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2020 kicks off where 2019 left off with continued sold-out events

Over 40 Find Your Best Voice® workshops and four major productions are planned throughout 2020 by The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation as its programs to support performers young and old, as well as the community-at-large, gain momentum throughout the region.

The first two mid-week voice-over workshops of 2020, in Biloxi and New Orleans, are already sold out, and a third workshop in Baton Rouge is attracting vigorous ticket sales. The mid-week workshops calendar for winter/spring will continue thru May in all three cities, and then from September thru November.

This pattern proved extremely popular with performers from stage, screen, and studio, all of them having been sold out throughout 2019.

For the 2020 Find Your Best Voice® mid-week workshops schedule, please go to www.FindYourBestVoice.com

PRODUCTIONS

The Foundation is working on no fewer than FOUR major productions throughout this year following the ongoing success of its annual benefit production of "It's a Wonderful Life" as a radio-play on stage over the past 11 years.

This year will see the Foundation's debut of a radio-play production of A Christmas Carol in New Orleans, while It's a Wonderful Life will be repeated by the Foundation's Gulf Coast Nights Radio Theater troupe this year in Biloxi, MS, having been a two-night sell-out on the coast in December 2019.

Using the original broadcast script, The War of the Worlds is scheduled for late spring, and provides the opportunity for performers to play more serious roles than the lighthearted Christmas productions which, incidentally, has given experience for over 200 actors from the movie and related industries in Hollywood South over the past 10 years.

And it doesn't stop there: the highlight of the year is the 2020 Hollywood South Honors®, organized by The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation for its 8th time and with a new name, and scheduled for early September. Proceeds will go towards the Hollywood South Hall of Fame®, to be housed in the proposed South Louisiana Performing Arts Center in St.Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

The 2020 production schedule in summary (dates and venues to be confirmed):

Late Spring: "The War of the Worlds", Biloxi, MS.

Early September: The 2020 Hollywood South Honors®, New Orleans.

December: "It's a Wonderful Life", Biloxi; "A Christmas Carol", New Orleans.

For details and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Stephen James at 504-355-9673, Cell: 228-424-0544
stephen@nolavoicetalent.org

The proposed South-east Louisiana Performing Arts and Education Center in St. Tammany Parish, LA, is to be the venue for the Hollywood South Hall of Fame® .

The Hall of Fame will be the jewel in the crown of the South-east Louisiana Performing Arts and Education Center, which will also house a 450-seat theater, a smaller studio theater, a green-screen filming studio, a sound recording studio with voice-over sound booths, classrooms, a library, and conference rooms and offices, among its facilities.

Dave Alspach, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the South-east Louisiana Performing Arts and Education Center, is excited about the latest development of the project, which is sure to attract the attention of major investors. Said David, "To have the Hollywood South Hall of Fame® housed within the complex is a great boon, not only to the center, but also to St.Tammany as well as the surrounding region.

"Hollywood South is and has been a booming industry and will only get bigger. At last the public will be able to see first-hand just the enormity of the movie and related industries in the region, including Louisiana and Mississippi."

The Hollywood South Hall of Fame ® is the brainchild of Stephen James, a board member of the South-east Louisiana Performing Arts and Education Center and Founder and CEO of the non-profit The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation, which has provided education and support to performers in the movie and related industries throughout the region, as well as to youth and the community, for over ten years.

The Hall of Fame will exhibit the stars of Hollywood South past, present, and rising; and will pay tribute also to the unsung heroes of the film and related industries in Louisiana and Mississippi, who put so much into the development of the industry.

Exhibits are expected to include awards and trophies, costumes and memorabilia from leading Hollywood South movie and video productions, as well as screenings of classic productions from the region. Stars from around the region will also be presented in special events, and the venue will also host the annual Hollywood South Honors® (formerly the Hollywood South Awards®) organized by The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation, as well as other major events. The venue will also be the headquarters for The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation.

Said Stephen, "The proposed South-east Louisiana Performing Arts and Education Center, situated in St.Tammany Parish provide the ideal venue for the Hollywood South Hall of Fame®. Road links to and from St.Tammany are first-class, putting the center within a virtual 'stones throw' of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Jackson, MS., and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

"Not only will the center draw visitors from around the neighboring states but will also provide the an amazing resource for the performing arts community and the community at large in south-east Louisiana and further afield."

For details and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Stephen James at 504-355-9673, Cell: 228-424-0544
stephen@nolavoicetalent.org

NOLA VOICE TALENT BRINGS "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" TO THE GULF COAST

== 11th Annual benefit to be held at Center Stage, Biloxi, December 7th and 8th, 2019 ==

Following ten years' success in New Orleans, The NOLA Voice Talent Foundation is bringing its production of "It's a Wonderful Life" to The Center Stage in Biloxi, MS.

Produced as a dynamic radio-play on stage, the production has wowed Holiday audiences in New Orleans for the past ten years - directed and produced by Stephen James, a Biloxi resident and Founder and CEO of the non-profit NOLA Voice Talent Foundation.

This will be the third production James will have presented in Mississippi by NOLA Voice Talent Gulf Coast, with two previous radio-play productions of The Whistler in Biloxi and Ocean Springs being a resounding success.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is based on the popular classic Christmas movie of the same name and adapted as a radio-play by New Orleans performer Vatican Lokey, a former member of NVT.

This year's production at Center Stage Biloxi will be a Holiday extravaganza, with classic cars lined up outside the theater and delicacies served in the foyer. Already cast as the leading lady is Saucier actor Alyssa Diamond as Mary Hatch Bailey, the tolerant wife of the wayward George Bailey. Saving George from his attempt to jump of the bridge at Bedford Falls is Clarence, played as an oafish Cockney by Stephen James, while the evil Henry Potter is played by international wrestling announcer and actor Paul Eubanks (Claws, Tell me Your Secrets, The Purge, NCIS:New Orleans).

With some of the casting already having been made, comprising members of Gulf Nights Radio Theater, part of NOLA Voice Talent Gulf Coast, auditions for remaining roles will be held on Monday, September 23rd (6.30pm) at the Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Hancock Whitney Bank, 880 Howard Avenue, Biloxi. (Date and venue to be confirmed.)

August 8th, 2019

Wrestling legend PAUL EUBANKS has been award with the Hollywood South EXTRAS AWARD.

Not only did Paul receive the most nominations for this award, but his outstanding work in supporting the industry and the community at large makes Paul's award well-deserved, having worked hard to make his way in the movie and related industries; as well as in his dedication to non-profit organizations and service to the community.

Paul Eubanks is a retired professional wrestler and international sports commentator. Following personal tragedy, he has successfully forged a new career in acting and has appeared in many leading TV shows and movie productions, including several episodes of CLAWS and the movies POWER and TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, among others. Paul also played a lead role two years running in the internationally-broadcast annual fund-raising radio-play IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and he became a member of SAG-AFTRA towards the end of 2018.

Significantly, Paul is a dedicated servant to the community, serving tirelessly as a councilor for the charity Angel House, which supports victims of crime, as well as being thoroughly involved in raising funds for the movie and related industries and the community through the non-profit NOLA Voice Talent Foundation; while he also raises funds for families of retired, injured, or deceased wrestlers.

The Hollywood South Awards recognizes the work of individuals throughout the movie and related industries in Louisiana and Mississippi - the region known as Hollywood South - and who use their expertise to support the industry as well as the community at large.

You can join Paul Eubanks on the Red Carpet alongside Legends Award winner HARRY SHEARER and other stars from the spectrum of the movie industry in Hollywood South, at the 2019 HOLLYWOOD SOUTH AWARDS & NVT 10TH ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY BASH, Saturday September 7th 2019 (6pm-late) at the world-famous Cafe Istanbul Performance Theater in The Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117.

Tickets only $25, includes buffet. Bar available. Admission by advance booking only via www.HollywoodSouthAwards.info 

View the full list of this year's awards at www.nolavoicetalent.org/awards-2019