The Boston Arts Academy (BAA) Foundation hosted its annual “Champion Reception” last week, honoring Mayor Michelle Wu and former acting mayor Kim Janey as this year’s recipients for embodying the school’s commitment to the “arts, scholarship, and citizenship.”

Following the reception on Thursday at the House of Blues in Fenway, guests walked over to BAA to watch the opening of the school’s musical, a production of “Shrek,” featuring Deurick Gomes, a Dorchester resident, in the main role.

Gomes, a junior vocalist major at BAA, made his acting debut after auditioning successfully in November. He said the Shrek series of movies in the 2000s are a nostalgic touchpoint for him and his brother.

“I built a strong bond with him watching them,” he said. “It sort of was part of my childhood and I decided to audition because I just felt this would be a nice opportunity for me. Shrek has been [part of] a growth process as well.”

Gomes sang in 11 of the 20 musical numbers in the two-act show while painted head to toe in green. He said the songs were difficult to sing but recalled how his work at BAA helped prepare him. “The notes sometimes can be something that you’re not used to singing because it’s a musical, so it’s going to be different,” he said. “So, having a background in singing definitely helped a lot with just making it easier for me to understand and get through it.”

One of Gomes’ favorite things about being in the musical were the connections that the cast and crew developed with each other. “You get to see everyone coming together and creating something beautiful,” Gomes said. “And it has been a growing experience because I have grown out of my comfort zone. I have pushed myself to just do more and be more and I’m very thankful that I got this opportunity.”

The musical, in collaboration with the “Champion Reception,” also doubled as a fundraiser for the Boston Arts Academy Foundation (BAAF), the nonprofit that, according to Denella Clark, its president, has a mission to “close the funding gap to provide a true arts education.”

The school was opened 25 years ago by local arts colleges. “It was founded as a pilot school, which back then meant like an experiment,” Clark said. “And they said, ‘We’ll give you a building and we’ll fund primarily the academics. But immediately a nonprofit was started by a group of private citizens to augment the gap in the funding, so the school was always funded as a sort of public-private partnership.”

The school received money for a new building under the administration of former mayor Marty Walsh, who was honored with the Champion Award in 2017. Construction ended in 2022.

“What I say to people is that a building is just a building, no matter how beautiful a building; it’s really the people and the programs in the building that make the building work,” Clark said. “So we have continued to raise money for extra staffing.”

The musical is a chance for the arts community around BAA to see how the funding benefits its students. “The money we raise goes to support the arts faculty, for teacher salaries, for supplies, for productions, for scholarships, for summer experiences, sort of all of the things related to arts.”

Gomes mentioned the opportunities and experiences that BAA has provided him and his peers besides the musical, citing his “Spirituals” class with Michael Bradley, a composer and minister of worship and arts at Morning Star Baptist Church, as a highlight.

“ ‘Spirituals’ is when they bring us outside of school and we perform around the city … and we meet important big people, and helps us build connections,” Gomes said. “They always throw opportunities at kids and hope that they will take it and I’m grateful to BAA for that.”

Clark said they had surpassed their fundraising goal of $150,000 from the sales of tickets to the musical.

Gomes cited the school and his experiences there as bringing him challenges, like the lead role in “Shrek,” that ask him to step up.

“I’m a junior now so definitely I have grown so much from this because the school has a lot to do with that process as well,” Gomes said. “They definitely put me out of my comfort zone and they definitely put me in spots where it pushes me to push myself and grow and do things I’ve never done before.”

Right before the curtain went up on opening night of the three-day run, Wu and Janey, who now works at a nonprofit focused on economic mobility, stood up from their front row seats and were again recognized for their commitment to arts programs like BAA.

“The problem with our world is that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not,” Clark said. “So we at Boston Arts Academy Foundation, we are creating opportunities for our students and I believe that’s what [Mayor Wu] is currently doing. And I believe that’s what [Kim Janey] has done and continues to do.”