Trinity Rep announces 2015 Pell Award recipients

ACTRESS DEBRA MESSING will receive the Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts from Trinity Rep at the 19th annual Pell Awards on June 15 at the theater. / COURTESY DEBRA MESSING
ACTRESS DEBRA MESSING will receive the Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts from Trinity Rep at the 19th annual Pell Awards on June 15 at the theater. / COURTESY DEBRA MESSING

PROVIDENCE – Trinity Rep will award actress and East Greenwich native Debra Messing with the Pell Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts at the 19th annual Pell Awards on June 15 at the theater.
Messing, most famous for her role as Grace on “Will & Grace,” is now in a new NBC series “The Mysteries of Laura” as the character Laura Diamond.

John Chan, jazz promoter and owner of Chan’s Fine Oriental Dining in Woonsocket, will be honored with a Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts. Dancer and choreographer Julie Strandberg will receive the Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Trinity Rep’s former executive director, Michael Gennaro, will be awarded with the Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts.

After the ceremony at Trinity Rep, a reception will follow at the Providence Public Library.

“For 19 years, we have honored Sen. Claiborne Pell’s extraordinary commitment to the arts and humanities by recognizing remarkable arts leaders across the nation and in Rhode Island,” Curt Columbus, artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company, said in a statement. “Debra, John, Julie and Michael have made an enormous impact on their respective fields, the results of which can be felt in every corner of the arts world. It is a privilege to be able to honor them today.”

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The theater’s annual gala event will be co-chaired by Jon and Julie Duffy, and Mark and Catherine Gim. All five of Senator Claiborne Pell’s grandchildren will serve as honorary chairs for the event, including Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Neal; Clay Pell and Michelle Kwan; Nicholas and Annie Pell; Dr. Tripler Pell and Tawfik Hammoud; and Eames Yates Jr. The event will be catered by Russell Morin Fine Catering.

Individual tickets to the full event are $500; a limited number of individual tickets to the ceremony and post-show reception are $250. Information can be found at www.trinityrep.com. Proceeds from the event benefit Trinity Rep’s artistic programs.

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