Playwrights' Arena Honors Denise Blasor, Gregg Daniel, And C. Raul Espinoza At Annual Brunch Gala At LA LGBT Center

Playwrights' Arena will honor Denise Blasor (Actor/Director), Gregg Daniel (Director/Actor) with the lee Melville Award for outstanding contributions to the Los Angeles theater community, and C. Raul Espinoza (Community Engager) with the Henry Ong Community Leader Award for outstanding leadership in the Los Angeles theater community.

The Board of Directors of Playwrights' Arena unanimously voted to honor these amazing individuals. Artistic Director Jon Lawrence Rivera said “he is thrilled we get to celebrate these three fearless leaders in the Los Angeles theater community. Individually they have cultivated and engaged our audiences at large with their artistry and expertise.”

Scheduled to perform: Jill Marie Burke, Becca Godinez, Crissy Guerrero, Natasha Kaiserman, Michael Shepperd, Jennifer Leigh Warren, and the LMU cast of SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD.

Music Direction is by past honoree Nathan Wang, and award show director will be Nic Arnzen.

The brunch gala begins at 11 AM on Sunday, April 28, at Los Angeles LGBT Center. Dress code is elegant brunch attire.

Tickets:

10 VIP Seating $1,000 ($100 each)

2 VIP Seating $250 ($125 each)

Individual VIP Seating $150 each

General Seating $50 each

For reservations go to www.playwrightsarena.org.

About the Cast

Denise Blasor is a Puerto Rican actress, director & artist. Film work include A Place Among the Dead directed by Juliet Landau; Noriega: God's Favorite co-starring with Bob Hoskins; Death in Granada with Andy Garcia & Esai Morales. She played Doña Rosa in Snowfall and just completed the films Take Me Back directed by Jonathan Medina and Diez Segundos directed by Gloria Laino. She's the voice of Ceci in Oscar Winners Coco & Adelie Chica in George Miller Happy Feet. She directed and performed in the political musical film Calle de la Resistencia which was nominated as Best Film by the Puerto Rican Associated Press. Stage direction includes Best Play Revival of Irene Fornes Fefu and Her Friends; Cristo Vive at the Orpheum Theatre; Wild in Wichita at LATC as well as Garcia Lorca's Trilogy of House of Bernarda Alba, Yerma and Blood Wedding which she also performed in. She performed in the World Premieres of Ron Sossi's Elephant Pieces, Stephanie Walker's The Abuelas directed by Andi Chapman; Stephanie Walker's The Madres; Heart Song directed by Shirley Jo Finney; Timothy McNeil's Los Muertos, June in a Box directed by Octavio Solis, Luis Alfaro's Electricidad directed by Lisa Peterson; Rodrigo Garcia's Ten Tiny Love Stories directed by Luis Alfaro; La Posada Magica directed Diane Rodriguez; La Falsa Cronica de Juana la Loca directed by Margarita Galban. She was Associate Artistic Director of Bilingual Foundation of the Arts and Artistic Director of L.A. Diversified, serving as director, designer, writer, performer & adapter. Shows produced include her adaptation of The Three Sisters, He Who Gets Slapped, No Exit, the original musical, Caderas. She's produced, wrote and directed 10 podcasts series with her partners Juliette Blasor and Rene Heredia and has won Best Podcast for the original/new adaptations of Tonanzin, The Nutcracker, Children Stories, and A Christmas Carol. 

Gregg T. Daniel directed the West Coast revival of Anna Deveare Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 at The Mark Taper Forum, the Denver Center of Performing Art's world premiere of Beaufield Berry's In The Upper Room. August Wilson's Radio Golf, Seven Guitars, Gem of the Ocean, and A Raisin In The Sun at A Noise Within Theatre (Ovation Nominee-Best Production of a play), Lanie Robertson's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill and Katori Hall's The Mountaintop at the Garry Marshall Theatre. West Coast premieres of Mfoniso Udofia's Her Portmanteau at Boston Court Theatre, Tearrance Arvelle Chisolm's Br'er Cotton for Lower Depth Theatre. With Rogue Machine Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry's Les Blancs (Ovation-nominated, Best Director), the L.A. premieres of Can I Touch It by Francesca da Silveira, and Greg Kalleres' Honky. A revival of Alice Childress Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White for the Antaeus Company (Winner Stage Raw Award–Best Revival, Best Ensemble). Regional work includes, Samm-Art Williams' Home for the International City Theatre (ICT) & the New Jersey premiere of Katori Hall's The Mountain Top and Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man at Cape May Stage. He is a recipient of the NAACP Best Director award for the International City Theatre's production of August Wilson's Fences (nominated L.A. Drama Critics Circle, Ovation, and StageScene LA awards). Gregg is a Founding Member and current Artistic Director of Lower Depth Theatre (www.Lower-Depth.com). Additional L.A. credits - Lee Blessing's Cobb, Eric Simonson's Lombardi, Frank McGuinness Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Broadway World nomination, Best Director), and Tom Stoppard's translation of Heroes for Group Repertory Theatre. For Lower Depth Theatre, the West Coast premiere of Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen (Winner-NAACP Best Ensemble). 

C. Raul Espinoza After 10 years in the IT industry, C. Raul Espinoza made the decision at age 40 to pursue a career in the professional theatre. To this day, Raul continues to enjoy a 22-year career in professional theatre which began March 2002 in Center Theatre Group's (CTG) marketing department. After a 7-year stay there he moved on to consulting. His undaunted commitment to audience development, community engagement, and theatrical marketing has given him the privilege of having worked for some of the most recognizable theatres, theatre companies, and independent productions in L.A. and N.Y.  During his time in N.Y. he was thrilled to have worked for The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park, Mobile Shakespeare Unit, 5th Anniversary Broadway reunion concert of In The Heights, and was an adjunct member of The Broadway League's ¡Viva! Broadway initiative. However, Raul's most meaningful experiences are those with L.A. based exceptional, award winning, and critically acclaimed theatres, producers, and companies. He's been honored to work with CTG (Ahmanson, Taper, Kirk Douglas), Pantages Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, Independent Shakespeare Company, Rogue Machine, Skylight Theatre, Boston Court, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Interact Theatre Company, Latino Theatre Company, Caltech Public Programming, About Productions, Sierra Madre Playhouse, and The Actors' Gang among many others. For numerous years he mentored interns from the LA County Department of Arts and Culture Summer Intern Program and conducted marketing roundtables for their Arts Tune Ups. Raul sat on the boards of the LA Stage Alliance, Furious Theatre Company, and National Repertory Theatre Foundation. He was a member of the NoHo Arts Center Ensemble as well as an Associate Artist of Interact Theatre Company. This theatre community is the most fulfilling community of which he's ever been a part. He's most grateful for that.

About Playwrights' Arena

Playwrights' Arena, under the leadership of artistic director Jon Lawrence Rivera, is dedicated to discovering, nurturing and producing bold new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights. It develops new materials through several series of readings, workshops and round table discussions. Local playwrights are encouraged to create original, adventurous, daring materials with the intent of challenging the mind, touching the heart and provoking the spirit. Playwrights' Arena was founded in 1992 by Jon Lawrence Rivera and steve Tyler. For more information, please visit www.playwrightsarena.org.

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