Gold Standard: East Texas girl wins $40,000 scholarship at Broadway awards show

TYLER, Texas ( KETK ) – “My dreams came true that night,” said Tyler student, Fabiola Caraballo Quijada after she attended the Jimmy Awards on Broadway as finalist recently.

Quijada is a 17-year-old senior at Tyler Legacy High School. In the fall of 2023, she was nominated for best actress at the Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards for her performance as Nostradamus from Something Rotten.

“I ended up winning that award in competition with about 13 other girls from the region of north Texas, and I was able to represent Broadway Dallas at the Jimmy Awards,” Quijada said.

This wasn’t the first time she has graced the Minskoff Theater stage on Broadway. Last year she made it to the Jimmy Awards as Motormouth Maybelle from Hairspray. The Jimmy Awards, also known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, are held to celebrate hundreds of talented student performers from across the country.

Since their inception, the awards have given out more than $6,000,000 in scholarships. Quijada didn’t make it to the finals her first time, but it helped her feel more prepared to overcome her challenges this time around.

“I overcame vocal fatigue, body aches, and I just had so much faith in what I could do, and I just did not give up, I just kept going, I tried to take care of myself the best I could, I was just like, I’m going to bounce back,” Quijada said.

Anxiety was high as she took the stage after 11 days of singing, dancing and hearing from Broadway’s best. Then the moment came for the names of the finalist to be read by artist Josh Groban, who was hosting the awards.

“My name got called by ‘the Josh Groban’, ‘the Sweeney Todd’ on Broadway last year, and so he’s just an icon,” Quijada said.

Quijada made it to the top 4 actresses and had to sing one more song. She chose “I’m Here” from The Color Purple as a tribute to her theatre director.

“Every single time she listened to it, she thought of me, and that’s why I decided to keep going with that song, I felt like every single time I sang it, I took her with me,” Quijada said.

It was a moment she will never forget.

“I was blessed, I was happy and there was nothing that could bring me down, not even not winning the award, I’m very, very proud of the girl who won the award, she was fantastic and very, very well-deserved,” Quijada said.

Quijada gave all the credit to her friends and parents.

“I’m incredibly blessed by the people around me, by the Lord I know and love. See, this is the moment when it hits in, that I’m like, oh my gosh, this is what I’ve accomplished,” Fabiola said.

Quijada said she wouldn’t have made it as far as she has without them by her side, and reminded everyone to remember that when they perform.

“There always is someone or something behind everything that you do, and as long as you find that and you know to keep going for them, that’s how you know you’re going to go far,” Quijada said.

Quijada did not leave the Jimmy Awards empty handed. She was awarded a $10,000 a year scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia for four years totaling $40,000 and $5,000 in award money.

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