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Last night in New York up in the Rainbow Room overlooking the metropolis, Bay Street Theatre of Sag Harbor celebrated its 15th Anniversary with a benefit black tie gala hosted by Julie Andrews and Alec Baldwin. The Bay Street Theatre is a lovely, intimate theater out on the North Fork of the Hamptons which has had the support of Ms. Andrews (her daughter and son-in-law have been its driving force) since its inception. It draws some of the biggest theatrical talent in the country.
Another charter member/supporter is Sybil Burton Christopher, the first wife of the late actor Richard Burton and mother of his daughters. Kate Burton was one of the participants in the entertainment last night at the Rainbow Room, along with Charles Busch, Christine Ebersol, John Glover, Julie Halston, Edward Hibbert, Bebe Neuwirth, Tony Roberts and B. D. Wong.
For the last fifteen years Bay Street has presented a string of unforgettable stagings of new plays, cabaret and classical music concerts. Used as a try-out venue for playwrights like Horton Foote, Paula Vogel and Terrence McNally, and attracts stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Alec Baldwin, Cherry Jones, Diane Wiest, Kate Burtonunder top-flight directors such as Joe Mantello, Sidney Lumet, Jack Hofsiss.
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Ginny and Henry Mancini |
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Also last night, at another venue high above the town (and with a different but also fabulous view), at Dizzy’s Coca-Cola, the jazz club of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ginny Mancini and Tony Danza hosted a private 10 Anniversary Celebration Concert for the Henry Mancini Institute. The organization was founded to foster and assist growing musicians by Jack Eliot in 1997 as a tribute to his late great friend.
The Henry Mancini Institute provides unique, broad-based and eclectic musical training to both underserved school children and emerging professional musicians. Each year the Institute produces its highly anticipated Free Summer Music Festival, including 9 free concerts in a variety of venues through the L.A. area. Further information can be found at www.manciniinstitute.org
Henry Mancini had a long and spectacular career as a composer/conductor/arranger and was one of the most versatile in the business. His film scores including Victor/Victoria, The Glass Menagerie, The Pink Panther, 10, Darling Lili, Arabesque, Charade, Days of Wine and Roses, Hatari and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (“Moon River”). He also composed several famous television themes including “Peter Gunn,” “Mr. Lucky,” NBC News Election Night Coverage,” “Newhart,” “Remington Steele” and “Hotel” and was a much in demand concert performer conducting more than 50 engagements a year. He was also one of the nicest gentlemen who ever lived in Hollywood or anywhere else.
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Lucia Hwong Gordon, DPC, and Nikki Haskell at Michael's |
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Hank, as he was known to his myriad friends, and Ginny (whom he met when she was a singer with the Glenn Miller/Tex Beneke Orchestra when he joined it in 1946) were a very popular couple in the movie colony frequently entertaining at their rambling Holmby Hills house. Since her husband’s untimely death in 1994, Ginny Mancini has devoted herself to musical projects assisting singers (both developing and in retirement) and budding musicians.
Yesterday lunch I had a double date (unexpectedly – I forgot and double booked) at Michael’s with Nikki Haskell, the Star Caps (and now Star Cruncher – see banner ad) entrepreneur and Lucia Hwong-Gordon. The two women had never met each other but soon learned they had something in common – they both grew up in Los Angeles and have lived a good part of their lives there.
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Michael's Steve Millington at Michael's |
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Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter at Mortons |
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Nikki, who maintains apartments both here and in Beverly Hills, is on her way to Florida to have a reunion with a man with whom she had her first teenage romance when she was kid back in Chicago.They hadn’t seen each other since but a friend of Nikki’s was introduced to him in Miami not long ago and when he learned the woman lived in Los Angeles, he asked if she knew Nikki Haskell. “He’s handsomer than he was at 14,” Nikki reported, “weighs the same as he did at 21, has all his hair and is divorced!”
Lucia, who is married and mother of twin girls, lives here in New York. She is very active in philanthropic activities and is currently working on a series of international dinners for the benefit of the Asia Society.
Once conversation turned to life in Los Angeles, it wasn’t long before it morphed into Oscar-talk. And what the women thought of the red carpet fashions.
Meanwhile, our friend, the ubiquitous Patrick McMullan came forth with a fantastic portfolio of guests at the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party at Morton’s restaurant in West Hollywood this past Sunday night. If there are any images you’d like to purchase for your own collection, visit Patrick’s site: www.patrickmcmullan.com.
We weren’t there of course, but how much do you wanna bet the best part of the party was exactly what you see in Patrick McMullan’s photos? That’s the way it is with high profile, hyped up, celebrity parties. And, I should add, that’s the way it’s always been from the Carlos de Bestigui “party of the century” in Venice in the 1950s, to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball in the 1960s to Graydon Carter’sVanity Fair party today. Once the guests arrive, it’s all over but the shoutin’. Some shoutin’, of course ...
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