East West Players Visionary Awards Dinner
The East West Players have wrapped up their 41st season and to cap it off they are holding their annual Visionary Awards Dinner and Silent Auction at the Hilton Universal City on Monday, April 30th. Tamlyn Tomita, who received a Visionary Award last year, will be the co-host along with Yul Kwon, a winner of the CBS reality show, Survivor. 800 guests are expected to attend the black tie event, which is always filled with humor and entertainment. It is also an important fundraising dinner that supports the East West Players educational and artistic programs.
“East West Players is one of the oldest theaters of color operating in the United States and a cornerstone in the Asian American community. We thank the community for its belief in our mission and making EWP a place where the community may gather and share its many stories,” said East West Players Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang. The East West Players is a wonderful training ground for young talent in the Asian American community. Anyone who has seen even a single production at the theater knows how gifted those young people are and how worthwhile the programs are that the East West Players run. Therefore, the Visionary Awards Dinner is a valuable event and readers are urged to attend if at all possible.
Past recipients of the Visionary Award include actresses Tia Carrere, Nancy Kwan, Lea Salonga and Lucy Liu; actors George Takei, Alec Mapa, B.D. Wong and Jet Li; comedian Margaret Cho; Director John Woo and playwrights David Henry Hwang and Chay Yew. The Walt Disney Company and AT&T have also been singled out for their support, as have philanthropic organizations such as the James Irvine Foundation and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.
The Rae Creevey Award will also be presented that evening. This award is named after an Emmy Award-winning founder of the East West Players and honors those who have contributed behind the scenes. This year a new award, the Breakout Performance Award will be given to an artist who has had an outstanding performance in the last year which has had a positive impact on the Asian American community.
The Visionary Award will be presented this year to the following recipients.
Daniel Dae Kim, who plays the part of the Korean Jin Kwon on the ABC series, “Lost.” In 2006, he shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for being part of the ensemble in the drama. He was also named one of the “Sexiest Men Alive” by People magazine in 2005. Besides his screen work, Kim also appears frequently on stage, most recently in a production of Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov” in New York. He studied at New York University and has acted in East West Players productions of “Golden Child” by David Henry Hwang (1999) and “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare (2002).
The S. Mark Taper Foundation is being honored for its philanthropic work. In 2004 it granted funds to create the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment at East West Players. Executive Director Ray Reisler will accept the Award on behalf of the S. Mark Taper Foundation.
S. Mark Taper Foundation was founded in 1989 as a private family foundation dedicated to supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in the community. The foundation’s benefactor, S. Mark Taper, was an Englishman who came to Los Angeles in 1939 and lived here until his death in 1994. He was a real estate developer and builder in California and then became the founder, chairman and chief executive of one of the largest savings and loans in this country. In 2006, the S. Mark Taper Foundation was recognized as an “Outstanding Private Foundation” in Los Angeles in conjunction with National Philanthropy Day.
The Rae Creevey Award will be given to Mark Jue. He and his volunteer crew of Johann Diel, Rob Lee, Michael Sun Lee, Billy Wing, Harry Du Young as well as many others, serve up cocktails and other refreshments on opening nights of shows. He also does many other thankless tasks behind the scene. Jue has also bartended at a number of events in the area, such as at the Golden Globe Awards. He also performs volunteer work for organizations like Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, the Chinatown Service Center, the Chinese American Museum, the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture, Go For Broke National Education Center, the Hawaii International Film Festival and Visual Communications.
The Breakout Performance Award is to be presented to Masi Oka. He stars in the NBC ensemble drama series, “Heroes,” as Hiro Nakamura. He plays an anime fan who uses will power to move through time and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for that work. Oka has also had recurring roles on “Scrubs” and “Luis,” and guest starred on “Without a Trace,” “Joey,” “Reba,” “The Loop,” “All of Us,” “Still Standing,” “Will and Grace,” “Yes, Dear” and “The Gilmore Girls.” Oka graduated from Brown University with degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science with a Theater Arts minor. His first job was at George Lucas’ Oscar-winning special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. Oka has also been a member of East West Players artist network, the Alliance for Creative Talent Services.
Performers scheduled to appear are vocalists Jenni Selma and Liza Del Mundo, Ramona DuBarry and Kathy Villanueva, who have given performances in the past at East West Players. The trio is making its debut at the event and will sing a medley of hit songs.
The orchestra for the evening will be led by Musical Director Nathan Wang. He has written the scores for such films as “Highlander,” “Forbidden City” and “She the Man.” Along with a professional band will be students of the Olympia Youth Orchestra. A special solo will be performed by thirteen year old violin prodigy, Ben-Han Sung.
The East West Players 41st Anniversary Dinner and Silent Auction will be held on Monday, April 30, 2007 at the Hilton Universal City, 555 Universal City Drive, Universal City, CA 91608. The no-host reception and silent auction starts at 6:00 pm and the dinner and awards program start at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $175?$1,250. For more information visit www.EastWestPlayers.org or contact Development Manager Lisa Tang at (213) 625-7000, extension 17 or Ltang@EastWestPlayers.org.