April 17, 2024 (Durham, N.C.) – DPAC is pleased to announce the finalists for The DPAC Rising Star Awards, central North Carolina’s High School Musical Theatre Awards, that will take place on May 9^th, 2024 at 7:30 PM with host, Clay Aiken. The DPAC Rising Star Awards is presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

 

This year, students from 31 high schools across Central North Carolina participated in hopes of being selected as a DPAC Rising Star Awards’ Top 20 finalist.

 

The DPAC Rising Star Awards (Rising Stars) celebrates outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre, by focusing attention on the meaningful work being done both on and off stage by dedicated teachers and students. 
 

Rising Stars also serves as the regional competition as part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA).  This regional competition is open to high school musical theatre productions and musical theatre students in Central North Carolina.

 

The DPAC Rising Star Awards will feature performances by 20 student finalists from across Central North Carolina, as well as a special performance by 2023 Rising Stars Best Actor, Noah Colvin, and 2023 Rising Stars Best Actress, Lilly Pritchard. 

 

Back by Popular Demand: DPAC has invited performers from each participating school for the first time ever to perform as part of an opening group number on DPAC’s stage.  Approximately 70 students were invited to represent their school on the DPAC stage for a special performance.

 

New This Year: The DPAC Rising Star Awards will be working with Durham Art Guild to celebrate achievements made by high school visual art students. One student from each participating high school will be selected to have their work featured in a pop-up gallery in DPAC's lobby at The DPAC Rising Star Awards on May 9, 2024.   

 

“I think this year is going to be the best ever for The DPAC Rising Star Awards,” said Megan Rindoks, DPAC’s Director of Community Engagement. “We have some exciting things planned for our show, but most importantly, I know how incredibly talented the students are in our region, and I cannot wait to celebrate their achievements on the DPAC stage this May.”

 

THE DPAC RISING STAR AWARDS BEST ACTRESS FINALISTS:

• Alex Fluker (The Witch, Into The Woods, Panther Creek High School)
• Audrey Lewis (Doralee Rhodes, 9 to 5 The Musical, Broughton High School)
• Danica Laan (Lumiere, Beauty and the Beast, CE Jordan High School)
• Emma Gaddy (Fantine, Les Misérables, Enloe High School)
• Gabriela Martínez (Wednesday Addams, The Addams Family, Apex Friendship High School)
• Mary Mask (Reno Sweeney, Anything Goes, Carrboro High School)
• Miley Perrott (Miss Adelaide, Guys and Dolls, Wakefield High School)
• Riley Auman (The Witch, Into The Woods, Durham Academy)
• Sabine Langer (Bea Bottom, Something Rotten, Weaver Academy)
• Trinity Hall (Donna Sheridan, MAMMA MIA!, RJ Reynolds High School)

 

THE DPAC RISING STAR AWARDS BEST ACTOR FINALISTS:

• Aidan Armstrong (Will Shakespeare, Something Rotten, Weaver Academy)
• Amari James Wynne (The Lion, The Wiz, Longleaf School of the Arts)
• Aydan Eatchel (Marius, Les Misérables, Longleaf School of the Arts)
• Conor Kruger (Jean Valjean, Les Misérables, Enloe High School)
• David Hatcher (The Baker, Into The Woods, Panther Creek High School)
• Dylan Georges (Grover, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Green Level High School)
• Isaiah Knight (Fester, The Addams Family, Heritage High School)
• Max Templeton (Franklin Hart, 9 to 5 The Musical, Broughton High School)
• Nate Jones (The Baker, Into The Woods, Durham School of the Arts)
• Ryan Gregory (Marius, Les Misérables, Enloe High School)

 

This year, the Top 20 Student Finalists will be adjudicated by an esteemed panel of guest judges including Alan Campbell, Chauntee’ Shuler Irving, and Terri Dollar.  These talented individuals have vast career knowledge spanning Broadway, television, and the recording industry, as well as experience running one of our area’s most reputable talent agencies. 

 

Other awards recognizing excellence in student performance and production that will be presented include Best Dance, Best Ensemble, Best Musical, Best Costume Design, Best Student Orchestra, Best Set Design, Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design, and The DPAC Shining Star Award.

 

At this live awards ceremony, winners of all 11 award categories will be announced, including The DPAC Rising Stars Best Actor and Best Actress, both will receive $2,000 and an all-expense paid trip to New York City to compete in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards®.

 

National High School Musical Theatre Awards

 

The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA), was established in 2009 by Pittsburgh CLO and Nederlander Alliances, a division of The Nederlander Organization, to elevate the importance of theatre arts education in schools and reward excellence in student performance.  The program impacts over 140,000 students annually who participate in high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by over forty professional theatres throughout the US.

 

Since its inception, NHSMTA® has been the catalyst for more than $4,000,000 in educational scholarships awarded to deserving young performers.  Also known as The Jimmy Awards®, named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, this year-round program is administered by The Broadway League Foundation Inc.

 

DPAC nominees have had great success at The Jimmy Awards® in recent years.  In 2021, Triangle Rising Stars nominee Elena Holder won the coveted Best Performance by an Actress title at The Jimmy Awards.  This honor came with $25,000 in scholarships, an invitation to audition for multiple Broadway shows and the opportunity to perform in Times Square in celebration of the reopening of Broadway.

 

In 2022, both Joshua and Symoné were named Top Four Finalists at The Jimmy Awards®, which is an incredibly rare accomplishment for two students from the same regional program.  As Top Four finalists, Joshua and Symoné received thousands of dollars in scholarships and multiple invitations to audition for Broadway shows, which are still being received today.

 

 

Tickets are $20 for The DPAC Rising Star Awards and are on sale now:

• Online at DPACnc.com
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina - Ticket Center at DPAC: 919.680.2787,
  123 Vivian Street, Durham NC
• Ticketmaster.com

 

For more information about Triangle Rising Stars, visit https://www.dpacnc.com/community/dpac-rising-star-awards

 

Thank you to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for generously supporting The DPAC Rising Star Awards. 

 

For more information about the National High School Musical Theatre Awards®/Jimmy™ Awards, visit: https://www.jimmyawards.com/

 

About DPAC

At DPAC, we are proud to present some of the biggest shows and stars in the world in an intimate 2,700-seat setting where the guest experience reigns supreme. For 15-years DPAC has been ranked among the top-five theaters and performing arts centers in the U.S., won the prestigious IEBA Theater of the Year Award plus been nominated alongside some of the most iconic venues in America by Billboard and Pollstar magazines for their annual Theater of the Year awards.

 

With a mission of presenting one-of-a-kind live entertainment events, DPAC truly has “something for everyone,” hosting up to 600,000 guests per year to its 250 plus performances.  Each season, the stage at DPAC comes alive with spectacular touring Broadway productions, high-profile concerts and comedy events, family shows and special events of all kinds.

 

DPAC is managed by Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management (PFM), two of the country’s most successful theatre producers, presenters, and venue management companies under a long-term operation agreement with the City of Durham. One of the most successful public-private partnerships of its kind, DPAC has generated over $1 billion dollars in measured economic impact since its opening in 2008. 

 

For more information, please visit: www.DPACnc.com

 

About Clay Aiken

Clay Aiken most recently starred on Broadway, alongside Ruben Studdard, in Ruben & Clay’s First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show at the Imperial Theater. The New York Times called the production ‘A Christmas Miracle’.  This came ten years after Clay’s critically lauded Broadway debut in Monty Python's Spamalot. 

On the heels of Idol, he became the first artist in history to have his first single debut at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.  His subsequent album, Measure Of A Man, also debuted at #1 with the highest first week sales by a debut artist. His 2004 holiday release, Merry Christmas With Love, set a record for the fastest selling holiday album of the SoundScan era and remains tied for the highest charting debut of a holiday album in Billboard history. He served 9 years as a UNICEF Ambassador and in 2003, he co-founded, with Diane Bubel, what is now the National Inclusion Project to advocate and increase opportunities for children with disabilities to be included in extracurricular activities

(such as summer camps and after-school programs) with their non-disabled peers.

Additional TV appearances include: 30 Rock, The Office, Scrubs, Days Of Our Lives, and Law & Order: SVU. Additional 2nd place finishes include: The Celebrity Apprentice in 2012 and the NC 2nd District US House race in 2014.  Beyond all of his successes (and near successes) his proudest

accomplishment remains his son, Parker.

 

About Alan Campbell

Alan is a Tony nominated actor known for his versatility. Over his forty plus year career, Alan has enjoyed featured roles on stage, film, television and in concert. His many credits include Broadway musicals, Off-Broadway and regional musicals and drama, feature and indy films, as well as costarring roles in television drama, comedy, and daytime. Alan received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Joe Gillis in the original Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard. Also on Broadway in Mamma Mia! and Contact at Lincoln Center. Feature films include Paul Schrader’s upcoming Oh Canada, Amazon’s Uncle Frank, and Universals A Simple Wish. On television most recently in M. Night Shaymalan’s Servant, Dopesick for Hulu, five seasons on Jake and the Fatman, Three’s a Crowd with John Ritter and appearances on Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Another World and All My Children. As a producer, he has over 30 shows and concerts to his credit. Alan is a co-founder of Theatre Raleigh and a founding member of H.O.L.A. (Heart of Los Angeles) Youth Theatre, providing an artistic outlet and guidance to inner-city children. Alan lives in Raleigh North Carolina and is the proud father of Duke sophomore, Riley Rose.
 

About Chauntee’ Schuler Irving

Chauntee’ Schuler Irving is an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Theater Studies at Duke University and a Broadway actor with over twenty years of experience in the industry and the classroom. 

Recent teaching appointments include the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco and the American Music and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in Los Angeles.  Her pedagogy centers embodied performative practices which bring equitable and inclusive approaches to the forefront of actor training. 

Chauntee’ has performed lead roles in Broadway, Off Broadway, Broadway National Tour, and regional productions, as well as on television and in national commercials.  She has trained with The Actors’ Studio Drama School, The Barrow Group Theater Company, and The Ailey School prior to receiving her MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University.  She is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.  chauntee.com

 

About Terri Dollar

Terri Dollar has spent most of her life passionately working in the arts in Raleigh, NC. 
 

With a career in the entertainment industry spanning over 40 years, Terri Dollar is a creative leader in the arts and enthusiastic champion in the development of the careers of hundreds of young performers. 

 

Formerly the Program Director of the award-winning non-profit Artsplosure—The Raleigh Arts Festival---Terri Dollar spent twenty-one years defining the arts scene in downtown Raleigh.

 

Terri’s greatest joy in life has been as Talent Agent with the agency she created, KUTALENT Agency, for over 3 decades.

 

Terri also co-directs a Drama Program for Special Needs Adult Actors called S.T.A.R.  She and this group were awarded The Raleigh Medal of Arts in 2023.

 

She is proud to have helped launch the careers of many current stars who began their careers in the Triangle area. Her roster has included over 400 actors performing in Broadway shows, as well as many successful Film, Television and Commercial Actors. 

 

She is thrilled to be asked to again judge this year’s Rising Star competition.