Berkeley Rep’s OVATION gala

Eisa Davis is an award-winning performer, writer, musician, and composer working on stage and screen. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Bulrusher, and wrote and starred in the stage memoir Angela’s Mixtape, named a best of the year by the New Yorker. Angela’s Mixtape is now published with The History of Light (Barrymore nomination) in a volume from 53rd State Press / TCG. Of her thirteen full-length stage works, highlights include Ramp (Ruby Prize winner), The Essentialisn’t (Creative Capital Award), and Mushroom (Barrymore nomination). Notable collaborations include Cirque du Soleil’s first ice show, Crystal, AFROFEMONONOMY, and the songs for the musical adaptation of Walter Mosley’s Devil In A Blue Dress. Davis has released two albums of original music: Something Else, and Tinctures (with Daniel T. Denver), songs from which were featured on the Showtime series Soul Food. She is the co-writer and -producer with Lin-Manuel Miranda of the concept album Warriors.

Davis wrote for both seasons of Spike Lee’s Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It, and produced and wrote for the FX series Justified: City Primeval. As a theatre actor, she has earned an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, an AUDELCO, three Lucille Lortel nominations, and a Drama League nomination. She is known for her screen roles on Mare of Easttown, Kindred, The Wire, House of Cards, Pose, Ahsoka, The Looming Tower, Hart of Dixie, and as a member of the original Broadway cast of the Tony-winning Passing Strange. She can currently be seen in the films Relay and Ex-Husbands, and on the Netflix series The Madness.

Davis saw some of her first professional theatre at Berkeley Rep and worked there in high school as a telemarketer. She returned for Passing Strange, and Bulrusher ran at Berkeley Rep in the fall of 2023 (Best of Bay Area Theatre). She is a three-time participant in Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor development lab, and has also worked as a creator and performer in the Bay Area at La Peña, West Edge Opera, and ACT.

Other awards include the USA Artist Fellowship, the prestigious Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, New Dramatists playwright residency, and a multiyear fellowship with Black poetry organization Cave Canem. An advocate and creator of hip hop theatre since its inception, Davis is a Bay Area native and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

Colman Domingo is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, and director. He has been nominated for awards at the Oscars, BAFTAs, Tony® Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, Lawrence Olivier Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and Drama League Awards. He has won an Emmy Award, Astra Film Award, AAFCA Award, NAACP Image Award, Gotham Award, and Black Reel Award.

In 2023, Domingo starred as Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin in Netflix and Higher Ground’s film Rustin for which he received an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG nominations. He can also be seen as Mister in the Warner Bros production of The Color Purple, which received a SAG Ensemble nomination. Domingo executive produced and starred in Greg Kwedar’s film Sing Sing for which he received Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and SAG nominations. He also executive produced It’s What’s Inside, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was released on Netflix in Oct 2024.

Domingo can currently be seen as the lead in the limited series The Madness created by Clement Virgo for Netflix and is the voice of Norman Osborn in the DISNEY+ animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman.

Domingo is well known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Ali in HBO’s Euphoria as well as his roles in Zola, If Beale Street Could Talk, Selma, Candyman, and many more. Domingo and his husband Raul Domingo have produced a myriad of work under their Edith Productions banner. He has also co-produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated play Fat Ham. Domingo co-wrote, produced, and starred in the Academy Award shortlisted animated short film New Moon as well as the award-winning short North Star.

Domingo starred in the Evening Standard Theatre Award–winning The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic in London, in a role he originated on and Off Broadway and reprised on the West End. Additionally, he followed in the footsteps of Zakes Mokae, James Earl Jones, and Danny Glover by starring as Zachariah in the New York revival of Blood Knot written and directed by Athol Fugard in the inaugural production of the Signature Theater Center Off Broadway. Domingo is well known for his star turns as Mr. Franklin and the German performance artist Mr. Venus of Berlin in the groundbreaking, Tony and Drama Desk Award–winning musical Passing Strange directed by Annie Dorsen on Broadway and documented on film by Spike Lee. Domingo has starred in the first ever screen adaptation of a Ralph Ellison story for PBS, King of the Bingo Game.

Domingo made his British and Australian theatrical debuts with his self-penned solo play A Boy and His Soul at the Tricycle Theater and Brisbane Powerhouse Theaters, the production originated at the New York City’s stalwart the Vineyard Theatre. He starred in his play Wild with Happy that had its debut at the Public Theater. His fourth play Dot premiered at the Humana Festival at Actors Theater of Louisville and premiered Off Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre directed by the legendary Tony award winner Susan Stroman. Dot is enjoying regional productions around the country and is published by Samuel French. Recently, Domingo was featured on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s concept musical theatre album titled Warriors.

As a theatre director, Domingo has helmed at the People’s Light Theatre, Huntington Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Actors Theater of Louisville, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Upcoming, Domingo will be seen in Michael playing Joe Jackson, directed by Antoine Fuqua. Lionsgate will release the film on Oct 3, 2025.

Domingo recently wrapped production on Netflix’s The Four Seasons alongside Tina Fey and Steve Carell and Paramount’s The Running Man alongside Glen Powell and Josh Brolin. Domingo is currently in production on the anticipated third season of HBO’s Euphoria.

Brian Quijada is an Emmy-nominated playwright, actor, composer, and artistic director of The Wild Wind Performance Lab for New Play Development. As a playwright/composer, his work spans theatre to audio plays to television. His hip-hop solo show Where Did We Sit on the Bus? has been produced across the country at Teatro Vista, Ensemble Studio Theatre, City Theatre Pittsburgh, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva Theatre, and more. His other works include Kid Prince and Pablo and Somewhere Over The Border. He is a four-time Jeff Award winner, three-time Drama Desk nominee, and one-time Lucile Lortel winner.

Nygel D. Robinson is a singer, actor, writer, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, IL. Nygel’s select theatre credits include Brother Davis in The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he was also the music director; Jimmy Powers in Lady Day at North Carolina Theatre; Larry in Lincoln Center’s concert version of Beau: The Musical; Jesus in Godspell at St. Michael’s Playhouse; and The All Night Strut at Milwaukee Rep.

Enjoy two nights on a private vineyard estate in Calistoga for you and three guests as you experience the best of wine country. With private wine tastings, an intimate winemaker dinner, and sumptuous accommodations, this package is a wine lover’s dream!

Value: $7,500

Donor: Felicia Woytak & Steve Rasmussen

Indulge your deepest foodie desires with a year of Michelin-starred dining in San Francisco. This package includes dinner for two people at 12 Michelin-starred restaurants (one, two, and three-star).

Value: $7,500

Embark with four guests on a once-in-a-lifetime three-week voyage aboard The World, Residences at Sea. Travel Australia in luxury accommodations on the largest privately owned yacht on Earth. (Sailing Dec 2025)

Donor: Robin & Rich Edwards