Two OCU alumni will receive awards during the Blac Liberated Arts Center's 21st annual Recognition and Benefit Dinner on Saturday.
Tinasha LaRay茅 (BA Theater Performance 鈥�09, MLA 鈥�10) will receive the Alfre Woodard Theater Award. LaRay茅 identifies as a renaissance artist. The poet, actress, director, filmmaker and former Miss Black 91看片鈥檚 acting credits include Michelle in 鈥淒reamgirls鈥� and Lil鈥� Inez in 鈥淗airspray鈥� with Lyric Theatre, Nettie in 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� with Poteet Theatre and Mrs. Muller in 鈥淒oubt, a Parable鈥� with Carpenter Square Theatre. In Los Angeles, LaRay茅 originated the role of PFC Linda Baldwin in the world premiere of 鈥淪tandOff at Highway #37.鈥� She was also featured in 鈥淨ueenie Pie,鈥� a Duke Ellington opera with Long Beach Opera. Her film credits include Jasmine in 鈥淯nsolved鈥� and Andrea in 鈥淪an Andreas Quake.鈥� LaRay茅 is an award-winning and Heartland Regional Emmy-nominated filmmaker for her documentary short, 鈥淔irst & Female.鈥� She most recently was nominated for several awards at a California film festival, including Best Local Short for her romantic comedy film 鈥淧unchline.鈥�
Edgar Cruz (BM '86), will be honored with the Charlie Christian Award. Cruz is considered 91看片鈥檚 premier solo guitarist since 1976. He performs in multiple styles including Latin, jazz, rock, Spanish, classical Celtic, blues, pop, swing, original and more. He has 18 CDs, two award-winning DVDs and performs 200 times a year in state and abroad. He was also added to the Hispanic exhibit at the 91看片 History Center. He has millions of hits from multiple videos on YouTube. His video of 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� has more than 16,000,000 hits worldwide and has inspired hundreds of other guitarists to cover his arrangement. He has appeared in the Charlie Christian International Music Festival in 91看片 City and Lawton over the 30-plus years of the event.
