The 2024 Dinner Gala Honorees
Diane Zerega
Educator of the Arts Award
Diane Zerega is honored to be selected for the 2024 Carl William Lesch Memorial Award. A native Staten Islander, attending St. Margaret Mary’s Elementary School in Midland Beach where she was a member of the choir and annual school plays. It was there that she knew that theatre was something she wanted to pursue. Having seen many “lavish and Broadway-like” Moore and St. Peter’s Productions she knew she wanted to work with the infamous Carl W. Lesch.
As an impressionable 8th grader Diane marveled at his productions that were grand and filled the entire performance space with huge orchestras, sets, beautiful costumes and terrific performances. Luckily, Mr. Lesch would become her music teacher and director at Countess Moore High School, where she is a proud ’74 graduate. ]At Moore she worked on and appeared In “Guys and Dolls”, “ShowBoat” and “Bloomer Girl”. Her greatest training came from watching Carl work his magic on and offstage, in the orchestra pit and changing the lives of his beloved students. He would tip his head, look over his glasses and call “Guzzi” (her maiden name) you…and proceed to teach you “how to, where to and most importantly why”! Like so many students, being in a Moore show and working with Carl was the highlight of her high school years and inspired her career choice.
Diane holds a BFA in Art from Brooklyn College, BA in Theatre and MS in Education from CSI. She has been involved in Island theatre for close to 50 years. While working as a full time theatre teacher/director at IS 61 and then Susan Wagner High School. Diane returned to her alma mater in 1995 to re start the theatre program and direct A Chorus Line, Godspell and Runaways; then restarting the program at Notre Dame High School directing Annie, Godspell, Birdie and Joseph…Dreamcoat. She costumed productions at St. Joseph Hill, Farrell and St. Dorothy’s Academy.
Phil Colgan
Distinguished Alumni Award
Phil Colgan is a 2011 graduate of Msgr. Farrell, where he performed in ANYTHING GOES and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS under the direction of Andrew Monteleone. Phil also choreographed Farrell’s THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and A FUNNY…FORUM, winning a Minty Award for Outstanding Choreography. Phil studied dance at Fierce Dance Company in Great Kills, performed in musicals with In the Wings Productions, and went on to graduate from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Phil made his Broadway debut in the smash-hit musical HAMILTON, after traveling the country for two years performing in the show’s national tour. In 2023, Phil worked alongside theater legends Susan Stroman, John Kander, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as the Associate Choreographer of NEW YORK, NEW YORK on Broadway, which earned 9 Tony nominations including Best Musical and Best Choreography. Phil can currently be seen in & JULIET, now playing on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theater.
Other favorite performance credits include the world premieres of A BRONX TALE: THE MUSICAL at Paper Mill Playhouse and Off-Broadway’s ONLY GOLD at MCC Theater; The Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall; The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; and numerous productions at regional theaters across the country as both performer and choreographer.
Al Lambert
The Community Enrichment Award
Celebrating six decades as an entertainment and philanthropist, Al Lambert’s singing journey began as a 5-year-old at PS 44 in his native Staten Island community of Mariners Harbor, where he also participated as a member of St. Michael’s Church Choir.
In early adulthood, as his mature baritone voice blossomed, he glowed in the spotlight as the opening act for an array of acclaimed entertainers, such as Pat Cooper; Rodney Dangerfield; Jill Corey; Chuck Mangione; The Shirelles; The Flamingos; Stiller and Meara; Beverly Sills, and numerous others. Throughout the years, Lambert has embraced a combination of professions. In addition to his dual lifelong roles in entertainment and car sales, he had been a New York state-accredited special education teacher from 1968 to 1973. He was recognized for his adeptness as an educator in 1971 with the State Institution Teacher of the Year Award.
He later continued his choral work with the formation and leadership of the South Shore Rotary Chorus, which raised $500,000 under the South Shore Rotary Club banner for many charitable causes. Lambert, a past president and 47-year member of South Shore Rotary, is a recipient of the Rotary Legend Award, the organization’s highest honor. In total, Lambert’s fundraising endeavors have helped raise over $2 million for charities on Staten Island.
Bishop John J. O'Hara
The Spirit of St. Genesius Award
Bishop O’Hara was ordained to the episcopacy by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, on August 4, 2014, in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in mid-town Manhattan.
Born on February 7, 1946, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the first of three sons of the late John Joseph and Helen Elizabeth O’Hara, Bishop O’Hara was raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in 1959, Don Bosco High School in Ramsey, New Jersey in 1963, and Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, with a BA degree in English in 1967.
Upon completion of his priestly formation at Dunwoodie, the future bishop was ordained to the priesthood on December 1, 1984 in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral by the late John Cardinal O’Connor. He served as parochial vicar at Saint Charles Parish in Oakwood Heights, Staten Island, from December, 1984, until October, 1992, when he was transferred to the Parish of Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus in Castleton Corners, Staten Island. After eight years as parochial vicar, Bishop O’Hara was appointed Pastor of Saint Teresa’s on July 1, 2000, by the late Edward Cardinal Egan.
Following twelve years as pastor, Bishop O’Hara was appointed the first Director of the Office of Strategic Pastoral Planning by Cardinal Dolan on July 1, 2012. In this capacity, Bishop O’Hara supervised the ongoing reorganization of parishes throughout the Archdiocese.