LAUGH OUT LOUD

Leslie Jordan, that small man and giant scene stealer, is one of the funniest men in America. He has created an outrageous tell-all that weaves together a hilarious collection of true life stories (which are also the basis for his popular memoir, My Trip Down The Pink Carpet).

From small-town USA to the pink carpet of Hollywood - My Trip Down The Pink Carpet tells the unlikely tale of one of America's true comic icons. With $1,200 sewn into his underpants, Leslie boarded a Greyhound bus bound for L.A. and never looked back.

Leslie Jordan (author/performer) stepped off a Greyhound bus in 1982 from the hills of Tennessee, said “hello” to Hollywood and has never looked back. With hundreds of television shows, films and commercials to his credit, he has become a familiar face on the entertainment scene. Leslie is the 2006 Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his delicious portrayal of “Beverley Leslie” on “Will and Grace.”

Feature film audiences will recognize Leslie from his performance as “Brother Boy” in Del Shores’ adaptation of his play Sordid Lives with Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke and Beau Bridges. He reprises the role in the television series based on the play and film for the cable network Logo. Recent feature film appearances include “Love Ranch” in a wonderful scene with Helen Mirren directed by Taylor Hackford, and “Wanted: Undead or Alive” with Chris Kattan. Television audiences will remember Leslie in recurring roles on “Ugly Betty,” “Boston Legal,” “Hidden Palms,” and “Reba.”

On stage, Mr. Jordan won the Ovation Award, The Garland Award and The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of “Preston Leroy,” the aging, sodden barfly in Del Shores hit play Southern Baptist Sissies. Leslie’s autobiographical one-man show Like a Dog on Linoleum performed to sold-out audiences at the Elephant Asylum Theater in Los Angeles, the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs, the Bailiwick Theater in Chicago, the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theater in San Francisco.

Mr. Jordan has also enjoyed considerable success as a writer. His play Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far ran to sold-out houses in Los Angeles and had a successful seven-month run Off-Broadway at the Playhouse on Van Dam in New York City. His screenplay “Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel” won the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival’s Production Grant Award, winning the competition over 600 other scripts. Subsequently, it was made into an independent feature film distributed by Northern Arts Entertainment.

 

 

 

Sophisticated traditional music for social dancing along with hot a R&B tone will be provided by:

 Escalade

 

The Black & White Ball of Northern Nevada is  honored to be Northern Nevada's only event at which television personalities from each of the three major news stations co-present as Master or Mistress of Ceremonies. 

Past Master/Mistress of Ceremonies

2005 

Matt Johnson - KTVN, CBS Channel 2

Hetty Chang - KTVN, NBC Channel 4

Jennifer Rogers - KOLO, ABC Channel 8

2006

Tom Henkenious - KTVN, CBS Channel 2

Hetty Chang - KTVN, NBC Channel 4

Jennifer Rogers - KOLO, ABC Channel 8

2007

Tom Henkenious - KTVN, CBS Channel 2

Jennifer Roberts - KOLO, ABC Channel 8

2008

Tom Henkenious - KTVN, CBS Channel 2

Jennifer Roberts - KOLO, ABC Channel 8  

                                                                            2009  TO BE ANNOUNCED

 

 

The Reno Dance Company 

The Reno Dance Company has performed at the Black & White Ball of Northern Nevada since 2005.  Artistic performances have captivated attendees year after year!

 

Reno Dance Company-  Our mission is to provide a program of excelled dance training along with professional performance opportunities to all of Northern Nevada's youth regardless of race, religion or economic status while enhancing the communities awareness and respect of local art and entertainment.

Through strenuous physical and emotional training, dedication and devotion to themselves and to the company of fellow dancers, the participants will develop positive expression, self-esteem, respect for their bodies and a sense of individuality while discovering an alternative way of living free of sex, drugs, teen pregnancies violence and alcohol.

The Reno Dance Company is committed to inspiring young individuals to become our future's artists and entertainers by supplying them with the knowledge, techniques, commitment and confidence needed in order to become successful in their careers and throughout their personal lives.