.
The winners will be announced at the awards show on May 23 and 24 when the Mishler Theatre is filled to the rafters with students, parents, and teachers.
2025 Isaac Awards
The 20th Anniversary Isaac Awards were held May 24 and 25, 2025 at Altoona’s historic Mishler Theatre with 18 area high schools from 6 counties participating.
We are pleased and proud to announce that, with the support of our generous sponsors and three local colleges, students participating in the 2025 Isaac Awards received $55,500 in college scholarships plus $11,000 donated to participating high schools for their musical theatre programs.
Ann & Bill Benzel donated $11,000 to the participating schools for their next year’s musical budget – $500 each to 14 of the schools. Then four lucky schools were randomly selected to receive $1,000 (Benzel BONUS Bucks)! Those schools were Bellwood Antis, Great Commission, Forest Hills, and Tyrone Area.
In addition to $12,000 in scholarships sponsored by ACT that are awarded to individual Isaac Award winners, three local colleges awarded fifteen additional scholarships to Isaac students for a total of $43,5000. The colleges are Penn State Altoona, Mount Aloysius College, and Juniata College.
Click on this Isaacs Archive button to see participating schools, nominations, award winners, and scholarship recipients from previous years.
Our Generous Supporters
Many thanks to our long-time Title Sponsor, Reliance Bank, along with our other major sponsors: Bill and Ann Benzel, Blair County Alliance for Business and Economic Growth, Dr. Michelle Barnes Optometry, and The EADS Group as well as Kate and Eric Wolf.
