Award Banquet Gig - Opinions Wanted

[Fits of Fancy]

I'm a fill-in for an awards banquet in September. I've never done one, but the job is supposedly "easy". The award recipients receive their awards one by one and then slip backstage (a la The Oscars) where they pose with the big wigs and I take their pictures. There will be about 4 people per shot (I plan on taking multiple shots because of blink, etc.).

I'm thinking of either renting or purchasing some travel studio lighting, but I'm not sure what is appropriate. My current equipment consists of a Canon EOS 3000 and a Speedlite. I know just using the Speedlite will result is sub-par pictures.

Environment: Either I will have minimal ambient light behind the curtain or a fully lit environment behind the curtain. My first gut instinct is to get a two light slave set up (to minimize shadow).

If I have minimal light and I don't want to distract from the happenings on stage, I was thinking of slave strobes, but what wattage would give me decent fill in, but not be too distracting?

If I have a fully lit backstage, what should I go with?

Thanks in advance!