Archived entries for Mary Wilson

NEWS RELEASE — PEREZ HILTON SET TO HOST BROADWAY UNDER THE STARS: CELEBRATING THE 35th ANNIVERSARY OF “DREAMGIRLS”

PEREZ HILTON
SET TO HOST
BROADWAY UNDER THE STARS
CELEBRATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE LEGENDARY TONY AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL DREAMGIRLS
ORIGINAL STARS
SHERYL LEE RALPH, LORETTA DEVINE,
AND JENNIFER HOLLIDAY
REUNITE FOR CONVERSATION AND SONG
DIRECTED BY IONA MORRIS
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY KENNETH CROUCH
CHOREOGRAPHY BY LEE MARTINO
SPECIAL GUESTS ANNOUNCED
INCLUDING
MARY WILSON, ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE SUPREMES
SUNDAY, JULY 10 AT 8PM
AT THE JOHN ANSON FORD AMPHITHEATER IS SOLD OUT

Dreamgirls - Broadway Under the StarsPerez Hilton has been set to host Broadway Under the Stars — Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of “Dreamgirls” — on Sunday, July 10 at 8pm at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. Produced by Chris Isaacson Presents, and now SOLD OUT, this one-night-only event will star Independent Spirit Award-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph, Emmy Award-winner Loretta Devine, and Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Holliday. Iona Morris will direct, with musical direction by Kenneth Crouch and choreography by Lee Martino.

Since launching the celebrity entertainment blog PerezHilton.com in 2004, Perez Hilton has created a media empire that spans online, publishing, television, radio, music and live events. In addition to his blog, which has become one of the leading sources for celebrity news amassing over 300 million hits a month, Hilton runs five additional digital properties focused on fashion, fitness, family, animals, and a mobile app. Hilton has published three books and is the father of two children. He also created the hugely successfully music event series “One Night In…” in 2008, which features up-and-coming and top musical acts. Hilton has also made his impression on the world of musical theatre as the famously unhip TV dad Danny Tanner in a new stage parody, Full House: the Musical. On radio, Hilton is host to the twice-daily celebrity and entertainment news feature “Radio Perez” and has announced the upcoming “Perez Nights Live.” His contribution to pop culture in radio has scored him morning segments with Carson Daly and a following for his podcast, PHP. Hilton was named the #1 Web Celeb in 2007, 2008, and 2009 by Forbes Magazine, one of the 15 most influential Hispanics in the US by People en Español, the 2009 Hispanic of the Year by Hispanic Magazine, and one of Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2007.’ As a tastemaker, Newsweek has compared his influence on the music scene to Oprah’s Book Club. In January 2015, Hilton took part as a housemate on the 15th season of the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother and also joined the 2015 panel of influential judges in the Miss Universe Pageant. Visit Perez Hilton online at www.perezhilton.com.

Iona Morris directed the well-received Johnny Guitar Watson Heart 4 Music event at LATC. This year, Morris directed the long-running Sassy Mamas and Tammi Mac’s Bag Lady winning a total of six NAACP Beverly Hills/Hollywood Theatre Awards, including Best Director for Morris (Sassy Mamas). She has directed several solo shows for Jenifer Lewis, Blair Underwood, Penny Johnson Jerald, and Kim Wayans and will direct Michael Colyar’s solo show in September of this year. Morris has directed The Vagina Monologues from coast to coast with all-star casts, Still Standing, a hip-hop musical in Switzerland, and Sheba, a 21-person musical in Los Angeles and at the New York Music Theater Festival. She served as assistant director with Sheldon Epps on Purlie and Ray Charles Live! at The Pasadena Playhouse.

Kenneth Crouch began his musical career at age 15. He is a musician, music director, and music producer, and has performed and recorded with Andrae Crouch, BB King, Bob Dylan, Dr. Dre, Nancy Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, Chaka Kahn, India Arie, En Vogue, George Clinton, Jill Scott, Lenny Kravitz, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Sheila E, Taylor Hicks, Whitney Houston, Tom Petty, Tito Puente, Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt, to name only a few. For seven years, he was the Musical Director for Latin icon Marc Anthony. He has also served in that capacity for talent like Chris Brown, Destiny’s Child, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Lopez, Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton, BabyFace, Brandy, Brian McKnight, Cheryl Lynn, Robin Thicke, Fantasia, Jon B, and Lauryn Hill, among many others. Crouch has produced for artists such as Mariah Carey, Brandy, Barry White, Lalah Hathaway, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Lattimore, Chante Moore, D.J. Quick, and Rahsaan Patterson, and more.

Choreographer Lee Martino is the winner of four Ovation Awards, three LADCC Awards, and she is a recipient of the Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. Her credits include Carrie, First Date, The Lyric Project, The Wrong Man, When You Wish, Peter Pan, Oklahoma!, Life Without Makeup starring Rita Moreno, Kiss Me Kate, Falling for Eve, Shall We Dance on Ice, the animated feature films Alpha and Omega 3D and The King and I (animated). Martino choreographs the annual Alzheimers benefits, APLA’s S.T.A.G.E. benefits, Actors Fund benefits, and What a Pair (benefit for the John Wayne Cancer Institute).

The evening’s special guests are scheduled to include (in alphabetical order) Sharon Catherine Brown, Wilson Cruz, Frenchie Davis, Ray Garcia, Saana Gray, Ciera Jasmeen Hart, Liisi LaFontaine, Kenny Lattimore, Craig Lucas, Parnell Marcano, Marsai Martin, Sandy Martin, Annette Moore, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, Belinda Skinner, Craig Thurman, Natalie Wachen, Amber Stevens West, Mary Wilson, and Matt Zarley.

The show is produced by Chris Isaacson for Chris Isaacson Presents, LLC, with the following team: Ronn Goswick (Associate Producer), Kay-Ta Matsuno (Associate Musical Director), Meredith Greenburg (Production Manager), Morgan Zupanski (Stage Manager), Tim Hicks (Visualist/Projectionist), and A. Chandler Warren, Esq. (Legal Services).

Chris Isaacson Presents (CIP) has created, produced, and promoted over 600 events since the company’s founding in 2004. From small clubs to major theatres CIP has presented some of the most influential stars of this generation including Adam Lambert, Lea Michele, Neil Patrick Harris, Grammy Award-winners Paula Cole, Richard Marx, Sergio Mendes, and more. Recently, CIP produced the “Food & Friends—Vibiana” charitable event honoring Grammy Award-winning rock icons Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. The event at Los Angeles’s downtown hot-spot Vibiana, was hosted by Emmy-Award-winner Lisa Kudrow and included performances by UCLA’s Scattertones, Nickelodeon’s Ashley Argota and High School Musical star Corbin Bleu. “Food & Friends” raised over $400,000 for the Nexus Scholarship Award that supports elite clinician/research neuroscientists in UCLA’s M.D. and Ph.D. Psychiatry Residency research training programs. For information about upcoming CIP events, including Donna McKechnie (August 5—7), Peisha McPhee & Sergiu Tuhutziu‘s Chopin Meets Broadway (September 30 & October 1), and Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (October 25 & 26), visit www.ChrislsaacsonPresents.com.

Broadway Under the Stars — Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of “Dreamgirls” at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, in Hollywood on Sunday, July 10 at 8pm is now SOLD OUT. The evening is sponsored by Gelson’s Markets and PUMP Restaurant Lounge. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit The D.I.V.A. Foundation and The Actors Fund.

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07-05-16

Press Release: Vibrant Voice Awards Benefit Event Raises $40,000 for Celebration Theatre

Celebration Theatre’s
VIBRANT VOICE AWARDS
BENEFIT EVENT
Featuring Betty White
And Her Hot in Cleveland Co-Stars
Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendie Malick
Reading a Classic Episode of The Golden Girls

Raised $40,000
for the non-profit theatre, now in its 31st year

2014 Vibrant Voice Awards
were presented to
Wendie Malick and Robert Forster

With Special Guests
Sean Hayes, Tracie Thoms, Dan Lauria, Tim Daly,
Max Greenfield, Millicent Martin,
and the legendary Mary Wilson
(of the original Supremes)

On Saturday, April 26 on Sound Stage 19 at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA, Celebration Theatre’s Vibrant Voice Awards benefit event raised $40,000 for the non-profit theatre, now in its 31st year. The evening featured original ‘Golden Girl‘ Betty White along with her Hot in Cleveland co-stars Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendie Malick reading an episode of The Golden Girls (“Blanche and the Younger Man”). The 2014 Vibrant Voice Awards were presented to Wendie Malick and Robert Forster, and there were special appearances by Sean Hayes, Tracie Thoms, Dan Lauria, Tim Daly, Max Greenfield, Millicent Martin, and Mary Wilson (of the original Supremes). The evening was hosted by Michael Burger.

The Vibrant Voice Award is presented annually in recognition of long-term support of Celebration Theatre as well as spreading the word about the work and mission of Celebration. Past recipients of the award are Leslie Jordan and Sharon Lawrence.

Founded in 1982, Celebration Theatre is a community of artists dedicated to presenting innovative, provocative and relevant work that examines the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer experience. It provides a supportive forum for professional and emerging writers, directors, designers and performers, giving voice to the full experience of gay culture. The theatre endeavors to challenge society’s perception of the community and give a vibrant voice to its evolving identity.

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04-29-14