Connaissance named comic Ellen DeGeneres as the group's spring speaker yesterday. Comedienne and actress Ellen DeGeneres will bring her humor, wit and candidness to the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Auditorium on April 5 as Connaissance's featured spring speaker. DeGeneres' accomplishments in the entertainment industry -- which include producing, starring in and writing the groundbreaking television series Ellen -- should provide plenty of fodder for discussion during her appearance in Zellerbach. DeGeneres, 41, became one of America's biggest celebrities in 1997 when both she and the character she played on TV came out of the closet. Ellen was primetime television's first series with an openly gay lead character, and DeGeneres won an Emmy Award for writing the hour-long, celebrity-studded coming-out episode. Though the show attracted an enormous amount of publicity, ABC cancelled it because of diminished ratings a year later. Her performance, entitled "Ellen DeGeneres: Speaking Honestly," marks the first stop on her spring college tour, which will also include shows at the Universities of Michigan and Massachusetts, along with stops in Oregon and Kansas. DeGeneres will open with a half hour of comedy and talk, to be followed by a 45-minute question-and-answer session. According to Connaissance Co-Director and College senior Dara Gruen, DeGeneres "wants [her show] to be an interactive event." She is expected to place great emphasis on the question-and-answer session while providing students with what Gruen called "a candid look at her life, love, her career and her experiences in Hollywood." Event organizers are not yet certain how much of the performance will focus on the entertainer's sexual preference, especially since so much of the show will be improvised based on audience feedback and participation. "Ellen is an actress and a comedian, first and foremost, and she happens to be gay," said Gruen, who stressed that students should feel free to ask DeGeneres about the role lesbianism has played in her life and career. "People should expect a good time and a meaningful discussion," Gruen said. In comparing DeGeneres' attractiveness as a speaker to that of last year's spring speaker -- writer, comic and late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien -- Gruen noted that both speakers are "very funny individuals but they both have a message and have substance." O'Brien's sold-out Zellerbach show chronicled his multifaceted career. While his message was in many ways aimed at encouraging students to strive for their highest career goals, Gruen expects that DeGeneres' message will be one of "celebration of diversity, rather than [just] tolerance of diversity." Nearly all of Connaissance's recent featured speakers have been from the world of show business, including O'Brien, actor James Earl Jones, sportscaster Dick Vitale, singer Billy Joel and film director Oliver Stone. Last semester, the group, an arm of the Social Planning and Events Committee, brought feminist Gloria Steinem to campus. DeGeneres, who began her life in entertainment as an emcee at a local comedy club in her hometown of New Orleans, stepped into the national spotlight in 1982 when her videotaped club performances won a national competition, winning her the auspicious title of "Funniest Person in America" from the Showtime television network. Four years later, she made her first network TV appearance on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Her blend of physical comedy, robust wit and social commentary earned DeGeneres a CableAce nomination in 1989 for Command Performance: One Night Stand on HBO. Though she has been noticeably absent from television and movies since her television show was cancelled, DeGeneres is co-starring in the upcoming film EdTV, directed by Ron Howard and starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Tickets will be made available the week before the show. Organizers have yet to announce how or where tickets will be distributed nor how much they will cost.
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