Party Pictures 4/13/06 - Mad Hatting, Grand Classics flies south, Addiction opens

Mad Hatting in Palm Beach, Grand Classics flies south, Addictions opens

Kara Ross and Pia Ozada

Nancy Lambrecht and Stephania Conrad

Hats were everywhere at the recent Armory Art Center’s Mad Hatters Tea Party, held at Club Colette. Tea partiers were invited to wear their most stylish hat and bid on hand-made teapots by Armory artists as well as artists from around the country. Luncheon guests tipped their hats to the Armory Art Center’s Artist-in-Residence program as proceeds were earmarked to support this unique programming for the West Palm Beach based arts school and exhibition center.

“The Artist in Residence program is a unique and very vital offering at the Armory,” said co-chairman, Annie Falk, who also serves on the board of directors of the Armory Art Center. “One year of residency will be offered to five artists this coming year. These artists will spend the year teaching Armory students and learning from Armory faculty – all while creating new works of art for their evolving portfolios. The Armory currently provides this residency status in ceramics, painting and sculpture. It is an incredible way to draw talented artists from all over – to collaborate with other artists right here. We’re delighted the proceeds from Mad Hatter’s event will benefit this important programming.”

Joining Falk as co-chairmen, Marie Samuels and Tracy Stern’s leadership ensured, the second annual Mad Hatter’s Tea Party was a huge success. More than 130 teapots were on display for bidding, with the highest bid at $1,400. Prizes, courtesy of Eric Javits and Martha Gschwend, were awarded for the most wild and wacky hats to Julie Andron, first place; Gay Knuth, second place; and Diane McNeel, third place. The raffle included hair accessories with precious stones by Everyday Tiaras, as well as handbags by Martha Gschwend and other goodies.

During the event, teas from co-chairman Tracy Stern’s line of Salon Teas were presented to guests. A signature cocktail tea was on the menu, perfectly suited to accompany Club Colette’s Mad Hatter’s themed fare.

Other committee members for the event included: Shamin Abas, Cricket Burns, Rebecca Cavendish, Eileen Cornacchia, Kari Dimas, Liz Fensterstock, Martha and Ralf Gschwend, Vicki Halmos, Bruce Helander, Nancy Lambrecht, and Melinda Trucks.

The Armory Art Center is a not-for-profit community-based visual arts education and exhibition center providing opportunities for individual growth, self-expression, increased awareness and appreciation of the arts through participation in studio, exhibition, lecture and other educational programs. The Center seeks to educate, enrich and engage a diverse population through the “experience of art”. Exhibitions held at the Armory’s Colaciello Gallery are free and open to the public during normal business hours. Classes in ceramics, drawing and pastels, painting, watercolor, collage, photography, jewelry and metals, sculpture, stone carving, and more are offered year-round and on every level. For more info please visit www.armoryart.org.

L. to r.: Tracy Stern, Annie Falk, and Marie Samuels; Stephanie Asch and Kirsten Smith.

L. to r.: Mad Hatter's first course; A "mad" fish table centerpiece.

Julie Andron, Maureen Conte, and Tiffany Spadafora

Lauri Welteroth and Yasmine Horowitz

Designer Zac Posen hosted the Miami debut of Grand Classics Films with Style on March 30 sponsored by WSG Development Company and Harry Winston. The film series premiered in Florida with a screening of Auntie Mame at the acclaimed oceanfront site of Canyon Ranch Living – Miami Beach, the highly anticipated residential enclave under construction at 6901 Collins Ave.

The Grand Classics Film with Style series, launched by Katrina Pavlos and Vanessa Wingate of Indyssey Entertainment, features a selection of the world’s most renowned designers who present the films that have inspired their fashion lines.

Posen, who dresses Claire Danes, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Julianne Moore among others, chose the film, which was nominated for six Academy Awards in 1958, to exemplify his tastes in film and style.

“I thought [Auntie Mame] was the perfect film for Miami. It’s full of eccentricity and drama and amazing colors and I’ve always been intensely inspired by the film Auntie Mame mostly by the character which Rosalind Russell plays and her love of life and sensory experiences. It’s incredibly visual ... each style builds on itself and I think it’s really beneficial to the interior design world and the fashion world.”

Phillip Wolman, Katrina Pavlos, Zac Posen, Vanessa Wingate, and Eric Sheppard

After the screening, guests like Boris Becker, Annie Churchill, Kate Schelter, Luis Sonville, Carlos Gutierrez, Reinaldo Bibolini, Annelise Peterson, Jill Demling, Allison Weiss, Miss Florida 2004 Kristen Berset, Real World Key West stars Johnny Bananas, Zach Mann and Tyler Duckworth, Dieter Utner, Sharley Kerssenberg, Gigi Ganatra, Bernard Garsen, Daisy Olivera, Brigitte Grosjean, Gillian and Sylvester Miniter, Gareth Smith, Becky Fruehling, Xavier Castillo, Cathy Strafaci, Anat Massika, Ingrid Caruso, and Haleh Shahab enjoyed passed hors d’oeuvres like grilled chicken satay, spicy roasted crab cakes served with tomato herb coulis and Asian marinated duck with wines provided by Francis Ford Coppola Presents. Other guests included WSG developers Eric Sheppard and Phil Wolman, Michelle Areces, Amy Zakarin, Estee Mendel, Mark Owen, Alex Duff, Ana Cristina Aguirre, Rachel Alpert, Billy McGowan and Michele Verdone, Bob Evangelista, Nicole Lozano, Edgar Lozano, Brigette Hein, Charlotte Hicks, and Suzy Houghton.

Grand Classics currently showcases films in New York, London, Los Angeles, Aspen and now Miami. The screenings feature a selection of the world’s most renowned actors and designers, among them Jude Law, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Luke Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow and most recently Catherine Deneuve,who all have presented the films that inspired their careers the most. The film series benefits the important cause of motion picture preservation through contributions to the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute (bfi).

Gillian Miniter, Zac Posen, and Katrina Pavlos

Ana Cristina Aguirre and Rachel Alpert

Billy McGowan and Michele Verdone

Bob Evangelista, Nicole Lozano, Edgar Lozano, and friends

Dieter Utner, Sharley Kerssenberg, and Boris Becker

Johnny Bananas, Zack Mann, and Tyler Duckworth

Michelle Areces, Philip Wolman, and Amy Zakarin

Jill Demling, Zac Posen, and Annelise Peterson

Allison Weiss, Annelise Peterson, and Kristen Berset

Marisol Patton and Ingrid Cesares

Estee Mendel and Mark Owen

Alex Duff and Gigi Ganatra

Brigette Hein

Cathy Strafaci and Xavier Castillo

Charlotte Hicks and Suzy Houghton

Vanessa Wingate, Xavier Castillo, and Cathy Strafaci

Canyon Ranch Living in Miami Beach

Last week playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith re-invented the nature of a play reading. Usually an industry-only event for producers and angels and friends, Walsh-Smith decided to do something different with “Addictions,” her compilation of three one-act plays (The Hurdle, Take the High Road and The Girl In the Red, Short Shorts). For the reading she got put together a brilliant cast of Trudie Styler, Chris Sarandon, Jackie Hoffman, Jessica Hecht, Martha Plimpton and Peter Bartlett and turned the evening into a benefit fundraiser for the Caron Foundation and the Caron Treatment Centers – a leader in the treatment of addiction to alcohol and drugs. The reading was held at the Promenade Theatre on Broadway on the Upper West Side, and afterwards there was the dinner and party at Ruby Foo’s.

L. to r.: Curtain call with the cast; Cece Black and Michele Herbert.

Jackie Hoffman and Martha Plimpton

Sal Viviano, Liz Larsen, and Laila Robbins

Clockwise from top left: Philip J. Smith, Carmen Dell'Orifice, and Tony Cointreau; Elaine Stritch and Tricia Walsh-Smith; Martha Plimpton, Tricia Walsh-Smith, and Claudia Shear.