LA Women's Theatre Festival Opens with a Bang
(at left: Florence LaRue; at right: congratulating Connie Sawyer)
The annual gala for the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival, held at the Electric Lodge in Venice on Thursday March 25, was sheer delight.
The award show was lovingly co-hosted by Ted Lange and Anna Maria Horsford, who subbed last minute for Hattie Winston. Horsford could read the phone book and be funny and really added something special to the proceedings. Connie Sawyer, now 97 years young, was a hoot, getting up minutes before she was supposed to approach the podium. "You have to set yourself up" she confided. The audience adored her. The ever-beautiful Florence LaRue, the sole remaining member of The Fifth Dimension, Odalys Nanin, artistic director of the Macha Theatre and Indonesian choreographer Sri Susilowati were the four living award winners.
Alaina Reed Hall and Bea Arthur were honored posthumously with Infinity Awards. Hall's husband and Arthur's son were on hand to accept.
The four entertainers interspersed through the ceremony were hand-picked from twenty-four entries. Dancer Bonnie Weiss, now a vibrant 74, ballet artiste Ingrid Graham, singer/actress Mzuri Moyo, who portrayed ex-slave and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth in a brilliant solo theatre piece with song, and Juliette Marshall, a contemporary cabaret artiste, presenting her "Shift Happens" that shows the difficulties a single mom endures trying to find true love in today's insane world, were all sensational.
This was a terrific opening for the annual weekend of theatrical events which closed Sunday March 28 at the Electric Lodge.
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Much Ado About Nothing McCadden Place Theatre (8/07-8/16) |
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6 Out of 10 Theatre 68 (8/20-8/20) |
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After the Blast The Broadwater Second Stage (8/05-8/13) |
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Catch Me If You Can Colony Theatre (9/17-10/18) |
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Emily Skinner: In Concert Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/14-8/15) |
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Gershwin and the Golden Age Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) (10/11-10/11) |
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John Lloyd Young Feinstein's at the Nikko (8/21-8/22) |
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Love, Loss and What I Wore Sawyer's Playhouse (8/08-8/30) |
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Our Man in Santiago by Mark Wilding Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (9/10-9/20) |
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Riptide Film Festival James Armstrong Theatre (10/17-10/17) |