LOS ANGELES WOMEN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 33 YEARS!

A Multi-Cultural Festival of Solo Artists

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    • 2026 LAWTF Festival
      • 2026 Awardees
        • Carmen de Lavallade, Infinity Award
        • Diane Ladd, Infinity Award
        • Andi Chapman, Integrity Award
        • TL Forsberg, Rainbow Award
        • Vannia Ibarguen, Maverick Award
        • Yvonne Farrow, Eternity Award
      • 2026 Performers
        • Sarai Hicks
        • Sona Lewis
        • Christina Linhardt
        • Clarinda Ross
        • Victoria Boateng
        • Alice Cutler
        • Lynne Jassem
        • Michelle Perdue
        • Meagan Harris
        • Marissa Mahoney
        • Micia Mosely
        • Gio Quezada
        • Tangie Ambrose
        • Ada Cheng
        • Fay Hauser-Price
        • Vicki Dello Joio
        • Karin Trachtenberg
        • Rheagan Wallace
        • Barbara Brownell
        • Jovelyn Richards
        • Mandy Willams
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Celebration!

Empowering Voices Of Solo Female Performers For 30 Years.

2024 Festival Ticket Prices

VIP PASS – $150 (to all programs)     |     GALA – $100 (pair), $60 (single ticket)
At the Door Purchase – $30     |     Early Bird Purchase – $25

Stay tuned for more information on LAWTF's 2024 Annual Festival that will take place March 28-March 31

lawomenstheatrefestival

🎭 Amplifying Women’s Voices in Theatre Since 1993
✨ Empowerment • Legacy • Community
🎟 33rd Annual Festival • March 2026 • LA
🎶Honey, everything's coming up roses… …For this we 🎶Honey, everything's coming up roses… …For this week's #MotivationalMonday, @PattiLuPone! Since tomorrow is her birthday 🎂 join us here at #LAWTF in celebrating a star synonymous with #Showbiz Born in New York, LuPone developed a passion for performing in dance classes, school & local theater productions. She attended Juilliard, & was a member of their inaugural Drama Division & its first graduating class. In 1973, LuPone made her Broadway debut & received her first Tony nomination in 1975. She has since amassed more than 50 stage credits & a further 7 Tony nominations, with 3 wins for Best Actress & Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also has 2 Olivier Awards, 2 Grammys & multiple other honors. Nicknamed “the First Lady of the Theater,” LuPone has earned the accolade, giving life to many iconic roles. She was the first to play Eva Perón on Broadway in ‘Evita,’ earning her first Tony win! She then had nearly identical success when she originated the role of Fantine in the original West End production of ‘Les Misérables,’ also winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, making her the first American ever to win an Olivier. 🏆 LuPone is famed for her vibrant stage presence, but her path hasn’t always been easy. She’s had to fight for her success & even in so-called ‘lulls’ in her Broadway career, she kept honing her craft & expanding her talents, through plays, film & studio albums. That same resolve has helped LuPone be a fearless advocate for herself & many causes over the years. Costars have described LuPone as someone who feels deeply & brings that emotional force to her work, so it’s no surprise that when she lends her voice to a cause, like LGBTQ+ rights or elevating the arts, she does not back down. 💪 Patti LuPone has been called many things: actress, diva, icon & more. But these labels can be boiled down to a core quality: passion. LuPone is passionate about the craft she loves, the standards she maintains & the causes she holds most dear. Whether through upholding theater etiquette, belting out a show tune, or fighting for social change, perhaps it’s best summed up in her own words: “Love is what we need more of.” 💜 #WomenInTheArts
This #MotivationalMonday, we’re moving from an est This #MotivationalMonday, we’re moving from an established literature legend to a rising supernova in the world of music. At just 21, Sofia Isella is already making her mark as an immense talent, unafraid to share the deepest parts of herself through art that resonates around the world. 💫 Born here in Los Angeles in 2005, she had creativity in her blood – her father is a filmmaker & her mother is a writer. Sofia showed her musical potential from age 3, when she began learning classical violin & by age 8, she was writing her own lyrics. 🎻 In 2020, Sofia released her first EP, ‘I’m Not Yours,’ debuting her distinctive blend of alternative pop-punk & rock, infused with classical influences. In the following years, she quickly grew popular on social media, enough that she began capturing the attention of established artists. In August of 2024, Sofia was asked to be one of the opening acts for Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. A month later, Sofia released her second EP, ‘I Can Be Your Mother,’ & in May 2025, she launched her third EP, ‘I’m camera.’ 🎶 If asked to pick a singular quality that separates Sofia Isella’s music from others, it would have to be the raw, at times jarring power of her lyricism. In an interview with Wonderland Magazine, Sofia summarized her sometimes uncomfortable artistry by simply stating that “It is gore to be a woman.” The interviewer agreed, saying Isella’s work exposes “the viscera of the feminine experience – the perversity, ugliness, and horror that lives beneath the skin.” In her lyrics, Sofia covers numerous difficult themes, from autonomy & objectification to identity & social control rooted in misogyny. ✒️ Much like Margaret Atwood, Sofia Isella’s art exemplifies the belief that “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” The word ‘unsettling’ is often used to describe Sofia & it’s a label she actively embraces. She is a wonderful human to draw motivation from; passionately dedicated to her craft & a wonderful example to creatives everywhere that art isn’t just about beauty – it’s about challenging, provoking, & sometimes, at its best, unsettling the status quo. 🖤 #LAWTF #WomenInTheArts
It is with a very saddened heart that we share we It is with a very saddened heart that we share we have lost yet another loved artist in our Festival Circle. Yesterday, our beloved LAWTF performer, DEE FREEMAN, passed. Dee performed excerpts of her moving solo show, "POISON GUN" several times with the Festival. Her personal story was one of my very favorite solo plays because it was so well-crafted and storytelling at its best. Dee was an incredible, engaging and at times humorous solo artist in a piece that was at once tragic, mesmerizing and mysterious. Dee will be sorely missed by LAWTF and all whose lives she so richly touched. We are in prayer for her two children and siblings. Take wings, Dee! DEE'S BIO: After high school, Dee entered the United States Marine Corps on a dare and left six years later as a Sergeant. (Oorah!) She lived in Japan after leaving the service, working at an all-Japanese radio station, FM Aomori, as a disc jockey. Dee has performed in more than 80 stage productions beginning with “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She has won numerous awards and was nominated twice for the NAACP Image Award for “Homegirl” at the Court Theater, and “The Last Street Play” at the Colsac Theater. Dee made her way to Los Angeles and has spent the last 25-plus years acting in television and film. Credits include NCIS L.A., Reasonable Doubt, Shameless, Cold Case, Dexter, E.R., Halfway Home, Pretty the Series, Brothers and Sisters, Crossing Jordan, My Baby’s Daddy, Boston Public, The Guardian, Anacostia, The Shield, Six Feet Under, Suddenly Susan, Kenan & Kel, Stranger Inside, The District, Blue Hill Avenue, The Division, Third Rock From the Sun, High Incident, Profiler, All That, The Hughley’s, Ghost Whisperer, Caroline In The City, Freezerburn, Seinfeld, Caroline In The City, The X-Files, The Landlady, Rude Awakening, and more. Dee just completed Seasons 9 and 10 of Tyler Perry “Sistas,” was a supporting lead in the horror movie, "Don't Move," and appears in the shorts "Patty's Last Resort" with Lori Beth Denberg, "Country We Call Life" and “For Piece Of Mind."
For this week’s #MotivationalMonday, we’re celebra For this week’s #MotivationalMonday, we’re celebrating Margaret Atwood, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in contemporary literature. With the TV adaptation of her book, ‘The Testaments,’ set for release this Wednesday, let’s use today to honor a truly historic talent. ✒️ Born in Canada in 1939, Atwood spent much of her childhood in the Canadian wilderness, fostering a deep connection to nature & storytelling. This early, often isolated upbringing nurtured the imagination that would define her writing. In 1962, she earned a master’s degree in English Literature from Radcliffe College on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, reflecting her creative talent & intellectual potential – potential that she has more than fulfilled. For 65 years, Atwood has been nothing short of prolific, with over 50 published works spanning multiple forms. Her first poetry collection, ‘Double Persephone’, was published in 1961, winning the E.J Pratt Medal, and the rest, as they say, is history. Her work has earned some of literature’s highest honours, including two Booker Prizes for ‘The Blind Assassin’ & ‘The Testaments,’ further cementing her legacy. 📚 Of course, we can’t discuss Margaret Atwood without mentioning ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ widely regarded as one of the most influential dystopian novels of the modern era. Offering a chilling exploration of the erosion of women’s rights, its themes have remained strikingly relevant decades after publication, resonating across generations. Atwood has always said that “One of my rules was that I would not put any events into the book that had not already happened." Art imitating life in this way only adds to the gut-wrenching power of Atwood’s writing and is a powerful reminder, too, that art is not limited to that which is beautiful; pain is equally as valid & significant. Margaret Atwood is a living legend. Her literary output is as vast as it is influential & while she declines the label of icon (“it leads to iconoclasm”, she’s said in interviews), we hope that she will accept our honoring of her as a pioneer of her field & an inspiration to women, writers & creatives around the world. 📖💜 #WomenInTheArts #LAWTF
Our hearts are so full. 💛✨ Thank you for making th Our hearts are so full. 💛✨ Thank you for making the 33rd Annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival such a beautiful, powerful success. To our incredible performers—thank you for sharing your gifts, your truth, and your artistry with such courage and brilliance. You are the heart of this Festival. To our illustrious co-hosts, devoted board members, tireless staff, skilled tech crew, and industrious volunteers—this Festival exists because of your passion, commitment, and love for the work. To our generous donors, one and all, and to everyone who came out to celebrate with us at our Opening Night GALA—your support means everything. And to our enthusiastic audiences—thank you for showing up, leaning in, and being part of this vibrant community. Your energy is what brings the theatre to life. This Festival was a true celebration of women’s voices, and we are so grateful to each and every one of you who made it possible. 💫 #LAWTF #TheStrengthWeCarry #TheatreFestival #Womenintheatre
Sunday at the Festival ✨ Sunday at the Festival ✨
🎵 What you want, baby, we got it What you need, yo 🎵 What you want, baby, we got it What you need, you know we got it All #LAWTF is asking… Is for you to show some love & #RESPECT for today’s #MotivationalMonday, the late, great Aretha Franklin! 👑 Raised mainly in Detroit, Aretha grew up immersed in gospel music & learning the power of using one's voice. Her father was a Baptist minister & prominent civil rights activist, so she grew up around many leading figures in the civil rights movement. She began singing in church at a very young age & was quickly recognized for her captivating voice, with many calling her a prodigy. ✨ Her musical genius is nothing short of astounding. For just one example, during 12 years at Atlantic Records, Franklin produced 17 of her career's 38 studio albums. These included many of her most iconic hits, such as ‘Respect,’ ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ & ‘Chain of Fools.’ And that was just the start. Over her career, Franklin won 18 Grammys & was the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom & in 1985 her voice was even declared a "natural resource" in Michigan! 🎵 Along with her music, Aretha was and is a humanitarian icon. She used her platform to advocate for civil rights and songs like ‘Respect’ and her version of ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ became anthems for humanitarian causes everywhere, remaining so to this day. Franklin also gave vast financial aid to many causes, including groups supporting Native American and First Nations cultural rights. She used her voice for change for more than 50 years, until her passing in 2018. 💪🏾 Sometimes, it feels as if there aren’t enough words to describe the true impact a person has on the world around them. You could write 100 summaries of Aretha Franklin & barely scratch the surface. But if you take one thing from this post, let it be that, whether in life or death, it’s the heart of the woman behind the music that we should aspire to embody. There will only ever be one Queen of Soul, but, in her own words, “it would be a far greater world if people were kinder and more respectful to each other.” 💜 #ArethaFranklin
PERFORMER SPOTLIGHT: Jovelyn Richards 🎶🌀 A night PERFORMER SPOTLIGHT: Jovelyn Richards 🎶🌀 A night of solitude, secrets, sensuality, and confessions come together at Tootsie’s, a 1930s Detroit jazz club, where the owner’s unspoken love finally reveals his true feelings. Join us TONIGHT to welcome Jovelyn to the stage! 🎭 ⭐️Don’t forget about our entire festival weekend of programming from March 26-29, 2026 celebrating women in the arts and “THE STRENGTH WE CARRY!” Tickets linked in our bio and LAWTF.org! 🎟️ #fyp #theatreinLA #supportthearts #detroitblues #musicinla
PERFORMER SPOTLIGHT: Barbara Brownell 🪽💡 The ligh PERFORMER SPOTLIGHT: Barbara Brownell 🪽💡 The lights of Broadway and Hollywood weren’t bright enough to reveal the family secret hiding in plain sight. Join us TONIGHT to welcome Barbara to the stage! 🎭 ⭐️Don’t forget about our entire festival weekend of programming from March 26-29, 2026 celebrating women in the arts and “THE STRENGTH WE CARRY!” Tickets linked in our bio and LAWTF.org! 🎟️ #fyp #theatreinLA #supportthearts #familysong #musicinla
Saturday night at the Festival ✨ It was a TIME! C Saturday night at the Festival ✨ It was a TIME! Catch our final day of shows Sunday at 3pm and 7pm at Theatre 68 Arts Complex in North Hollywood
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