Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Presents DPAC'S TRIANGLE RISING STARS

DPAC has announced that Triangle Rising Stars, central North Carolina's High School Musical Theatre Awards will take place on May 18th, 2023 at 7:30 PM with host, Clay Aiken and special guest Tony Award Winner, Beth Leavel. Triangle Rising Stars is presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Tickets are $20 for Triangle Rising Stars and are on sale this Thursday, April 13:

• 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

"Triangle Rising Stars is a special night that celebrates the performing arts in our school systems. Year after year, I am awed by the talent and passion shared by each school and student," said Megan Rindoks, Director of Community Engagement at DPAC. "I am so excited to learn who our finalists are this spring and to celebrate all 34 high school musicals that participated in our program this school year."

At this live awards ceremony, 20 student finalists from across central North Carolina will perform on DPAC's stage.

The winners of all 11 award categories will be announced, including DPAC's Triangle 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.

This year, the Top 20 Student Finalists will be adjudicated by an esteemed panel of guest judges including Chauntee' Shuler Irving, Dirk Lumbard, Lisa Jolley, 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, Triangle Rising Star Spirit Award, Best Costume Design, Best Student Orchestra, Best Set Design, Best Choreography, and Best Lighting Design.

The awards show will also once again be hosted by Clay Aiken with a special guest appearance by Tony Award Winner, Beth Leavel.

"I look forward to Triangle Rising Stars every year! Growing up in Triangle schools, the school theatre department was really my only opportunity to perform or to learn about performing," said Clay Aiken. "Had it not been for these incredible performing arts programs, I don't think I would have ever even realized how much I love singing. And the performing arts programs in the Triangle schools have churned out some really incredible performers. Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall was in musicals at Ravenscroft High School; Scotty McCreery did high school musicals at Garner High School and won American Idol; Beth Leavel did musicals at Broughton High School, now she has a Tony Award; J. Cole played in the orchestra at Terry Sanford High School, now he has a Grammy; Ariana DeBose danced at Wake Forest High School, and she just won an Oscar. The kids who are performing with the North Carolina high school programs now just get better and better! I will guarantee you there are future Grammy, Tony, Oscar and Golden Globe winners coming through the Triangle Rising Stars program."

New This Year: DPAC is excited to welcome student 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 will make their debut on the DPAC stage for a special performance.

Triangle Rising Stars will also feature a special performance by 2022 Triangle Rising Stars Best Actor, Joshua Thompson, and 2022 Triangle Rising Stars Best Actress, Symoné Spencer.

In 2022, both Joshua and Symoné were named Top Four Finalists last year 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.

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.

About Triangle Rising Stars

DPAC's Triangle Rising Stars (TRS) 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.

TRS also serves as the regional competition as part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA), also known as The Jimmy Awards. This regional competition is 100% free for participants and is open to high school musical theatre productions located across Central North Carolina. Current approved counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Orange, Person, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Vance, Wake, Warren and Yadkin.

Thank you for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for generously supporting Triangle Rising Stars.

About the 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.

Since its opening in 2008, DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center) has become the center for live entertainment in North Carolina. Recognized for its contemporary design, DPAC features 2,700 seats, intimate sightlines, and state-of-the-art sound and video. Ranked annually among the top-five theaters in America by three leading national magazines that cover live entertainment events and venues, in 2020 DPAC was among ten U.S. venues nominated for Theatre of the Decade by Pollstar Magazine.

With a mission of presenting one-of-a-kind live entertainment events, DPAC truly has "something for everyone," hosting up to 550,000 guests per year to its 200 - 250 performances. Each season, the stage at DPAC comes alive with spectacular touring Broadway productions, high-profile concert and comedy events, family shows and special events of all kinds. Owned by the City of Durham and operated under the direction of Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management (PFM), since 2011 DPAC has been listed as the #1 performing arts organization in the region by the Triangle Business Journal.

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

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.

Tony winner Beth Leavel will next be seen starring as Miranda Priestley in the new Broadway musical, The Devil Wears Prada, music by Elton John.

Most recently, Beth was nominated for a 2019 Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critic's Circle award for her performance as DeeDee Allen in the critically acclaimed Broadway show The Prom. She received Tony, Drama Desk, NY Outer Critics Circle and L.A. Drama Critics Awards for her performance as the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone; as well as Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her role as Florence Greenberg in Baby It's You.

Other Broadway roles include Mrs. June Adams in Bandstand, Emily in Elf, Donna in Mamma Mia!, Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein, Dorothy Brock in the revival of 42nd Street, Tess in the original company of Crazy For You, Mrs. Bixby in The Civil War, Ellie in Hal Prince's Showboat, and Anytime Annie (Broadway debut) in 42nd Street. Numerous TV, most recently The Ghosts of Christmas Always (Hallmark), The Walking Dead (AMC), and The Bite (Spectrum). Beth's one woman cabaret, It's Not About Me, has played across the country to rave reviews and sold out venues. In her spare time, Leavel gives back and teaches master classes for students all over the world. MFA from UNC-G. Proud mom to T.J. and Sam and helplessly in love with Adam Heller. Grateful to my BRS/GAGE family.

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

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 Triangle's Rising Star competition.

Broadway; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Music Man; Imaginary Friends; On Your Toes; Barnum; and Sugar Babies. Off-Broadway; Flora, the Red Menace; Dames at Sea; and She Loves Me. National Tours: The Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz (Joseph Jefferson Award); Grand Hotel and Crazy for You. Canada's Stratford Festival Theatre: Harold Hill in The Music Man (winning Canada's Stage Door Award), Kiss Me, Kate. Television credits: Deadline (NBC), Home Improvement (ABC). Cast recordings: On Your Toes (Grammy nomination) Barnum; Wizard of Oz (Grammy nomination) Flora the Red Menace, (OB cast recording)

As a Tap Consultant he has worked on many of Agnes deMille's productions of Rodeo (ABT, Joffrey, Winnepeg, ect.), as well as assisting her for her ballet, The Informer. He has directed/choreographed for Papermill Playhouse, NJ; Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis; Muny Theatre, St. Louis; Pioneer Theatre, Salt Lake; Stratford Theatre, Canada.

He is proud to be part of the Musical Theatre/Dance Faculty of East Carolina University.

Lisa Jolley has been an actor, singer, and improviser for over 30 years. Credits include Hairspray (Broadway), The King Stag, (Yale Rep) Sweeney Todd (Paper Mill, PlayMakers Rep), Disaster (NCC Summer Theater), among others. Locally, she has appeared in Into the Woods, Les Miserables, Hairspray, and The Producers (North Carolina Theatre), Spamalot (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Next to Normal (Deep Dish), Souvenir, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, and Sylvia (Theatre Raleigh). She has also been a featured soloist with the North Carolina Symphony. Television appearances include The Staircase, Law & Order: SVU, Sex and the City, Hope and Faith, and Banshee.

As an improviser, she has been a cast member/team player with Amsterdam's Boom Chicago, in NYC at UCB, The Magnet Theater, and The PIT. Her solo musical improv show, Jolley On the Spot, played to critical acclaim in New York, LA, and at the Chicago Improv Festival, Del Close Marathon, and the New York Musical Improv Festival.

A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, Lisa has taught classes and private students at UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina Theatre Conservatory, Moonlight Stage Company, Raleigh Area Children's Theatre, The Comedy Conservatory, The PIT, and William Peace University. She currently maintains a private studio.

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