Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival to Honor Six Women at Opening Night Gala

The 33rd Annual Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) will honor six deserving women for their exceptional career and life achievements in the Opening Night Champagne GALA and Awards Ceremony on March 26, 2026 at 8:00 pm, preceded by a reception and Red Carpet at 6:30 pm, at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90027. This year's theme for the catered GALA is In Tribute To. The evening will be hosted by celebrities Ted Lange (The Love Boat) and Florence LaRue (The 5th Dimension, Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame).

The 2026 Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival is directed by Fay Hauser-Price (Hope Builders).

These worthy honorees who have made laudable contributions to the world of theatre are listed here:

There are two recipients this year for the posthumous LAWTF 2026 Infinity Award, memorializing exceptional achievements of a theatre artist. The awardees are Carmen De Lavallade and Diane Ladd.

Carmen De Lavallade was born in 1931 in Los Angeles to Creole parents from New Orleans. She joined the Lester Horton Dance Company in 1949 where she studied acting, costuming, and set design, as well as ballet, modern dance, and ethnic dance. She became a lead dancer with Horton's company, before she departed for New York to work with Alvin Ailey. She made her Broadway debut in 1954 in the Truman Capote- Harold Arlen musical House of Flowers. During the run of the show, she met actor/dancer Geoffrey Holder, whom she married the following year. They were married for 59 years, until his death. With Holder, she choreographed her signature solo piece, Come Sunday, to a Black spiritual sung by folk singer Odetta. In 1956, De Lavallade danced as the prima ballerina in the Metropolitan Opera productions of Samson and Delilah and Aida. She appeared in four more Broadway shows, Hot Spot, Josephine Baker, The Boys Choir of Harlem and Friends, and A Streetcar Named Desire. She appeared off-Broadway in Othello and Death of a Salesman. IN 1996, she co-founded PARADIGM, a dance company for dancers over age 50. Shre received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017. She died in December, 2025 at 94.

Diane Ladd was born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1931. In 1953, she appeared in a New Orleans production of Tobacco Road, and subsequently moved to New York, where she was a chorus girl at the famed Copacabana night club, and appeared off-Broadway in Orpheus Descending and One-Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger. Her Broadway credits include Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights and Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander. She found success in series regular roles on television (The Secret Storm, Chesapeake Shores, and Alice, for which she won a Golden Globe), but found her greatest acclaim in film, being nominated for three Academy Awards, for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Ramblin' Rose, appearing with her daughter Laura Dern in all three films. She wrote and directed the film Mrs. Munck, and was the author of two books, Spiraling Through the School of Life and A Bad Afternoon for a Piece of Cake. She had 62 feature film credits, 157 television credits, and an accumulation of 57 nominations and awards. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010. She died in Ojai in November , 2025 at the age of 89.

Yvonne Farrow will be bestowed with the LAWTF 2026 Eternity Award, presented to an artist or individual whose lifetime achievements have made a lasting contribution to the world of theatre. A former model and concert dancer, Farrow is an award-winning actor, producer, and filmmaker. She is Co-Partner with playwright and twin sister, Yvette Heyliger, in their production company Twinbiz, whose mission is to write, direct and produce original projects with an emphasis on social justice. Their works have been produced mainstage at the renowned International Black Theatre Festival and have gone on to enjoy regional productions and film festivals. Acclaimed worldwide, Farrow once choreographed ballets on classical concert choral groups (without sacrificing the choral sound). Farrow is a published author and was contributing editor for Black Masks: Spotlight on Black Theatre. She is a proud Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival alum who served on LAWTF's Board of Directors as Sergeant-at-Arms where she also wrote, directed and choreographed LAWTF's 19th Anniversary Theatre Award Ceremony, Shine!

Vannia Ibarguen will receive the LAWTF 2026 Maverick Award. This award is presented to an artist or individual whose work has set a high standard of individuality and self-styled creativity. Vannia Ibarguen is a dance artist, educator, choreographer, and community organizer whose work bridges movement, technology, and social change. She is the Artistic Director of VIDA - Vannia Ibarguen Dance Arts, and Global Water Dances, a worldwide biennial event that uses site-specific dance to raise awareness about local and global water issues. With over 180 cities participating, the project fosters cross-cultural collaboration, environmental advocacy, and community engagement through movement.

As an educator, Ibarguen is a Dance Faculty Member at Cerritos College, and Board Member of the California Dance Education Association (CDEA). She promotes somatic and body-aware approaches to dance training that prioritize sustainability, self-agency, and long-term well-being for dancers. Beyond performance, she has worked as a journalist for DanzaHoy e-Magazine, IT Consultant, and Communication Manager for the National Dance Council in Peru.

Andi Chapman will be the recipient of the LAWTF 2026 Integrity Award, presented to an artist or individual who has brought credibility and dignity to her work. Born in New York City, Andi Chapman is a multifaceted director, actor, and educator, currently serving as the Associate Artistic Director of The Ebony Repertory Theatre. With an impressive array of directing credits, Chapman has brought powerful stories to life on stage. Notable productions include: Berta Berta at The Echo Theatre, Macbeth and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye at A Noise Within Theatre, as well as the world premieres of SHE at Anteaus Theatre and BOTH AND at The Boston Court Theatre and The Wallis Theatre. Her work on Native Son at the Anteaus and Kirk Douglas Theatre received critical acclaim, earning her nominations for Best Director from Stage Raw and Broadway World. Additionally, her direction of The Gospel at Colonus at the Ebony Repertory Theatre garnered 16 Ovation Nominations, including Best Play and Best Play Direction, and won the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Production in 2016. Chapman's artistic range extends to productions such as The Abuelas, Winter's Tale, Mockingbird, and Steel Magnolias, for which she received a Best Director Award.

TL Forsberg will receive the LAWTF 2026 Rainbow Award, bestowed on an artist or individual for her diverse contributions in fostering non-traditional and multicultural theatre works. TL Forsberg, affectionately billed as "the Deaf Lady Gaga," is an internationally celebrated artist, activist, advocate for the Deaf community, and cultural disruptor whose work dismantles inherited narratives around identity, power, and belonging. Her critically acclaimed solo show The Book That Won't Close: Confessions of a Love Addict toured for three years and earned over a dozen honors, including Best of Fest at Whitefire Theatre's SOLOFEST (2019, 2020) and Binge Fringe Festival (2018), the Encore Award and Solo Splash Award for Cultural Enhancement & Female Empowerment (2021), the Best of the Broadwater Award and Producers Encore Award at Hollywood Fringe Festival (2021), and a Top of the Fringe nomination (2021). The piece confronted addiction, shame, and the brutal work of self-reclamation. Her newest solo work, Between Two Worlds: Chronicles of the Not Deaf Enough Girl, interrogates internalized hierarchy, exclusion, and the violence of "not enough," while claiming unapologetic ownership of conscious identity.

There will be special performances at the GALA, in addition to the Awards Ceremony. Performers include:

SARAI HICKS in For You. Youth dancer, Sarai Hicks, is inspired to create beauty through dance.

SONA LEWIS in A Kathak Dance Celebration for Women. This Indian dance pays homage to women.

CHRISTINA LINHARDT in Habanera. This vocal selection is from the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.

Clarinda Ross in From My Grandmother's Grandmother Unto Me. This excerpt is from a personal play that gives tribute to five generations of Appalachian women in her family.

Founded by Executive Producer Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival is a longstanding and diverse Annual Festival unique among Los Angeles cultural institutions and should not be missed as LAWTF celebrates its 33rd year.

Tickets to the March 26 GALA are $60 each or $100 a pair (includes reception). Tickets to each of the weekend's other five shows are $30, with an Early Bird discount at $25 until March 15. A VIP all access pass for the entire weekend is $150. Group sales of 10 or more are $45 for the GALA.

Tickets to the GALA can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-tribute-to-champagne-gala-and-awards-ceremony-tickets-1981542512998

Tickets to the other five shows can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-strength-we-carry-lawtfs-33rd-annual-solo-festival-tickets-1982468591925

For more information, questions or ticket prices, visit us at info@lawtf.org or call us at (818) 760-0408.