The 28th Annual Los Angeles Women's Theater Festival Announces Honorees

Diahann Carroll

The 28th Annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF) will honor five women for their exceptional career and life achievements in the Opening Night Champagne GALA and Awards Ceremony on March 25, 2021, at 7 p.m. in a virtual presentation (due to the ongoing pandemic).  The deserving honorees who have made laudable contributions to the world of theatre are listed here:

Diahann Carroll is this year’s recipient of the Infinity Award, memorializing the exceptional achievements of a theatre artist. An icon and a trailblazer on stage, on-screen and on television, Ms. Carroll made her Broadway debut in the Harold Arlen/ Truman Capote musical House of Flowers, starring subsequently and becoming the first African American female actor to win a Tony® Award for Richard Rodgers’ No Strings, followed by Agnes of God, Black Broadway, the national touring company of Same Time Next Year, the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard, Bubbling Brown Suga, Love Letters, and more.  Her film career spanned over six decades and included an Oscar®-nominated performance in Claudine, Carmen Jones, Paris Blues, and more. As the first African American female star of a dramatic television series, Julia, she won a Golden Globe Award. She subsequently became the first Black female to star in a nighttime soap opera, Dynasty.

Paula Donnelly will receive the Rainbow Award, bestowed on an artist or individual for her diverse contributions in fostering non-traditional and multicultural theatre works. Paula Donnelly began working with Cornerstone Theatre Company (famed for creating theatre works in collaboration with people in the community) in 1998 as a stage manager and joined Cornerstone’s Ensemble in 2000. Her credits for Cornerstone include Los Biombos, AKA, For Here or to Go?, Peter Pan, and Crossings. As Director of Engagement, Paula teaches and shares Cornerstone’s methodology, works to strengthen community relationships post-production, and to contributes to the expansion of community-engagement practices in theatre. She helps imagine and implement engagement values in all aspects of Cornerstone’s work. Ms. Donnelly loves the state of California, her home city of Los Angeles, and the many people and stories contained therein.

Akuyoe Graham will be the recipient of the Integrity Award, presented to an artist or individual who has brought credibility and dignity to her work. Award-winning actor/author/educator Akuyoe Graham possesses an extraordinary gift – the ability to sit with society’s outcasts and rapidly guide them to a life-changing experience of their own beauty of being. Akuyoe’s personal encounter with her transcendent inner beauty was the culmination of a long journey, which she re-enacts in her highly acclaimed one-woman play, Spirit Awakening. By animating the pivotal characters who influenced her along the way, Akuyoe takes audiences on her odyssey of self-discovery. Whether in a prison classroom with a dozen inmates – or on stage before hundreds of students or regular playgoers – Akuyoe’s archetypal journey electrifies audiences and inspires them to look beneath their own social masks to their unchanging inner essence. 

Shigemi Matsumoto will be bestowed with the Eternity Award, given to an artist or individual whose lifetime achievements have made a lasting contribution to the world of theatre. Ms. Matsumoto has performed with over 50 national and international opera companies including those in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Brussels, Wolf Trap, Portland, Kansas City, San Antonio and Tucson. Her opera roles include Mimi, Musetta, Susanna, Micaela, Norina, Edina,  Pamina, Despina, Rosina, Nanetta, Lauretta, Violetta, Abigail, Adelw, Zerlina, Yolanda, and Frasquita. She has made recordings with Luciano Pavarotti and with the NBC Orchestra. She has worked individually with all of The Three Tenors (Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo). Her honors include the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater Cal State Northridge; and the Hans von Leden Award (for World Voice Day). She is the founder of the Classical Singers Association, which has been a mainstay in helping young singers become better educated in the musical requirements necessary to become a professional singer.

Rose Portillo will receive the Maverick Award, presented to an artist or individual whose work has set a high standard of individuality and self-styled creativity. Ms. Portillo is an accomplished actor/writer/director/educator and visual artist whose stage and film career began with a lead role in Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, (original LA production, Broadway, film), and the role of the Mother in the 2017 revival. She was Associate Director of About Productions, now celebrating 33 years of creating original theater works, and founded the company's Young Theaterworks which serves students primarily in East Los Angeles. Since appearing in Theresa Chavez's solo play, L.A. Real, she has partnered with Chavez, the company's Artistic Director, on more than nine critically acclaimed productions. As an actor, Rose has extensive credits in regional theatre, film, and television.   Rose has been honored with the Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community.

There will be special live performances at the GALA in addition to the awards presentation. Performers include:

Jacquelyn Brown-Benefield. Rise Up and I Am Enough. These two uplifting songs celebrate personal empowerment.

Juli Kim in Abandon. In this dance piece, the woman abandons both beauty and docility in favor of inner strength and power.

Founded by Executive Producer Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival is an annual event unique among Los Angeles cultural institutions and should not be missed as LAWTF celebrates its 288h year.

The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival is a non-profit organization. The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival organization is made possible this year in part by Los Angeles County Arts and Culture; Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles; City National Bank; Women in Media;  KPFK 90.7; and Adilah Barnes Productions.

Festival Director: Fay Hauser-Price. Festival Managing Producer: Kelly McMahon.

Admission to the GALA is $25.   For the other programs, ticket prices this year include general admission single show tickets at $15 until March 18 or $20 thereafter. A VIP all-access pass for the entire virtual Festival is available for $90. Reservations: (818) 760-0408 or go to http://www.lawtf.org To join and follow LAWTF on Facebook and Twitter, click on their links at http://www.lawtf.org