The award will be presented at the annual Po'okela Awards banquet on Monday, July 23 at the Koolau Ballroom in Kane'ohe.

The award named after Pierre Bowman, the late newspaper theatre critic, is given annually to someone whose "lifetime achievement reflects courage and commitment to quality and through whose efforts the life of theatre in Hawaii has been uplifted."

Pruden has been acting in community theatre in Hawai'i for 40 years, beginning when her husband, Jip, was transferred to Schofield Barracks in 1967. Since then she has performed more than 75 roles on island stages. She has been honored with 11 Po'okela Awards, and in 1996, was named Best Actress Working in Local Theatre by the readers of Honolulu Weekly.

Pruden has served on the Hawaii State Theatre Council, and is a member of Manoa Valley Theatre's Artistic Advisory Committee. She's done numerous roles in Army Community Theatre's Readers Theatre productions and just last month, she, along with Sylvia Hormann-Alper, Eden-Lee Murray and Shawna Masuda competed as Hawaii's representatives in AACTFest 2007 in Charlotte, NC, with a production of "If We Are Women". Jo is also Box Office Manager at Army's Richardson Theatre.

The "Star's Night Out" banquet at Koolau Ballroom is an annual event. During the annual banquet, HSTC presents the Pookela Awards for Excellence in 21 major categories pertaining to both musicals and dramatic productions.

Each year, an independent panel of 3 experienced adjudicators commits to seeing every single show at every participating theatre, and at the end of the season, honors those performances, technical skills and shows which have risen far above a high standard of excellence.

Tickets are available for "Star's Night Out," and can be purchased by phone by contacting Kelly Moulson at Diamond Head Theatre by calling 733-0277, extension 306 (not the DHT box office).

For groups, a table of 8 costs $400 and a table of 10 is $500. Individual seats, with no guarantee of exact placement, can be purchased for $40. (Non-paid reservations cannot be accepted.) No-host cocktails begin at 6 p.m. on July 23, followed by a buffet dinner at 7, with the Pookela Awards and presentation of the Pierre Bowman Award starting at 8.

To charge tickets by phone, call Diamond Head Theatre at 733-0277 x306.