More than a hundred special guests gathered last Sunday afternoon at El Portal to honor two very special members of the dining and entertainment community for their outstanding work—director/choreographer/producer Kenny Ortega and local restaurateur Abel Ramirez.
As Sheldon Epps, artistic director of The Pasadena Playhouse, said in introducing him, “Kenny Ortega is a true renaissance man of the entertainment world. He is a great artist who also cares deeply for artists and their development. His work has touched so many around the world in a number of ways and inspired us all. It is our great pleasure to honor him and to recognize his extraordinary achievements as an entertainer and a great humanitarian.”
Ortega is currently executive producing a Spanish-language series for the Latino market entitled “Bandolero” and has been set to direct “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” for a Fox Network movie for television event to premiere in the fall of 2016.
Meanwhile, in 1995, Abel Ramirez purchased Pasadena’s El Portal Restaurant and created a family centered business with Rosalia, his wife of 45 years, and their son, Armando.
Theirs is a dynamic partnership where Rosalia trains the chefs in authentic Yucatan cuisine and manages the administrative operations for the three restaurants, and his son, Armando, is the general manager of El Portal.
The Theatrical Diversity Project has raised over a million dollars since its 2005 inception, to support Playhouse Diversity Initiatives, HOTHOUSE (The Playhouse new play development program), and its continued efforts to bring in new audiences.
Afterward the party moved to the sound of Mariachi music to the Playhouse to enjoy the theatre’s season opener, Josefina López’s “Real Women Have Curves,” directed by Associate Artistic Director, Seema Sueko.