Count Down to Festival 2012!

Well, we do have a lot going on over the next few weeks. Top of the list is our 19^th Annual Festival, titled SHINE! which kicks off on Wednesday, March 22 at 7 PM, with our traditional Champagne Gala and Awards Ceremony. We are honored to have the opportunity to recognize the achievements of four women who have made significant contributions in the world of theater.

This year's honorees are:

l-r: Ivonne Coll, Michelle Danner, Denise Nicholas and Aliah Whitmore

Ivonne Coll receiving the Eternity Award. This award is bestowed on an artist or individual whose lifetime achievements have made a lasting contribution to the world of theatre. She is considered a trail-blazer for Latina performers.
 

Michelle Danner  is receiving the Rainbow Award, presented to an artist or individual for her diverse contributions in fostering non-traditional and multicultural theatre works. Artistic Director of Edgemar Center for the Arts, Michelle has developed programming for at-risk youth, children and seniors.

Denise Nicholas is the recipient of the Integrity Award. This award is presented to an artist who has brought credibility and dignity to her work. An internationally acclaimed actress, Denise also wrote the award-winning novel, "Freshwater Road," inspired by her own days in the civil rights struggle.

Aliah Whitmore is receiving the Maverick Award, presented to an artist or individual whose work has set a high standard of individuality and self-styled creativity. The artistic director of her own theater company, her recent show "Girls Girls Girls: The Heart of the Relatively Make-Believe" focused on the artistic contributions of women of different colors, ages, and body shapes, and Hollywood's sometimes-dismissive treatment of them.

Following the kick-off is 3 days of exciting, multi-cultural and multi-discipline performances by 23 solo women artists. From dance to drama we guarantee that you will walk away having been thoroughly entertained!

We are also thrilled to have a stellar line-up of celebrities hosting each of the shows. Joining with us are Hattie Winston (Becker), Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Roger Guenveur Smith (A Huey P. Newton Story), Sy Richardson (Larry Crowe), Charo Toledo (East Side Story), Rosie Lee Hooks (The Body Guard), Iona Morris (Moist), Florence LaRue (The 5^th Dimension), Karen A. Clark (A Corporate Affair), Denise Dowse (All of Us), Faye Hauser Price (Glee), Freda Payne (Band of Gold) and Evangeline Fernandez (A Mexican Trilogy).

Tickets for the March 22 – 25 Festival are selling fast so call us at 818.760.0408 to check on show availability and be sure to visit our website at www.lawtf.com to meet the 2012 performing artists.

Following the Festival is our ENCORE! presentation at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. This is our second year for ENCORE! which features solo artists from past Festivals. This performance is made possible in part by the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment

Be sure and visit the website at www.lawtf.com for more information about ENCORE! and the performing artists or give us a call at 818.760.0408.

2012 Public Service Announcement With Executive Producer, Adilah Barnes

 

 

Please join us in supporting Vox Femina Los Angeles for its 15th anniversary season with From Shakespeare to Shamrocks, a spring concert celebration that brings the English and Irish together in song on Sunday, March 18^th at 3:00 PM.  Join Vox for a bi-cultural afternoon of classic Shakespeare sonnets and a wee bit of authentic Irish music sung in Gaelic.  From classical works to folk songs, celebrate England, Scotland and Ireland's many traditions old and new.

VOX FEMINA, is also a recipient of a grant from the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The concert is free and open to the public but reservations are reguested and can be made by calling VOX FEMINA at 310-922-0025

 

LAWTF launches FB campaign: Goal 1M Fans!!!

We are off and running! Running that is towards our goal to reach 1 million FB fans by the kickoff of our 19^th Annual Festival on March 22^nd. Our month-long marathon to build our fan base can only succeed with your help.

So what do you have to do? Easy. Go to our FaceBook page and "Like" us. Then ask all of your FB friends to join in and "Like" us too. Now, we promised you it would be easy so here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-Womens-Theatre-Festival/207210309956?sk=app_237202476309340

Stay tuned for updates as we race toward the finish line and, thanks for your continued support of LAWTF. 

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The 19^th Annual Festival kicks off with the traditional Champagne Gala and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, March 22^nd at 7 pm at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA. This year we are thrilled to feature performances from Florence La Rue in Just As I Am: Ms. La Rue, a founding member of the legendary pop vocal group The Fifth Dimension, gives a glimpse into the life of the woman, not the celebrity; Ingrid Graham in Eagle Woman: an emblematic dance which represents spirit, majesty and the ability to soar to new heights; Marisa Johnson in My Own Way: A woman expresses through song her victory over sexual assault; and Tia Matza in My M.O.: Through poetry, a trapeze artist is freed from some of life's challenges.

Opening the Gala and introducing the hosts is veteran theater, film and television actor, Roger Guenveur Smith (Obie Award winner for his signature solo performance in "A Huey P. Newton Story"). Hosts for the Gala are Hattie Winston ("Becker," "Homefront") and Ted Lange (a frequent actor and director on local stages also known for his long run on "The Love Boat" TV series).

  
This year's theme for the evening is "A Night Divine", honoring exceptional women who have made laudable contributions in theatre. Awardees will be announced on March 8 so stay tuned.

For more information on the Festival and to reserve your tickets for the Gala and for the shows, please visit our web site at lawtf.com.

          Welcome                     Gala Hosts                         

           2012 Gala Performers

    
 

Countdown To Festival 2012

 

19^th Annual Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival 

Presents 

"Shine!"

March 22 – 25, 2012

 

Wow! It's that time of the year again when the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) is in the midst of preparing for our 19^th Annual Theatre Festival. This year, we are thrilled to have 24 multi-cultural and multi-disciplined women artists from around the globe who will bring their solo shows to the stage. We are delighted that we will once again present these gifted performers at the Electric Lodge in Venice, California. Each year, we review numerous submissions and using very competitive criteria, select those we feel are "the best of the best." 

In our selection process, we look for outstanding talent, diversity of voices. relevance and impact of subject matter, and quality of submission presentation. Needless to say, this is not an easy assignment.

This year's theme is appropriately titled, "Shine!" It represents the brilliance of our performers as they share their stories of battling cancer, abuse, identity and other themes. It embraces the song that bursts forth in joyous celebration from overcoming obstacles to laughter that sends the soul soaring.

This is our 19^th Annual Festival, which has become a tradition during the last week of March each year as we honor and give voice to extraordinary women. Between now and the Festival, we will spotlight on our blog our artists and celebrity hosts who will be joining us on stage in "Shine!"

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Adilah Barnes to Guest on "Niteside With Gregg Hunter"

Tune in to "Niteside With Gregg Hunter" as LAWTF's Co-Founder and Executive Director, Adilah Barnes will be the guest. This nationally broadcast show can be heard on CRN Digital Talk Radio Network. It's also carried as an audio track on cable throughout the country (locally by Time Warner) and carried on some radio stations.

The show airs Sunday at 9 pm PST and the following Saturday afternoon, and can be streamed from the Internet on www.CRNTalk.com or iTunes Radio.

2012 YEAH!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As we begin this glorious New Year that holds the promise of miracles and opportunities beyond measure, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support.

Adilah Barnes
Co-Founder/Executive Director
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2011 was a banner year for the Festival. We experienced our most successful Festival since our inception18 years ago, selling out all but one of our programs – and that attendance was also good. In addition to a successful Festival, we were fortunate to have received a grant from the City of Culver City to offer an evening of solo performances for their residents at The Actor’s Gang at The Ivy Substation in Culver City, CA. To our delight, that was a  sold out house, too!

We were able to extend our educational outreach through, two 12 week storytelling workshops that we offered to senior citizens. This gave us the opportunity to creatively interact with over 75 seniors thanks to our two workshop instructors, Ina Buckner-Barnette who taught Connecting Bridges Through Stories and Iona Morris who taught The Storytelling: What Rich Lives We Lead.

 

As we move forward into this new year, we are excited about our new partnership with A New Life, a program that serves newly released women from prison. Through our partnership, LAWTF will be providing a writing workshop, Magnifying Your Dreams and Releasing Your Doubts taught by Iona Morris and an acting workshop, Stir It Up - From the Inside Out! taught by Alma Collins.

We have received another grant from the City of Culver City so we will again bring our Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival talent to The Actor’s Gang Theatre housed at the Ivy Substation in Culver City on March 28, 2012.

 

Of course, we invite all of you to join us for our 19^th Annual Festival: SHINE! that will be held March 22-25, 2012 at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA. We have a wonderful, exciting lineup of women solo artists from all around globe including those from the Netherlands, Canada and from cities around the US that include those from New York, Florida, Washington, Missouri, and up and down the state of California.

And, make your resolution to like us on FaceBook.

Here’s to a wonderful NEW YEAR!!!

Adilah Barnes, Co-Founder/Executive Director

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to receive our monthly newsletter, or e-mail us at info@lawtf.com or call us at (818) 760-0408.

Be sure and visit our website at http://www.lawtf.com where you can be a part of the LAWTF family. We offer many ways for you to become involved through donations to sponsorships, advertising or volunteering.

Thank you again for being a part of the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival and we look forward to hearing back from you soon!

Sssh! Do You Hear Her?

Whether on stage or sitting in front of a computer, whether oral or written, the female voice is powerful, insightful full of humor, wisdom, sorrow and joy. That is why during the month of November, LAWTF is recognizing both the performing artist and the aspiring author as we celebrate the voice of women.

Celebrating the oral...

LAWTF sends a big shout out to 2010 LAWTF Festival performer Ingez Rameau who is presenting her solo performance "BURN" at the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York. "BURN", a one-woman play, based on true events, is a searing portrait of a journey to personal freedom and transcendence; the coming-of-age of a little girl locked in a desperate struggle with her mother for sanity and love in post-WWII German Displaced Person's Camps. Living amidst the rubble of lost souls and perverted civility, "BURN" is a looking glass of shame, a beacon of love and courage - forcing our eyes to see, our hearts to feel and forgive.

Written and performed by Ingez Rameau, directed by Michael Phillip and produced by Ingez and LAWTF Board member Lynne Conner-Smith, "BURN" is going from Hollywood to Broadway, for one night only on November 10, 2011 at 9:00 p.m., in the United Solo Theatre Festival at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City.

The 2nd Annual United Solo, the world's largest solo theatre festival, presents a lineup of seventy-seven local and international productions invited to perform at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York City between October 20 - November 20, 2011.

Visit www.ingezrameau.com for historical footage and press clippings documenting Ingez's journey.

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Celebrating the written…

November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo) an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1 and November 30. Started in July 1999 with just 21 participants, the event now attracts over 200,000 people - writing a total of over 2.8 billion words. 

Participants must first register on the project's website (http://www.nanowrimo.org), where they can post profiles and information about their novels, including synopsis and excerpts. Word counts are validated on the site, with writers submitting a copy of their novel for automatic counting. Municipal leaders and regional forums help connect local writers with one another for holding writing events and to provide encouragement.

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The Writer's Well Literary Retreat for Women is another opportunity for aspiring writers to let their voices spring forward and have their works critiqued in a week-long retreat with LAWTF Executive Director and Board President, Adilah Barnes. Located in Sharpsburg, Georgia, The Writers' Retreat offers a peaceful and scenic safe haven for female writers who want to activate their literary voices. Located on a sprawling southern property of 1.8 acres in Sharpsburg, this serene and private place provides the perfect natural setting for serious writers to create without distraction. Georgia pines, oaks and maple trees embrace the retreat, fashioning a woodsy serene environment for writers to walk, breathe and write.

The Writer’s Well is part of the Writer’s Retreat network at www.writersretreat.com. It is the largest and most influential network of residential retreats in the Western world, specializing in helping writing mentors and retreat operators implement, promote, and support residential retreats for writers - regardless of the literary genre in which they work. Thus, poets, novelists, science fiction writers, essayists, journalists, book reviewers, short story writers and "self-helpers," are equally welcomed at the residential retreats.

"The Writer's Well is very close to my heart. Writing is my first love. I feel strongly about offering a space for writers to hone their craft and move their literary projects further. The Writer's Well allows that. I get the satisfaction of knowing I provide a space that allows writers’ works to be developed. I enjoy goal-setting with my writers for their stay when they first arrive. I also provide a critique of 15 pages of their sample writings so that they are able to gain valuable feedback on where their writing is and they may aspire to.”

Adilah Barnes

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The Writer's Well Literary Retreat for Women in Sharpsburg, GA is accepting entries from women writers for its Third Annual Literary Contest, WRITING FROM THE WELL. Writers may submit a two page double-spaced writing sample that can be from the genres of memoir, autobiography, short stories, novels, or poetry.

Submissions must include a cover letter, writing resume (if available), and a list of three references. The winner of this literary contest will win a one week stay at The Writer's Well during 2012. Please visit the Writer's Retreat at www.writersretreat.com (Georgia location) for more details on this very serene, woodsy and beautiful property. 

Submissions must be received by December 31, 2011 at

The Writer's Well

c/o Adilah Barnes

P.O. Box 363

Sharpsburg, GA 30277

For more information, call (770) 254-9888.