Giving Back Corporation Weekend Celebration Slated With An All-Star Lineup For an Evening of Theatre and Celebrity Spring Toast/Roast

GBC-Giving Back Corporation will host an Evening of Theatre and the 8th Annual Celebrity Spring Toast /Roast honoring two living legends, Ms. Ruby Dee and Mr. Nick LaTour.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 26, 2006 -- On Saturday, April 29, 2006 and Sunday, April 30, 2006, the GBC-Giving Back Corporation will host an Evening of Theatre and the 8th Annual Celebrity Spring Toast /Roast honoring two living legends, Ms. Ruby Dee and Mr. Nick LaTour.
                       
Ms. Dee is an American icon who made her Broadway debut in “South Pacific” (not the musical) and went on to appear in such plays as “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Purlie Victorious.” Her film career began in 1950, with the release of “The Jackie Robinson Story.” She was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1988. One of Ms. Dee’s most recent appearances was in the television production of Zora Neale Hurston’s, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Mr. LaTour is a renowned actor and has one of the most extraordinary voices of the 21st Century. He made his nightclub-singing debut in 1948 at the Elks Rendezvous Club in Harlem. One of Mr. LaTour’s most recent appearances was in the “Rosa Parks Story,” which he has first hand knowledge. It was his father who got Ms. Parks released from jail when she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus. He was also the narrator on the Academy Award Winning Documentary, “Mighty Times.”

On Saturday, April 29, there will be “An Evening of Theater.” It will begin at 6 pm with scenes from plays by some of Ms. Dee’s and Mr. LaTour’s favorite on and off-Broadway legendary playwrights, such as Beah Richards, Ossie Davis, Lorraine Hansberry, Ron Milner, Zora Neale Hurston, and others. Performances by top Hollywood, New York, and Broadway actors, such as Loretta Devine, Taraji P. Henson, Aloma Wright, Jeris Lee Poindexter, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Sean Blakemore, Amentha Dymally, Patricia Belcher, Clinton Derricks-Carroll, Willie Carpenter, Vickilyn Reynolds, Terence Ellis, Bill Brown, Rosie Hooks, and others. The event will be held at Los Angeles Southwest College Theater located at 1600 West Imperial Hwy in Los Angeles.

On Sunday, April 30, “The Eighth Annual Celebrity Spring Toast/Roast” will take place. Ms. Dee and Mr. LaTour will be toasted, roasted, and saluted with fond memories and laughter by a host of celebrities, friends, and family from both coast. Jo Marie Payton, best know for her role in “Family Matters” and two-time Tony Award Nominee, Dick Anthony Williams will host the Toast/Roast. The presentation will begin at 4 pm with a VIP reception to follow. The event will be held at the new Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, located at 4718 West Washington Blvd in Los Angeles.

For the first time, all the past living honorees Dick Anthony Williams, Nichelle Nichols, Woodie King, Jr. Juanita Moore along with last year’s honorees, Gertrude Jeannette and Bill Cobbs will return to pass the torch. Collectively, over 1000 years of theater will grace the stage to pay tribute to these two icons.

The star-studded gala will benefit GBC’s Book & Supplies Scholarships, including GBC’s-Ruby Dee Scholarship, and GBC’s-Nick LaTour Scholarship, to deserving students in the Performing Arts. Some of the past recipients who have benefited from these scholarships have gone on to such prestige’s colleges as Spelman, Morehouse, Grambling, Pepperdine, Loyola, Princeton and Tuskegee.

GBC-Giving Back Corporation was founded by thespian Ken Sagoes in August 1997. It is a non-profit organization. The goal of the organization is to help support, motivate and prepare today’s youth for the future.

For more information regarding ticket purchases, contact Inglewood Tickets at (310) 310-6400, information about Giving Back Corporation contact (310) 226-6198 and for media inquiries, contact Absolute…PR! at (323) 860-9893.

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