Native Texans Harvey Schmidt (composer) and Tom Jones (lyricist) are, perhaps, most known as the creators of  the longest running show in the history of the American theatre, THE FANTASTICKS, which ran Off-Broadway for 42 years and 17,162 performances.

In addition to an Obie Award and a special Tony Award for THE FANTASTICKS, Schmidt and Jones were inducted into the Broadway Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theatre, and their “stars” were added to the Off-Broadway Walk Of Fame outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre. In 2012 they were inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and in December of 2017 they received the Oscar Hammerstein Award.

Established in 2010, and named after composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones — with whom Lyric Stage has had a long, personal relationship — THE SCHMIDT AND JONES AWARDS honor excellence in high school musical theatre in Dallas-Fort Worth.

A panel of judges, consisting of theatre educators and professional theatre artists, view the productions of the accepted applicants from schools in Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin counties. The panel makes nominations and then votes to determine winners in various performance and design categories. Only students are eligible for awards. The directors of participating schools also receive written production evaluations.

The judging panel, adjudicating, and awards are organized and led by the Director of the Schmidt And Jones Awards, Amy Stevenson, who is well-known in Dallas-Forth Worth as both an artist and educator. At the end of the year, Lyric Stage produces an awards ceremony at The Moody Performance Hall, which features performances by nominated schools, productions, and performers, as well as local, and professional theatre artists.