Park Ridge teen and Maine South High School theater student George Spiegel to make Broadway debut as Jimmy Awards finalist

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (WLS) — George Spiegel is a Park Ridge teenager who arrived in New York on Friday to begin rehearsals for his Broadway debut.

The Maine South student is representing Illinois and Broadway in Chicago as a finalist for the Jimmy Awards.

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Spiegel said he has been singing about this dream come true his entire life.

“My life is definitely centered around music. I don't do anything else,” Spiegel said. “I don't think about anything else. When people ask me what my hobbies are, I say 'buying a new instrument'.”

Spiegel taught himself piano and guitar and became a “child star.”

“I started singing in church… my mother tells me the story of us waking up late,” Spiegel said. “My mom told me it’s OK, we can skip Sunday school that day, and I was sobbing, I was so upset, because I just wanted to sing.”

The School of Rock community and school production scene is home to Spiegel.

“I just want to make music and art. It's really magical,” Spiegel said. “I love the theater world so much.”

“You sometimes wonder if everyone thinks it's as great as you think, because I look at him and I can't stop smiling and it feels good every time I see him play” , said George's mother, Cindy Spiegel. “I’m really proud, but also excited to see this happiness in him.”

“I think for him, his hard work and his dedication and his team spirit, rather than me on stage, and I see everyone around him raising the bar a little bit and that makes me proud,” said the father of George. Tim Spiegel, said. “If you can make the people around you better, you have something special.”

“As a teacher, it’s one of the coolest things that can happen to one of your students and just seeing George’s unbridled joy on stage,” said Maine Theater Director Joey Fitzpatrick South High School. “When students succeed at this level and you see them living their dream, that's what I'm experiencing. I love seeing that, it brings me a lot of joy.”

Spiegel opened up about how his life resembles his big song “Pippen.”

“It’s really intimidating to do a song like that, it means so much to so many people,” Spiegel said. “The gamers, actors, and creators around me are where I find my community and that’s what I think is my piece of heaven.”