Starlight Reschedules Blue Star Awards Ceremony, Plans To Livestream Nominations

In an effort to keep students, patrons and Starlight staff safe in light of circumstances surrounding COVID-19, Starlight has postponed its annual Blue Star Awards Ceremony to Friday, July 31, 2020. With so many students unable to return to school this school year, Starlight recognizes the need, once it is safe to gather again, to celebrate the hard work and dedication that so many metro high school theatre students put into the 2019-20 Blue Star Awards season.

Adjustments have also been made for Starlight's Blue Star Awards nomination day, originally expected to be announced in schools on Thursday, April 30. Now, nominations will be livestreamed via Starlight's Facebook page on the date the ceremony was originally scheduled-Thursday, May 21, at 3:30 p.m. CDT. In the past few weeks, Starlight's Blue Star Awards nomination committee, which comprises select adjudicators, has held virtual deliberations for this year's program.

Although both nominations and the Blue Star Awards ceremony will differ from years past, Starlight's community engagement department hopes these events bring well-deserved recognition to outstanding Kansas City area students. Knowing that the majority of students' spring semesters were cut short, the rescheduled ceremony will be a final opportunity for metro area high school theatre departments to come together to celebrate their 2019-20 seasons.

"We know it is a highly unusual year for our community and country, but that gives us even more reason to publicly celebrate the accomplishments of thousands of theatre students and their teachers at the 53 high schools involved in this year's Blue Star Awards," said Barb Schulte, Starlight's vice president of community engagement. "We invite all Starlight patrons and the general public to join in the excitement of the award nominations in May and, most importantly, to come to Starlight in late July to applaud these students and enjoy the best free night of live musical theatre in town!"

Established in 2003, the Blue Star Awards are one of the largest and most admired high school muscial theatre awards programs in the nation. All high schools in metropolitan Kansas City and selected outlying communities are invited to participate. Each year the program serves 5,000 area students who contribute either on the stage or behind the scenes to their schools' musical theatre productions.

Tune in to Starlight's Facebook page @kcstarlight Thursday, May 21, at 3:30 p.m. to see the 2019-20 Blue Star Awards nominations and check back for more information regarding the rescheduled 2020 Blue Star Awards Ceremony soon. For more information on the Blue Star Awards, please visit kcstarlight.com/education.

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