Downtown Statesboro will be transformed into a red carpet affair as the Averitt Center for the Arts hosts its first ever Emma Kelly Award’s ceremony. 

The ceremony will take place on Friday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. inside the Emma Kelly Theater.

Students from Georgia Southern University are up for nominations in several of the categories.

“We have a great relationship with Georgia Southern, so a lot of students from there are involved in our shows,” Melinda Roell, the development director at the Averitt Center for the Arts, said.

Brian Strickland, senior vocal performance and choral music education major at GSU, is up for best male vocalist and best male actor.

“It came as a shock because there is so much great talent in Statesboro. This is the first time I’m being recognized for my talent,” Strickland said.

A lot of effort goes into planning and preparing for a show, nominee for best supporting actor and best male vocalist and junior music education major Jacob Furse said.

“I don’t spend a lot of time by myself and internalize the character. It works for some people, but when I do it, it comes off as fake. What I do is go to rehearsal, run the scene and try to figure out how I would feel in the scenario. Then I portray what comes to mind,” Furse said.

The award ceremony is named after Emma Thompson Kelly, a Statesboro native who was an accomplished performer.

“This award show is a way to celebrate local artists here in Statesboro. The award is named after Emma Kelly, or the Lady of Six Thousand Words. The theater is also named after her,” Roell said.

The award ceremony will be set up similarly to a live television award show.

“It’s going to be just like the Emmy’s or the Tony awards. All the nominees will be chauffeured to the event, there will be a red carpet, the local TV and radio stations will be there. The attire will be semi-formal,” Roell said.

Roell, along with a five-member volunteer committee, planned the fundraising event.

“The Emma Awards is something I’ve wanted to do since I was hired, which was about three years ago. We’ve been working on the event since January,” Roell said.

The ceremony is broken down into nine categories, which include best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, supporting actress, best male vocalist, best female vocalist, costumes and best show.

“The Averitt Center produced five community productions in the 2011-2012 season. The directors, leads and major supporting roles became eligible to be considered for an Emma Award,” Roell said.

To choose the nominees an anonymous group of people would go to the shows and vote on who should be picked for nominations.

“These critics will remain anonymous so that they are not bothered before and after the ceremony by nominees who wonder why they weren’t chosen to receive an award,” Roell said.

Along with the categories that voters can choose from, there will also be three visual artists that will be publicly acknowledged. The awards are the Roxie Remely award, the Statesboro Regional Arts Association award and the Volunteer of the Year award.

“These people have already been accepted for the awards, so it’s not up for voting,” Roell said.

In addition to the actual awards that will be given out there will be a series of performances from various artists.

“The Statesboro Youth Chorale, the Statesboro Theatre, Emily Hager and Wemberly Tonder will be performing at the awards ceremony,” Roell said.

Voting, which ends at midnight on May 15, has been made very simple and is open to anyone. All proceeds will go to the Averitt Center for the Arts.

Roell said, “Go online to our website and there will be a link titled the Emma Awards. You can vote for whoever you want, as much as you want, and each vote costs a dollar.”