By Lauren Boykin | Contributor
North Texas Performing Arts (NTPA) announced the honorees who will be recognized at the 2024 Stardust Awards to be held November 2 at the Plano Event Center in Plano, Texas.
“We are honored to be able to announce these incredible arts leaders from across North Texas, and so impressed with their accomplishments and impact on our community and on the rich performing arts heritage,” says NTPA Chief Executive Officer Darrell Rodenbaugh. “These individuals have had an incredible impact on our culture, and we are pleased to publicly recognize their legacy.”
This year’s honorees who will be recognized at the NTPA Stardust Awards include Distinguished Performing Artist Baba Kubaye; Arts Organization Cara Mia Theatre; Arts Leader Cindi Lawrence Hanson of Plano Metropolitan Ballet; Elementary Educator Ashley Marsh of Heritage Elementary School, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD; Middle School Educator Brady Stableton of Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, Dallas ISD;High School Educator Jonette Dalfonzo of Wakeland High School, Frisco ISD; and Penny Ayn Maas, Collegiate Educator atTexas Christian University. The Large Business Champion to be honored is Dairy Farmers of America and local business H-E-B, with Arts Advocate of the Year Centennial Real Estate and its Founder Steve Levin.
The event will be held Saturday, November 2, 5:00-10:00 PM at the Plano Events Center in Plano, Texas. Honorary Stardust Committee Co-Chairpersons for this year’s event are the Honorable Mayor John Muns and Joa Muns. The evening will feature live performances, silent and live auctions, multi-course dinner, and the awards ceremony.
The evening’s “headliners” include Grammy® Award winning composer, producer and artist Kitt Wakely and Broadway star Malik Akil Kimani Victorian. Malik Akil Kimani Victorian is a distinguished musical theatre performer and educator with professional credits in Broadway productions of Disney’s Aladdin, Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, and Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. Wakeley is a Grammy® winning composer/producer/artist and 5 time #1 Billboard Charting musician, and known for selling out venues such as Carnegie Hall in NYC.
An independent blue-ribbon committee of civic leaders and local professionals conducts the award selection process from the hundreds of applications received each year. Honorees in each category will be recognized at this year’s gala event.
The evening’s program will also honor NTPA’s outstanding volunteers whose efforts make possible its mission with NTPA’s position as an organization “managed by professionals but made possible by volunteers” in such categories as set design, costuming, and other volunteer categories.
This year’s Stardust Awards Honorary Chairpersons are the Honorable Mayor John Muns and his wife Joa with committee members including Fairview Mayor Henry Lessner, Frisco Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tammy Meinershagen, Plano Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Julie Holmer, Plano City Council Member Rick Horne, Plano Chamber of Commerce Board Chairperson David Downs, attorney and Plano Athena Award recipient Chris Krupa Downs, Danelle Bender, Senior Vice President, Chief Treasury Officer, Dairy Farmers of America and Charli Pels of Frost Bank.
For the second year in a row, Dairy Farmers of America will be supporting the non-profit children’s theatre’s mission of developing the character of youth through performing arts education and family entertainment as the Presenting Sponsor of the 3rd Annual North Texas Performing Arts Stardust Awards. Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving nearly more than 10,000 family farm-owners, DFA manufactures a variety of dairy products, including fluid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, dairy ingredients and more that connect our Cooperative’s family farms to family tables with regional brands such as Oak Farms® Dairy, Meadow Gold® Dairy, Friendly®’s, Borden® Cheese, Plugrá® Premium Butter and Kemps® to name a few.
Other sponsors include Frost Bank, Sara Egelston Akers, The Baxley Foundation, David Downs and Chris Krupa Downs, Entertainment Sponsor Gordon Lights, Media Sponsor Plano Magazine, and Honorees Reception Sponsor Chally Bridal & Prom.
Proceeds from the event will fund scholarships for underserved youth and underwrite operations and critical projects for the North Texas Performing Arts.
More information about the event is available at ntpa.org/stardust.
About Presenting Sponsor Dairy Farmers of America:
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com.
About North Texas Performing Arts:
North Texas Performing Arts (NTPA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to developing the character of youth through quality performing arts education and family entertainment. NTPA evolved from Plano Children’s Theatre founded three decades ago and is now the largest youth theatre organization in the country. NTPA is headquartered at Willow Bend Center of the Arts in Plano and has additional performance and educational spaces in Fairview, Frisco, Dallas and Southlake. Each year NTPA provides opportunities to more than 11,000 students ages three to 18 through its “Ten Characters” leadership development program. NTPA’s professional artistic staff uses theatre, dance, music, voice, film and TV to ignite a lifelong passion for the performing arts and guide young people on a path to becoming better citizens in our community and our world.