LOST's Francois Chau Set to Host EWP Visionary Awards 4/27

East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre, increases their star-studded evening with appearances from some of Asian America's top media personalities. Leading the evening's festivities as Master and Mistress of Ceremonies will be actor Francois Chau and actress Tamlyn Tomita. There will also be appearance by Carrie Ann Inaba, State Controller John Chiang, Amy Hill, HGTV's Jonathan Fong and performances by TAIKOPROJECT and vocalist Ethan Le Phong. The award winning event will take place at the Hilton Universal City on Monday, April 27, 2009. Proceeds from the event will benefit East West Players' educational and artistic programs. Previously announced performers are Lea Salonga, The Three Filipino Tenors and Quest Crew.

"We are happy to welcome back many familiar faces to East West Players," says Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang. "East West Players is a family and we are glad that past Visionary Award recipients Carrie Ann Inaba and Tamlyn Tomita are returning home to join us again. TAIKOPROJECT, Francios Chau and Ethan Le Phong have all performed in East West Players' productions and we are glad that they are willing to assist us in making our event the place to be on April 27."

Master of Ceremonies Francois Chau is most famously known for his appearance on ABC's Lost as the head of "The Dharma Initiative," Dr. Pierre Chang. He has appeared on numerous television shows and been involved with several productions at East West Players.

Mistress of Ceremonies Tamlyn Tomita has hosted East West Players' Visionary Awards Dinner on several occasions. She has appeared in several television shows including a recent performance on NBC's Heroes. Additional major movie credits include The Joy Luck Club and The Karate Kid II.

TAIKOPROJECT, under the artistic direction of Bryan Yamami, is an ensemble of premiere taiko drummers dedicated to promoting and advancing the American art of taiko. They performed in East West Players' production of EQUUS staring George Takei and were most recently seen on the Academy Awards performing with the Best Song nominees, "O-Saya" and "Jai-ho" from Slumdog Millionare and "Down to Earth" from Wall-E.

Carrie Ann Inaba was last year's Visionary Award recipient. She has been a dancer in numerous movies and music videos. She is now best known as a judge on the ABC reality competition Dancing with the Stars. Inaba will be leading the evening's fundraising moment.

Vocalist Ethan Le Phong's last appearance with East West Players was in the title character in the anime, hip-hop, martial arts production of PIPPIN. His next stage appearance will be as Lun Tha in a Lonndon production of THE KING AND I starring past East West Players Visionary Award honoree Daniel Dae Kim (ABC's Lost) as The King.

State Controller John Chiang will be presenting the Visionary Award to the California Community Foundation. Other Visionary Award honorees previously announced are actor John Cho, Academy Award winner Jessica Yu, and the Breakout Performance Award to Quest Crew.

New major event sponsors include: Southern California Edison (Platinum Circle Sponsors), T. Rodd Bancroft and David L. Mauss (Gold Circle Sponsors).

East West Players' 43rd Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner and Silent Auction will be held on Monday, April 27, 2009 at the Hilton Universal City, 555 Universal City Drive, Universal City, CA 91608. The no-host reception and silent auction will start at 6pm. The dinner and awards program will start at 7pm. Tickets are $175 - $1,250. For more information on East West Players' 43rd Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner and Silent Auction please visit www.EastWestPlayers.org or contact Development Manager Lisa Tang at (213) 625.7000 x17 or LTang@EastWestPlayers.org.