Pahrump Valley High School theater earns multiple statewide musical awards nominations

Pahrump Valley High School’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot pushed a rural Nye County stage into statewide competition, earning multiple nominations for the Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards and putting four Trojans in the spotlight. Ethan O’Rourke was named an Outstanding Lead Actor nominee, Kylee Siegmund earned an Outstanding Lead Actress nomination, and Zachary LeBlanc and Luigi DeAngelis were named Supporting Performer Finalists. The full cast also received an Outstanding Ensemble nomination, a key recognition for a show that depends on timing, coordination and the kind of group chemistry that makes its comedy work.

The Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards, presented through The Smith Center, celebrates talent and achievement in high school musical theater across Nevada. The 2026 ceremony was scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, placing PVHS students in the same professional venue where the state’s top school productions were being recognized. The awards program is part of the Jimmy Awards pipeline, with the national program presented by The Broadway League Foundation in New York City.

For Pahrump, the nominations carried more than bragging rights. They showed that a school program in Nye County can compete with larger Nevada schools on a statewide stage. The recognition also gave local families, friends and other residents a specific place to rally around the Trojans, with tickets priced at $15, keeping the event accessible for community supporters who want to back the arts at Pahrump Valley High School. PVHS had already promoted Spamalot as a community production, and the nominations turned that local effort into a broader statement about what the school’s theater program is producing.

That visibility matters in a district where arts programs often have to make their case alongside other school priorities. The Smith Center says past NVHSMTA winners have received trips to New York City to train and perform on a Broadway stage, which means even a nomination can point students toward future auditions, professional exposure and scholarship opportunities tied to performance. The original Broadway production of Spamalot opened in 2005, earned 14 Tony nominations and won three, including Best Musical, making PVHS’s choice of show an especially ambitious vehicle for student performers. With honors already coming to PVHS students in regional thespys and now in the state musical theater awards, the program has shown it is building a record of work that reaches well beyond Pahrump.