On Sunday March 7, 2010, The Radisson-Warwick
Philadelphia and Traverse Arts Project will present the 2nd Annual
Red Carpet Party. The event will feature a public screening of the 82nd
Annual Academy Awards® telecast live from Hollywood.
"This hotel has provided the backdrop for many
an event in history," said Jim Riker, General Manager of
Philadelphia’s Grand Dame Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, "and we
are pleased to be hosting this Oscar® event on March 7th."
The event started in 2009, and was created by T.
Desiree Hines, founder and executive director of the Philadelphia GLBT
Arts Festival, and Mark A. Dahl, founder and artistic director of
Traverse Arts Project. Robert "Sandy Beach" Hitchen, director
and host of the popular and recently resurrected Miss’D America Pageant
will be the Red Carpet host for the event. Other hosts include award-winning
composer Joseph Hallman and Mark A. Dahl. Hallman has received
commissions from members of top ensembles, including the New York
Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mark A. Dahl was
the assistant director, recording engineer, and production stage manager for the
2010 Miss’d America Pageant.
"In 2008, I contacted the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts And Sciences about hosting an Oscar event" Hines said.
"They give very specific guidelines that must be followed by nonprofit
organizations that host public Oscar® viewing parties as fundraisers."
This event is not sponsored or affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. "We have to be creative in our marketing and developing
of the event, but it’s worth it in the end."
Hines is best known in classical music circles as
one of the country’s few African-American female pipe organists. She is also
one of the most visible and out transsexual musicians in the U.S. She was the
subject of an extensive cover story in the May 28, 2009 issue of Philadelphia
CityPaper. "She’s On a Mission" by Citypaper’s Arts Editor Carolyn
Huckabay, detailed challenges Hines faced being a transsexual organist and
church leader.
The proceeds from the event will go to benefit Festivale!
The 2nd Annual Philadelphia GLBT Arts Festival. Launched in 2009,
the festival presents emerging performing and creative arts professionals who
openly identify and represent the GLBT community. Last year’s festival
attracted performing and visual artists from all over the U.S. and Canada. This
year the headliners will be the Queer Urban Orchestra of New York and Transcendence
Gospel Choir of San Francisco, the first ever all-transgender choir.
Transcendence was also the subject of the 2006 documentary "The
Believers," by Emmy® Award-winning director Todd Holland.
The event will open at 5:00 p.m. for VIP Gold
admission and 6:00 p.m. for VIP Silver admission. Requested donations are $60.00
for VIP Gold, $50.00 for VIP Silver, and $30.00 for Bronze Admission. VIP Gold
and Silver Access will include champagne greetings, pre-parties, red carpet
photos, open wine/beer/vodka bar, and gourmet hors d’oeuvre buffets all night.
Bronze Admission will include access to a wine and cheese pre-party beginning at
7:00 p.m., red carpet photos, hors d’oeuvre buffet from 8-10:00 p.m., and
drink specials from 8:00 p.m. to midnight.
There is also a raffle for a trip to Las Vegas.
"Items like this usually go for silent auctions, but we are making the
event more fun by raffling it off" says Joseph Hallman. The package is
generously donated by Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino®, Las Vegas.
It will include round trip airfare for two to Las Vegas and four days
accommodation at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas®. The majority of the proceeds from
the raffle will support the travel and accommodation of Transcendence. The
winner of the raffle will be announced at the event on March 7.
For more information, visit www.traversetheater.org
Tickets may be purchased by visiting
