School Registration Opens for the DPAC Rising Star Awards
Central North Carolina’s High School Musical Theatre Awards will culminate in a live ceremony at DPAC in May 2026.
DPAC has announced that school registration is now open for the 2025–2026 season of the DPAC Rising Star Awards, central North Carolina’s High School Musical Theatre Awards.
The program celebrates excellence in high school musical theatre across the region, recognizing both student performers and the educators who support them. It also serves as the regional qualifier for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA), known nationally as The Jimmy Awards.
Participation in the DPAC Rising Star Awards is free and open to high school musical theatre programs in Central North Carolina. Eligible counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, Orange, Person, Randolph, Rockingham, Sampson, Stokes, Vance, Wake, Warren, Wayne, and Wilson.
The 2026 Rising Star Awards will culminate with a live ceremony on stage at DPAC in May 2026, where winners in 17 categories will be announced. Among them are Best Actor and Best Actress, who will each receive a $2,000 award and an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to compete in The Jimmy Awards. The event will again be hosted by Clay Aiken and adjudicated by a panel of qualified area judges with Broadway and professional theatre experience.
Schools wishing to participate must complete registration by Sunday, December 1, 2025. To qualify, each participating school must present an eligible musical production, and students must be cast in qualifying lead roles.
About the National High School Musical Theatre Awards
Founded in 2009 by Pittsburgh CLO and Nederlander Alliances, a division of The Nederlander Organization, the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) were created to elevate theatre arts education and recognize excellence in student performance. The program now impacts more than 140,000 students each year through regional competitions hosted by professional theatres across the United States.
Since its inception, the NHSMTA has awarded more than $4 million in educational scholarships to outstanding young performers. The program, administered by The Broadway League Foundation Inc., is named for Broadway producer James M. Nederlander and widely known as The Jimmy Awards.
About DPAC
Opened in 2008, DPAC is recognized as one of the nation’s top performing arts venues, hosting more than 250 performances annually and welcoming up to 600,000 guests each season. The 2,700-seat theatre is known for presenting Broadway productions, major concerts, comedy events, and family programming.
DPAC is managed by Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management (PFM) under a long-term operating agreement with the City of Durham. Over the past 15 years, DPAC has generated more than $1 billion in measured economic impact and has been ranked among the top five theatres and performing arts centers in the United States by Billboard and Pollstar.
