HOUSTON, (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensemble Theatre recently held its "8th Annual Heart of the Theatre" celebration at the Wortham Center for their loyal subscribers. The Board of Directors and staff of The Ensemble hosted subscribers, along with students from Kashmere, Smiley and Forest Brook High Schools, to a wonderful evening with veteran actor, director and Emmy award winner Charles Dutton's performance of "From Jail to Yale". Dutton performed his energetic one-man show, a personal narrative combined with excerpts from prolific playwright August Wilson who impacted his life.

Dutton, The Ensemble's "2007 Director of the Year Honoree", performed two shows (5:30 & 8:15 p.m.) to over 1,700 subscribers who thoroughly enjoyed his unique commentary and performance. Subscribers were acknowledged and thanked, by Ensemble Board Chairperson Argentina James and President Hasting Stewart, for continued support in helping to maintain The Ensemble's 31 year legacy in the performing arts and commitment to training young performers.

An added treat for the evening was the sneak preview of Lifetime Original Movie premiere of "Racing for Time", directed by and starring Charles Dutton, and featuring The Ensemble's Young Performers Program alumnae and Broadway actress DeQuina Moore. "Racing for Time" will air on Lifetime Television on Feb. 16th.

Special presentations were made to Dutton from State Rep. Harold Dutton and Honorary Co-Chair for the evening, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

The evening's corporate sponsors were: AT&T, CenterPoint Energy, Continental Airlines, Gilbreath Communications, H-E-B, City of Houston Initiatives Program through the Houston Arts Alliance, City of Houston Convention & Entertainment Facilities Dept., Missouri City Chapter of the Links, NASDAQ Stock Market, Shell Oil Company and KRIV-TV Fox 26. Emcees for the evening programs were Fox 26 News Anchor Melinda Spaulding and Fox 26 Reporter Isiah Carey. Event Chair for the well attended evening was Ensemble Board Member Paulette Peoples. The Ensemble's Subscription Committee Co-Chairs are Sharon Murphy, Brenda Peters and Vernon Landers.

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community. Thirty years later, the theatre has evolved from a touring company operating from the trunk of Mr. Hawkins' car to become one of Houston's finest historical cultural institutions. The Ensemble is one of the only professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, and holds the distinction of being one of the nation's largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house.

The Ensemble Theatre has fulfilled and surpassed the vision of its founder and continues to expand and create innovative programs to bring African American theatre to a myriad of audiences. The programs and operations of The Ensemble Theatre benefit a multi-cultural audience that is diverse in age, income, ethnicity and culture and its core audience is African American (70%). The Ensemble produces a Mainstage Season of six contemporary and classic works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The Ensemble's Performing Arts Education program provides educational workshops, Artist-in-Residence experiences and live performances for students both off-site and at the Theatre; and the Young Performers Program offers intensive summer training for children ages 7 to 17 encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts. Through its varied programs, The Ensemble projects to benefit an audience and artistic constituency that may potentially exceed 150,000 people annually.

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