March 2nd 2009. New York City. The Women’s
Project chose to honor the achievements of a distinguished
group of women.
Lucia Hwong Gordon, Composer and Instrumentalist; Estelle
Parsons, Actor and Director; Susan K. Reed, Editor-in Chief
of “O”, The Oprah Magazine; and Susan Sobbett, President
American Express OPEN. These women were selected because of
the significant contributions they have made and continue to
make in their chosen fields.
The host for the evening was Diana Williams, award winning
reporter and anchor for Eyewitness News at 5:00pm. Esteemed
presenters of the Honoree’s Awards were: B.D. Wong; actor of
screen and stage, currently in his 9th season of
Law & Order’s SVU, Arthur Penn; Director of such notable
films as Bonnie & Clyde, The Miracle Worker, and Alice’s
Restaurant, Serene Jones; the sixteenth president of Union
Theological Seminary, and the first female president in the
Seminary’s 172-year history, and Nell Merlino; President and
CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence. Ms
Merlino is the creator of, Take Our Daughters to Work Day.
Honoree, Susan K. Reed thanked Julia Miles who strarted the
Women’s Project in 1978 and spoke of the important need for
current female artists to mentor the next generation of
women.
Honoree, Susan Sabbott shared her realization, “your efforts
change the lives not only of the artist but the audiences.”
Honoree, Estelle Parsons spoke of having known a world when
there was no Women’s Project. She joked, “I chose acting
over politics and law because I wanted a level playing
field.” Honoree, Lucia Hwong Gordon spoke of how greatly
honored she was to be chosen by
the Women’s Project stating that Tina Chen got her involved 10 years ago.
Lucia said. “It is enlightening to support voices of women
who shine the light on the issues of the world, that is why
we are all here!”
I had a lovely time at the event and was very humbled by the
brilliance of many leaders I had the honor of meeting. I am
particularly honored to know Lucia Hwong Gordon. We met at a
friends luncheon in the Hamptons several years ago. She has
chaired and supported many philanthropic events, managed to
compose music and be a loving mother to her beautiful twin
daughters and a supportive wife to her dear husband Peter.
Lucia has a very peaceful yet tireless energy. Time Magazine
and the New York Times have honored Lucia by including her
in a select group of America’s exceptional new composers.
Her music for theatre includes the scores for the Tony Award
winning Broadway production of M. Butterfly. It is said that
Ms. Hwong’s music for television and film underscores social
and political concerns such as Vietnam War Story/HBO,
Hiroshima/NBC and many more.
MISSION:
Now under the
leadership of Julie Crosby, Producing Artistic Director,
Women's Project remains devoted to its mission of producing
and promoting theater created by women. To that end, we:
*Provide
women’s perspectives on a wide variety of political, social,
international, religious, and cultural topics
*Produce
established and emerging women artists at WP’s home, the
Julia Miles Theater
*Mentor exceptional
writers, directors, and producers through WP’s
Lab
*Develop
new works and classic plays by women in readings and
workshops
*Commission
new works and adaptations of classic plays by women
*Advocate
on behalf of women theater artists within the national and
international professional theater
*Educate
students in
grades 1-12 about the cultural and historic significance
of women theater artists
*Celebrate
women of achievement from a variety of fields at our annual
Gala
*Awaken
audiences and theater professionals to the power and range
of women theater artists.
Story by Sara
Herbert-Galloway
sara@blacktiemagazine.com
www.herbertcollection.com
To learn more please
visit:
www.womensproject.org
To view more photos
please go to
www.sdmackpictures.com
and
www.imagesofsociety