Terrence McNally and Alderman Tom Tunney Headline Bailiwick's 2003 Trailblazer Awards
Thu. September 18, 2003 12:00 AM
Awards Sunday, September 28th
Chicago, IL -
For the past several years, Bailiwick Repertory has honored leading members and friends of the GLBT community with The Trailblazer Awards, presented in honor of Larry Osburn to members and friends of the GLBT community whose work and lives have moved the community forward. Honorees in the past have been celebrated for their work in the area of sports, journalism, culture, and community affairs.
The illustrious award winners for 2003 include:
Stephen Bates, (co-creator of Naked Boys Singing! and current conductor of The Lion King in Chicago), Evette Cardona and Mona Noreiga of Amigas Latinas, Patricia Logue of Lambda Legal Defense Fund, Renae Ogletree, director of Chicago Department of Human Services Youth Services Division, scenic designer and founder of Lionheart Gay Theater Rick Paul, Karen C. Sendziak of Gerber/Hart Library, 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney, and Tony Award Winning Playwright Terrence McNally, author of CORPUS CHRISTI, THE LISBON TRAVIATA, and many others. (Recipient bios follow)
The awards will be presented on Sunday, September 28 at Maxim’s, 24 East Goethe. The reception is at 6:00, with catering by Polo Café and Catering, Bridgeport, USA. The award presentation and entertainment follows at 7:00.
Tickets are $50 for general admission, and $75 for VIP Preferred seating.
Join us at Maxim's, 24 East Goethe, for a very special evening, including our very special honoree Tony Award Winning Playwright Terrence McNally.
Past recipients include:
In 2002 Publisher Tracy Baim, Political Activist Michael Bauer, Choreographer Joel Hall,
Terri Hemmert, DJ and Music Historian, Honorable Jan Schakowsky, Congresswoman, 9th Congressional District, Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Fox-TV commentator.
In 2001: Reverend Gregory Dell, Skating Champion Rudy Galindo, Author E. Lynn Harris,
Gerber-Hart Library's Don Landers, Journalist Achy Obejas, Journalist Jeff Rossen, and
Frontrunner's Dorothy Tanner.
In 2000: Playwright Claudia Allen, Journalist Lawrence Bommer, Attorney Michael C. Cook,
Community Historian Marie Kuda, Olympic Champion Mark Tewksbury
In 1999: Actress Alexandra Billings, Playwright and Activist Larry Kramer, Olympic Champion Greg Louganis.
For reservations and tickets call 773-883-1090 x 17 or order online at www.bailiwick.org.
Stephen Bates received the 1998 Back Stage West Garland awards for his musical direction and score of Naked Boys Singing! in Los Angeles, and co-produced the award-winning original cast recording. He also composed and musical-directed the 30-song score of Starr Struck, a political satire garnering worldwide media attention. Stephen is currently in Chicago as music director and conductor of The Lion King.
Evette Cardona is a Chicago-born Puerto Rican lesbian raised in the Bucktown/Logan Square community and a Senior Program Officer at the Polk Bros. Foundation. Prior to returning to school Evette worked as the Program Site Coordinator for a Parents Too Soon program for teenage mothers at Christopher House, one of the oldest settlement houses on the city's north side. She is a national board member of Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues and a member of the Executive Committee of Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy (CLIP). Evette was inducted into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2002 along with her partner of eight years, Mona Noriega. She is co-founder and current co-director of Amigas Latinas, a former board member of the Lesbian Community Cancer Project and a current Steering Committee member of Chicago’s first LGBT community center, Center on Halsted, scheduled to open in 2005. For her work with Amigas Latinas, Evette was recognized with the Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA) award for Community Leadership in 1997. In 2001, she was also awarded the John R. Hammel Award from the ACLU – Chicago office.
Patricia M. Logue is a family law expert for the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the nation's oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to the civil rights of the LGBT community, and people with HIV or AIDS, overseeing legal and public policy work for Lambda's Midwest Regional Office. Her work has helped the US Supreme Court recognize the importance of balancing the rights of parents with recognition of the diversity of modern families, opened the door to the hundreds of gay-straight student alliances that have sprung up in recent years around the country, and spelled out public schools’ obligation to treat seriously the abuse of lesbian and gay students.
Terrence McNally is one of the world’s most accomplished dramatists. His work includes: the plays Bad Habits, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, The Lisbon Traviata, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, Lips Together Teeth Apart, Corpus Christi and A Perfect Ganesh; and the musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ragtime and The Full Monty. In addition to four Tonys, three Hull-Warriners, and two Obies, McNally has also received the Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work and the Emmy for André’s Mother. He has been a member of the Dramatists Guild Council since 1970, serving as vice-president for nearly two decades.
Mona Noriega is the Regional Director of the Midwest Office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which advances civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered, and people living with HIV or AIDS. Mona has years of public relations, activism, and marketing experience and helped open the Midwest office in Chicago in 1993. Most recently, Noriega was founding co-chair and senior bid consultant for Chicago 2006, Inc., and an organization working to bring the Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival to Chicago. A seasoned community activist, Noriega was inducted into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2002 along with her partner of eight years, Evette Cardona. She served for eight years on the Steering Committee of Amigas Latinas; an organization committed to the empowerment and education of Latina lesbian, bisexual and questioning women in the Chicago area. Prior to that she helped form LLENA (Latina Lesbianas en Nuestro Ambiente – Latina Lesbians in Our Environment) and was a founding mother of the International Women’s Day Dance. Years before gay parenting was in the spotlight, Mona organized numerous activities and Mother’s Day parties for lesbian mothers of color and their children.
Renae Ogletree has demonstrated her leadership talents by identifying, confronting, and helping to resolve issues concerning diversity in the planning and execution of AIDS Walk Chicago, and she has organized educational conferences to create opportunities for others in her role as a board member of Yahimba, a networking organization for lesbians of African descent. Ogletree cofounded and co-chairs Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays, an organization that aims to make lesbian and gay Chicagoans more visible in the city’s African American community. She played an active part in planning the four Unity Conferences that have been held since the group’s inception. She has also served as a founding member of The Color Triangle. And she has served as an organizer of the annual Pride Sunday event at Chicago’s Belmont Rocks, where thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered African Americans gather to celebrate strength and unity. She serves on the Lesbian Community Cancer Project board of directors, helping to ensure a supportive environment for lesbian health care. Professionally, Ogletree has more than 30 years of leadership experience in serving youth and has done so through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, the Better Boys Foundation, and Chapin Hall Center for Children. She is now executive director of the Chicago Youth Agency Partnership. She has helped to open a shelter for homeless youth, consulted with the Chicago Park District on services infrastructures, and conducted research and grants work for the Chicago Community Trust.
Rick Paul is a pioneer participant in what in 1968 came to be called Chicago’s “Off-Loop” theatre movement, which included the founding of the groundbreaking Lionheart Gay Theatre. His design work has been via theatre, film, dance and festivals in every state and every continent. Several of his favorite world-premiere productions happened in Chicago, including Grease, E/R Emergency Room, Tennessee Williams’ Out Cry, the films Normal Life and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer among many others.
Karen C. Sendziak has been affiliated with Gerber/Hart Library for sixteen years. She is currently the curator of the Gerber/Hart archives, the organizational Historian, and the Chair of the Nominating Committee for the board of directors. Her work has been dedicated to the preservation of LGBT history and culture.
Tom Tunney, Chicago’s first openly gay alderman, has devoted his life to giving back to Chicago’s Lakeview community. Tunney’s impact in Lakeview can be seen in the alleviated congestion in the ward, sweeping zoning reforms, limited property taxes for seniors and long-term residents and improved education. Over the years, Tom has cultivated a platform of public service that reflects his commitment to the community and his passion for change. Tunney is a founder and former president of the Lakeview Center Business Association, founding board member and former chairman of the White Crane Senior Center, and former fundraising chair for Impact, a gay and lesbian political action organization.
For more information call 773-883-1090. Tickets may be ordered at 773-883-1090 x 17 or www.bailiwick.org.
The illustrious award winners for 2003 include:
Stephen Bates, (co-creator of Naked Boys Singing! and current conductor of The Lion King in Chicago), Evette Cardona and Mona Noreiga of Amigas Latinas, Patricia Logue of Lambda Legal Defense Fund, Renae Ogletree, director of Chicago Department of Human Services Youth Services Division, scenic designer and founder of Lionheart Gay Theater Rick Paul, Karen C. Sendziak of Gerber/Hart Library, 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney, and Tony Award Winning Playwright Terrence McNally, author of CORPUS CHRISTI, THE LISBON TRAVIATA, and many others. (Recipient bios follow)
The awards will be presented on Sunday, September 28 at Maxim’s, 24 East Goethe. The reception is at 6:00, with catering by Polo Café and Catering, Bridgeport, USA. The award presentation and entertainment follows at 7:00.
Tickets are $50 for general admission, and $75 for VIP Preferred seating.
Join us at Maxim's, 24 East Goethe, for a very special evening, including our very special honoree Tony Award Winning Playwright Terrence McNally.
Past recipients include:
In 2002 Publisher Tracy Baim, Political Activist Michael Bauer, Choreographer Joel Hall,
Terri Hemmert, DJ and Music Historian, Honorable Jan Schakowsky, Congresswoman, 9th Congressional District, Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Fox-TV commentator.
In 2001: Reverend Gregory Dell, Skating Champion Rudy Galindo, Author E. Lynn Harris,
Gerber-Hart Library's Don Landers, Journalist Achy Obejas, Journalist Jeff Rossen, and
Frontrunner's Dorothy Tanner.
In 2000: Playwright Claudia Allen, Journalist Lawrence Bommer, Attorney Michael C. Cook,
Community Historian Marie Kuda, Olympic Champion Mark Tewksbury
In 1999: Actress Alexandra Billings, Playwright and Activist Larry Kramer, Olympic Champion Greg Louganis.
For reservations and tickets call 773-883-1090 x 17 or order online at www.bailiwick.org.
Stephen Bates received the 1998 Back Stage West Garland awards for his musical direction and score of Naked Boys Singing! in Los Angeles, and co-produced the award-winning original cast recording. He also composed and musical-directed the 30-song score of Starr Struck, a political satire garnering worldwide media attention. Stephen is currently in Chicago as music director and conductor of The Lion King.
Evette Cardona is a Chicago-born Puerto Rican lesbian raised in the Bucktown/Logan Square community and a Senior Program Officer at the Polk Bros. Foundation. Prior to returning to school Evette worked as the Program Site Coordinator for a Parents Too Soon program for teenage mothers at Christopher House, one of the oldest settlement houses on the city's north side. She is a national board member of Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues and a member of the Executive Committee of Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy (CLIP). Evette was inducted into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2002 along with her partner of eight years, Mona Noriega. She is co-founder and current co-director of Amigas Latinas, a former board member of the Lesbian Community Cancer Project and a current Steering Committee member of Chicago’s first LGBT community center, Center on Halsted, scheduled to open in 2005. For her work with Amigas Latinas, Evette was recognized with the Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA) award for Community Leadership in 1997. In 2001, she was also awarded the John R. Hammel Award from the ACLU – Chicago office.
Patricia M. Logue is a family law expert for the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the nation's oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to the civil rights of the LGBT community, and people with HIV or AIDS, overseeing legal and public policy work for Lambda's Midwest Regional Office. Her work has helped the US Supreme Court recognize the importance of balancing the rights of parents with recognition of the diversity of modern families, opened the door to the hundreds of gay-straight student alliances that have sprung up in recent years around the country, and spelled out public schools’ obligation to treat seriously the abuse of lesbian and gay students.
Terrence McNally is one of the world’s most accomplished dramatists. His work includes: the plays Bad Habits, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, The Lisbon Traviata, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Master Class, Lips Together Teeth Apart, Corpus Christi and A Perfect Ganesh; and the musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ragtime and The Full Monty. In addition to four Tonys, three Hull-Warriners, and two Obies, McNally has also received the Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work and the Emmy for André’s Mother. He has been a member of the Dramatists Guild Council since 1970, serving as vice-president for nearly two decades.
Mona Noriega is the Regional Director of the Midwest Office of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which advances civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered, and people living with HIV or AIDS. Mona has years of public relations, activism, and marketing experience and helped open the Midwest office in Chicago in 1993. Most recently, Noriega was founding co-chair and senior bid consultant for Chicago 2006, Inc., and an organization working to bring the Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival to Chicago. A seasoned community activist, Noriega was inducted into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2002 along with her partner of eight years, Evette Cardona. She served for eight years on the Steering Committee of Amigas Latinas; an organization committed to the empowerment and education of Latina lesbian, bisexual and questioning women in the Chicago area. Prior to that she helped form LLENA (Latina Lesbianas en Nuestro Ambiente – Latina Lesbians in Our Environment) and was a founding mother of the International Women’s Day Dance. Years before gay parenting was in the spotlight, Mona organized numerous activities and Mother’s Day parties for lesbian mothers of color and their children.
Renae Ogletree has demonstrated her leadership talents by identifying, confronting, and helping to resolve issues concerning diversity in the planning and execution of AIDS Walk Chicago, and she has organized educational conferences to create opportunities for others in her role as a board member of Yahimba, a networking organization for lesbians of African descent. Ogletree cofounded and co-chairs Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays, an organization that aims to make lesbian and gay Chicagoans more visible in the city’s African American community. She played an active part in planning the four Unity Conferences that have been held since the group’s inception. She has also served as a founding member of The Color Triangle. And she has served as an organizer of the annual Pride Sunday event at Chicago’s Belmont Rocks, where thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered African Americans gather to celebrate strength and unity. She serves on the Lesbian Community Cancer Project board of directors, helping to ensure a supportive environment for lesbian health care. Professionally, Ogletree has more than 30 years of leadership experience in serving youth and has done so through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, the Better Boys Foundation, and Chapin Hall Center for Children. She is now executive director of the Chicago Youth Agency Partnership. She has helped to open a shelter for homeless youth, consulted with the Chicago Park District on services infrastructures, and conducted research and grants work for the Chicago Community Trust.
Rick Paul is a pioneer participant in what in 1968 came to be called Chicago’s “Off-Loop” theatre movement, which included the founding of the groundbreaking Lionheart Gay Theatre. His design work has been via theatre, film, dance and festivals in every state and every continent. Several of his favorite world-premiere productions happened in Chicago, including Grease, E/R Emergency Room, Tennessee Williams’ Out Cry, the films Normal Life and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer among many others.
Karen C. Sendziak has been affiliated with Gerber/Hart Library for sixteen years. She is currently the curator of the Gerber/Hart archives, the organizational Historian, and the Chair of the Nominating Committee for the board of directors. Her work has been dedicated to the preservation of LGBT history and culture.
Tom Tunney, Chicago’s first openly gay alderman, has devoted his life to giving back to Chicago’s Lakeview community. Tunney’s impact in Lakeview can be seen in the alleviated congestion in the ward, sweeping zoning reforms, limited property taxes for seniors and long-term residents and improved education. Over the years, Tom has cultivated a platform of public service that reflects his commitment to the community and his passion for change. Tunney is a founder and former president of the Lakeview Center Business Association, founding board member and former chairman of the White Crane Senior Center, and former fundraising chair for Impact, a gay and lesbian political action organization.
For more information call 773-883-1090. Tickets may be ordered at 773-883-1090 x 17 or www.bailiwick.org.