NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — An East Texas high school senior has earned a spot as one of the best high school musical theatre actresses in the country.
Fabiola Caraballo Quijada, who will be senior at Tyler Legacy High School this fall, was named a best actress finalist at the 2024 Jimmy Awards last week and also won $7,500 in scholarships.
"Well, in that moment, I became one of the people I idolized for so long. There are so many finalists and winners that have gone on to be so successful, and to be amazing people," she said. "And just to see them on that stage, I always felt so inspired. And the moment that I realized I was going to become one of them. I was just like, 'OK, we can we got to kind of re-center for a while.' My mind was just going in different places."
At the national ceremony, she represented one of the 51 regional awards programs, Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theatre Awards. In New York, she performed "I'm Here" from "The Color Purple" and a Broadway Medley along with the fellow contestants.
She was among six finalists who each received a $5,000 scholarship toward their future education. She also earned $2,500 from the Savannah College of Art and Design Achievement Scholarship.
Fabiola remembered feeling great pride and happiness in accomplishing a goal that she had always looked forward to.
"I finally got to it. And I was very, very happy for myself. And I kept thinking about how proud my family was, like, I can't wait to hug my mom afterward. So that's all I can think about in that moment," she said.
Her rise to the Big Apple all started when she played Nostradamus in Tyler Legacy's production of the musical comedy "Something Rotten" in November 2023. From there, she was nominated by the Broadway Dallas High School Musical Theater Awards to compete in their contest.
After winning that competition, she qualified for the Jimmy Awards, which are formally known as the National High School Musical Theatre Awards. She was one of 102 nominees from 51 regional awards programs (with one male and one female representing each program).
"We spend a whole week in New York City just having fun and making our dreams come true," Fabiola said.
This year's performance was her second time to perform at The Jimmys. She qualified in 2023 for performance as Motormouth Maybelle in "Hairspray."
"The Jimmys had become my home last year. And I was so excited to go back and feel the rush of the rehearsals and the performance and get to meet everybody, make new friends, see the talent that our nation has. It was a true blessing to get to go back," she said.
The days of rehearsing for her performances were about 12 hours long, she recalled. The practices included singing though the opening and closing songs, a lot of dancing and taking care of their voices.
"It was insane. But you did not go through it alone. I had 101 other nominees that were going through the same things I was," Fabiola said. "And it was very, very nice to have someone by my side, someone to be able to smile with."
Despite all of the hard work, she said the 2024 Jimmy Awards was "undoubtedly the one of the best experiences of (her) life."
Another part of the adventure she appreciated was representing her culture and beloved family, saying she enjoys getting to honor where she comes from through her performances.
"Every performance, every day is an opportunity to show the world how good I am, how good my family is, my community," she said.
Although it can be a lot of pressure to represent so many, Fabiola said knowing that people love her and want to see her succeed motivates her to keep going.
"It's definitely very inspiring. For myself, sometimes I let myself down, I get in my head. Maybe I'm not that good enough. That happens to a lot of people. I am one of those victims," she said. "But it's these things that remind me that I can, not only be successful, but I can still be humble and still be kind. And there's still so many people that I can meet that can help me along the way."
Looking ahead to her senior year, Fabiola said she's excited to keep doing what she loves, such as Tyler Legacy's next musical production.
"I've got a lot of responsibilities this year. I'll be in student council. But it's just so fun," Fabiola said. "I enjoyed so so much. I think it makes my life full; it makes my heart happy. So it's the culmination of all these years and well I'm excited to see where it goes."
Vea la entrevista de Fabiola en español en CBS19 Unidos a continuación:
