PPAC Announces the 2024/2025 "Ocean State Star Awards" Winners
THE OCEAN STATE STAR AWARDS SHOWCASE TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2025 ON THE PPAC STAGE.
Providence, RI – The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024/2025 Ocean State Star Awards (OSSA) program. The Ocean State Star Awards program is a community outreach initiative of the Providence Performing Arts Center that celebrates and acknowledges excellence in high school musical theatre programs across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.
Six high school musical theatre productions have earned the Outstanding Musical award. The winning productions include Joseph Case High School’s production of Godspell, South Kingstown High School’s staging of Shrek The Musical, St. Mary Academy – Bay View’s presentation of The Addams Family School Edition, West Warwick High School’s productions of Hadestown: Teen Edition and Mamma Mia! and Westerly High School’s presentation of Hadestown: Teen Edition.
The Ocean State Star Awards program has recognized thirty-one student performers with the Outstanding Lead Performer award. The Ocean State Star Awards includes fourteen additional categories that recognize excellence in performance (Outstanding Ensemble), music (Outstanding Orchestra) and production design (Outstanding Technical Achievement).
The Ocean State Star Awards ceremony will be held this Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 7P, live on the PPAC stage. The event will feature performances from each Outstanding Musical-winning high school and opening and closing numbers showcasing performers from all performance award categories, including Outstanding Lead Performers and Rising Star nominees. Two Outstanding Lead Performers will be announced at the showcase’s finale to represent the state of Rhode Island at the sixteenth annual Jimmy Awards® on Monday, June 23, 2025 in New York City.
Twenty-two area high schools participated in the 2024/2025 OSSA program and twenty-eight high school musical theatre productions were evaluated by a panel of educators, theatre professionals and theatre aficionados. Adjudicators provided comprehensive written feedback and submitted nominations in sixteen award categories. Winning productions, performers and designers were selected by numerical scoring tabulations.
PPAC congratulates the following high schools and their shows, which are listed alphabetically by school name, that participated in this season’s OSSA program:
| School | Show |
|---|---|
| Bishop Hendricken High School | Elf The Musical |
| Bristol Plymouth Regional Technical School | The SpongeBob Musical |
| Coventry High School | Catch Me If You Can |
| Cranston High School West | Shrek The Musical |
| Cumberland High School | The Addams Family |
| Dighton Rehoboth Regional High School | Hadestown: Teen Edition |
| East Greenwich High School – Empire Cast | Back To The 80's |
| East Greenwich High School – Jedi Cast | Back To The 80's |
| Joseph Case High School | Godspell |
| Joseph Case High School – CAST A | Cinderella |
| Joseph Case High School – CAST Z | Cinderella |
| Mt. Hope High School | Little Shop of Horrors |
| Narragansett High School | Once Upon A Mattress |
| North Kingstown High School - CAST A | Legally Blonde The Musical |
| North Kingstown High School - CAST B | Legally Blonde The Musical |
| North Providence High School | A Christmas Carol |
| Norton High School | Little Shop of Horrors |
| Ponaganset High School | Grease |
| Rocky Hill Country Day School | Annie |
| Saint Raphael Academy | Godspell |
| Smithfield High School | Mamma Mia! |
| Somerset Berkley Regional High School | The Addams Family |
| South Kingstown High School | Shrek The Musical |
| St. Mary Academy - Bay View | The Addams Family: School Edition |
| The Wheeler School | Urinetown |
| West Warwick High School | Hadestown: Teen Edition |
| West Warwick High School | Mamma Mia! |
| Westerly High School | Hadestown: Teen Edition |
For a complete list of the winners in all of the award categories, please visit ppacri.org/outreach.
About the Providence Performing Arts Center
The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) presents touring Broadway productions and some of the biggest names in comedy and concerts. PPAC is committed to providing the community with the highest quality in performances and learning opportunities to enrich the lives of students, educators and families. PPAC’s outreach and engagement programs include ARTS Showcase, ARTS Scholarships, Disney Musicals in Schools, Experience PPAC, From Books to Broadway, Ocean State Star Awards and Next Stop Broadway®, among many others; for additional information, visit ppacri.org/outreach.
Located in the heart of Providence’s arts and entertainment district, PPAC is the second largest theatre of its kind in New England, with a seating capacity of 3100. The Loew’s Theatre Building, which is the historical home of PPAC, opened in October 1928 and has been acclaimed for its beauty and grandeur. PPAC is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It consistently has been ranked as one of the top ten entertainment venues of its size in the United States by industry publications Pollstar, Billboard Magazine and VenuesNow.
About the Jimmy Awards®/ The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®)
The Jimmy Awards®/The National High School Musical Theatre Awards® (NHSMTA®) is a coast-to-coast celebration of outstanding student achievement, recognizing individual talent in vocal, dance and acting performance. The program impacts approximately 150,000 students who participate in regional high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters of Touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. The 2025 Jimmy Awards anticipates welcoming 110 nominees from 55 cities across the country as they make their debuts on a Broadway stage. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the Jimmy Awards has been the catalyst for more than $6,000,000 in educational scholarships.
Founded in 2009 by Nederlander Alliances LLC, Pittsburgh CLO, and Broadway Education Alliance (BEA), (BEA), the mission of the NHSMTA is to advance a national conversation about the importance of arts education, honor teachers and their schools’ commitment to performing arts education, and contribute to the development of future arts workers and audiences for live performing arts in communities across America.
Presented by The Broadway League Foundation Inc., the NHSMTA invites two nominees from each local regional ceremony to New York City for a 10-day theatre intensive that includes coaching sessions, training, and rehearsals led by some of Broadway’s most accomplished professionals. Their experience will culminate in an extraordinary talent showcase performed live in front of an audience on a Broadway stage. For more information, please visit JimmyAwards.com.
