Last night in New York, it was cold and
the roadways were a little
on the slushy side. People are still shoveling out snowbanks
to
free their cars from the Blizzard of ’06, but New Yorkers
are intrepid and always on the go. JH and I were
scheduled to go to Chicago for an event but our flight was canceled
and so we stood
at home. He went over to the Rainbow Room to catch a look at the
crowd with the Digital, and I went over to “21” where Nancy Holmes was having a little dinner to celebrate her 85th.
What is it with the octogenarians? They all have twice as much
energy (not to mention joie de vivre) as so many people half or
even a quarter their age.
Nancy
Holmes
At the Holmes dinner: Chuck and Ellen Scarborough,
Dominick Dunne, Bob and Barbara Taylor Bradford, the Hoovers from Oklahoma City, the
Tuckers from somewhere down that way, Randy and
Connie Jones and the birthday girl. The theme wasn’t her birthday (which
is coming a little later in the month) but a Holmes Musical Evening
where she burned a CD of Country & Western songs (she’s
from Texas), each of which represented one of the guests. The one
dedicated to me (I’m one of Mrs. Holmes’ newer friends)
was Willie Nelson singing Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.”
Meanwhile over at the Rainbow Room, the
Drama League were holding their annual fundraiser “So In
Love; A Night of Romance At the Rainbow Room.” Hugh
Jackman was honorary chair and the
girls who put it all together and filled those tables, the Benefit
chairs were Debbie Bancroft, April Gow, Jeanne Lawrence,
and Elizabeth Stribling. Harry Connick Jr. was
host and the cast of the hottest musical ticket in town “Jersey Boys” were
only part of the entertainment – so everyone got their money’s
worth.
Kelli
O'Hara and Harry Connick Jr.
Rachel
York
While
50 blocks up the avenue, the Museum of the City of
New York’s Director’s Council was holding their
20th annual Winter Ball with the invitation calling for White
Tie or Black Tie. Oscar de la Renta sponsored
the evening. The evening was chaired by Mark Gilbertson,
Rachel Hovnanian, Cynthia Lufkin, Calvert Moore, Allison
Rockefeller, and Andrew Roosevelt. Between
them and the stellar roster of co-chairs and the enormous
committee, the Benefactors, Sponsors and Patrons, they make
this event hugely successful and glamorous.
And for another kind of glamour, very show-biz, very
New York, and very downtown show-biz glam, there was the 3rd
Annual Love ‘n Courage Benefit benefiting the Theater for
New City on 155 First Avenue. Charles Busch and Julie
Halston were hosts. The evening benefited the Theater
for the New City’s Emerging Playwrights Program with a
portion of the tickets benefiting Southern Rep, the regional
theater of New Orleans.
The evening featured the Music (and the wonderful lyrics) of Yip Harburg, the
man who wrote the lyrics for the The Wizard of Oz andFinian’s
Rainbow. Mary Cleere Haran performed as did the New Orleans
jazz singer Troi Bechet and her Quartet, and there was a very
special appearance by the very special Kitty Carlisle Hart. Which
speaking of joie de vivre and energy, and the girls not even an octogenarian
anymore, she moves so fast. Get a life, kids!
Elizabeth
Stribling, Julia Hansen, and Marjorie Reed Gordon
Chappy
Morris and Melissa Stanley
Debbie
Bancroft and Cece Black
Jeanne
Lawrence and Debbie Bancroft
Jamie
deRoy and Liz McCartney
Philip
Smith and Tricia Walsh Smith
L.
to r.: Paola Isabella Tornito; The Jersey Boys
John Lloyd Young, Christian Hoff, and J. Robert Spencer;
Michael
Cerveris.
LeAnn Lazar and Aaron
Lazar
Katie
Clarke and Chris Rhodes
David
Granoff and Joan Jedell
Ed
Lobrano,
Elizabeth Stribling, Stephanie Krieger, and Brian Stewart
