O'Neill Foundation Awards Claudia Nemir and Role Players Ensemble

EUGENE O'NEILL FOUNDATION RELEASE

It was a festive evening as the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, celebrated its 45th extended honors to an individual and an organization that have contributed significantly to the O’Neill Foundation’s success in recent years.

Honored were Claudia Mauzy Nemir of Alamo, and Role Players Ensemble of Danville at a gathering Thursday, Jan. 16 in the Eugene O’Neill Room of the Crow Canyon Country club in San Ramon.

Claudia Mauzy Nemir, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors for twelve years, and Board President in 2005 and 2006, was awarded the Foundation’s Open Gate Award, which honors those who have served as director of the Foundation and whose dedication and service has enhanced the memory of Eugene O’Neill. 

“Not only was Claudia a staunch supporter of the Foundation,” said Board Member Trudy McMahon, “but Claudia, using her insights as a retired banker, was instrumental in fundraising for the O’Neill Commemorative which is now located in Front Street Park, across from the Library in downtown Danville.”

In 2010, Claudia Nemir was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Contra Costa Commission for Women, honored in the category of “Women Contributing to the Arts.” She is a former member of the Walnut Creek Arts Commission, past president of the Danville-Alamo AAUW, past chair of the Discovery Center, and past president of the Diablo Theatre Company. 

Claudia Mauzy Nemir is a fifth generation Contra Costa resident, and remembers when the O’Neills built Tao House in the Danville hills in 1936, having visited it as a child with her with her parents. She was also friends with the Richard Carlson family who acquired Tao House after the O’Neill departed in 1944. 

The Eugene O’Neill Foundation also honored Role Players Ensemble of Danville with the Partnership Award in recognition of cooperative efforts to perpetuate the life and literary contribution of Eugene O’Neill as America’s only playwright to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and four Pulitzer Prizes.

“With Role Players fine production efforts, local audiences have had an opportunity to see many of O’Neill’s notable plays performed at the Village Theatre in downtown Danville,” said Foundation President Robert J. Sehr in presenting the Award.

“In recent years, Role Players has produced The Hairy Ape, All God’s Chillun’ Got Wings, Mourning Becomes Electra, and at last September O’Neill Festival,
Anna Christie. This partnership has enabled the O’Neill Foundation to further extend its efforts to promote the legacy of the playwright we honor.”