The Buzz -- Film and NBC's ER star, Mehki Phifer, signs on as co-host with LisaRaye McCoy for the 20th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards on Monday, August 30, 2010, 7 P.M., at the Director's Guild of America in Los Angeles. This year's distinguished honorees include Kenny Leon (Elton John's musical Aida) for the Trailblazer Award, Wren T. Brown (Star Trek: The Next Generation) for the Community Service Award, Quadiru Kent on behalf of Wal-Mart for the President's Award, and special performance from Bobby Valentino (Capitol Records R&B Recording Artist).

To inaugurate this year's award show activities the Beverly Hills/ Hollywood Branch is presenting the Third Annual NAACP Theatre Festival starting on Friday, August 27, 2010, with "A VIP Reception and theatrical performance of Layon Gray's "Black Angels Over Tuskegee" and concluding on Sunday, August 29, 2010. The festival will be held at the New LATC (514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013). The festival features a panel titled ‘A Conversation With Ruben Santiago-Hudson' which is an intimate interview setting with acclaimed actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson (ABC's Castle). Celebrity panel moderators for the festival include Hattie Winston (PBS's Electric Company), Ernest Dillihay (City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs), Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Stogie Kenyatta (CBS' Bold and the Beautiful), Richard Gant (TNT's Men of a Certain Age), and Ben Guillory (The Piano Lesson).

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