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Lincoln
Center.
9:15 PM. Photo: JH.
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A fair Tuesday
night in a New York getting ready for Thanksgiving. The bleachers for the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade are already up along Central Park West. JH and
the Digital and I went over to
Lincoln Center, for the second time in this short week, to take in
the opening night benefit for the New York City Ballet.
Everything is beautiful at the Ballet. The program was titled “Ballet
Four Ways; Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, Wheeldon” – the
first being Peter Martins’ “Octet” with music by
Felix Mendelssohn. This was the New York City Ballet Premiere with
the principals Ashley Bouder, Darci Kistler, Benjamin Millepied
and Stephen Hanna, and six male dancers: Antonio
Carmena, Aaron Severini, Sean Suozzi, Seth Orza, Jonathan Stafford, and Andrew Veyette. This
ballet had its premiere almost a year ago to the day in Copenhagen
at the Royal Danish Ballet. Very modern to this untrained eye, smooth
and energetic.
This was followed by “Liturgy” choreographed by Christopher
Wheeldon with Music by Arvo Part. Wendy
Whelan and Jock Soto accompanied
by violin soloist Kurt Nikannen. Brought down the house. This ballet
premiered last year in May. Very modern, very geometric, dramatic,
stunning and the dancers were awesome to behold. I sat there thinking
of my friend Patsy Tarr, the dance philanthropist (who was there
last night) and her telling me that the New York City Ballet was
dedicated to breaking new ground in ballet theatre.
Then came “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux” choreography by
George Balanchine and danced by Sofiane
Sylve and Charles Askegard.
I love Tschaikovsky no matter where. The music for this was originally
intended for the pas de deux in Act III of Swan Lake. Because it
was not published with the rest of the score, it remained unknown
to Petipa and Ivanov when they were preparing to stage the St. Peterburg
version. They substituted music from Act I which became the famous “Black
Swan pas de deux” and the music lay unnoticed in the Tschaikovsky
Museum in Klin until it was discovered by the efforts of the Tschaikovsky
Foundation in New York. This ballet was first performed in March
1960 at City Center.
Mr. Askegard who may be the tallest ballet star dancing today (he’s
six-four, weighs about 185) is also the husband of Candace
Bushnell,
creator of “Sex In the City.” She was present tonight.
During intermission we were commenting on how muscular he looks on
stage whereas in life, he seems tall and lanky. The musculature we
mentioned was a dancer’s waist on down. Otherwise, she said,
he is a pretty thin guy although he has to cut back on his eating
before the season begins. Today, for example, she said he had edamame
for lunch. She herself went out and had pasta (and had a good laugh
over
the difference).
I asked her if it was a thrill to see her husband on stage. She said
more than that, she was always nervous, nervous about him getting
through the performance. At his weight, she pointed out, it’s
a lot to lift for those jumps that he executed so seemingly effortlessly.
After the intermission, the opening night audience was treated to Jerome
Robbins’ “I’m Old Fashioned,” with
music by Morton Gould based on a theme by Jerome
Kern (who wrote
the song for Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth to
dance to in a film called “You Were Never Lovelier”).
This was danced by Maria Kowroski, Jennifer Ringer, Rachel Rutherford, Philip
Neal, Sebastien Marcovici and Arch Higgins, and the Corps de ballet. It
premiered in this same theatre (the New York State) in June 1983.
After the performance, the guests were treated to dinner on the Promenade
in the company of the dancers, catered by Sean Driscoll’s Glorious
Foods, along with dancing with music provided by the dean of America’s
private DJs, Tom Finn. |
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L.
to r.: John Marciano, Amy Fine Collins,
and Patsy and Jeff Tarr; Richard Cohen, Joe Klein, Leslie
Stahl, and Aaron
Latham.
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Holden
and Gayfryd Steinberg
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Charlotte
Moss
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Fe
Fendi and Jamee Gregory
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Randall
Bourcheidt and gang
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Yolanda
Garza
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Eugene
and Gretchen Grisanti
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Pia
Catton and Michael Shnayerson
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The
staredown, Act I
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The
staredown, Act II
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Katherine
Bryan
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Somers
and Jonathan Farkas
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Len
Morgan and Angus Wilkie
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Paul
Beirne and Bobby Zarem
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Tom
Finn
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Nina
Griscom, Leonel Piraino, and Candace Bushnell
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L.
to r.: Scene at the Ballet; Dr. Patrick Stubgen
and Dana Hammond; Bobby Zarem.
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Robert
Couturier and Louis Bofferding
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Federico
Manzano and Elizabeth de Cuevas
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Georgette
Farkas and Peter Trapp
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Exiting
the New York State Theater |
Monday night
over at the Pierre, the New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty
to Children honored Betsy Bartlett and
Neal Shapiro and
NBC News at their Gala Dinner Dance. The NYSPCC is the first child
protective agency in the world. Their mission is to protect and strengthen
families through mental health, legal and educational services. This
is some challenge in today’s world where child and spousal
abuse is rampant and on all socio-economic levels.
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Betsy
Bartlett with her grandchildren
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The honorees brought out a good crowd. Al Roker was emcee. Miss Barbara
Carroll, New York’s first lady of the jazz piano who
appears every weekend at the Algonquin, performed.
Barnes and Noble held a Celebrity Book Auction of favorite childhood
books signed by such celebrities as Angelina Jolie, Sarah
Jessica Parker, Chris O’Donnell, Al Pacino, Liz Smith, Governor
George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, former President Bill
Clinton, Billy Crystal,
Glenn Close, Renee Russo, Art Garfunkel, Barbara Bush, Sigourney
Weaver and Matthew McConaughey.
The evening was chaired by Ellen G. Breed and Elbridge
T. Gerry, Jr., Richard H. Lenny and Stone
Phillips.
After cocktails and the Silent Auction, guests moved to the grand
ballroom for dinner and dancing with music provided by Alex
Donner and his orchestra. |
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Bill
Resk, Marie Toulantis, Rick Lenny, and Mary Pulido
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Jorge
and Annette Rodriquez with Kenneth and Geraldine Barbalato
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David
Schiff, Joy Ingham, and Lisa Schiff
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Al
Roker, JuJu Chang, Neal Shapiro, and Jill Brooke
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L.
to r.: Kendra Seth, Staci Fleming, Kevin Seth, Ellen
Breed, and Gay-Gay Gerry; Dana and Scott Schiff with
Di Petroff.
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Betsy
von Furstenberg and friend
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Armene
Milliken and
Dr. John Espy
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Joe
Missett and Sara Fair
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Gay-Gay
Gerry, John Farr, and Lisa Colgate Green
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Jim
Zirin and Marlene Hess
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Ara
Hovnanian, Mark Gilbertson, and Betsy Bartlett
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Barbara
Carroll
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Federico
Mennella, David Sherrill, and Gay-Gay Gerry
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Betsy
Bartlett and Jonathan Ingham
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L.
to r.: Todd Romano; Bobby Short; Cliff Yonce, Kitty
Gerry, and Bill Elder.
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Also
that same night up at the New-York Historical Society on Central
Park West and 77th Street, they were holding their “History
Makers Gala 2004” honoring former Clinton Administration
Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin for his extraordinary
accomplishments as Secretary of the Treasury, in the New York
financial world and for the part he so innovatively played in
forging the global economy of today.
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Robert
Rubin
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Mr. Rubin is one of those players rarely seen around social New York, except
at special benefits usually related to a matter of gravity such as economics,
foreign policy or history.
He’s a slightly built man in his mid-sixties with a youthfully thick head
of salt and pepper hair and an unassuming manner. You never get the feeling that
Mr. Rubin is fond of the spotlight – also a rare quality amongst the heavy-hitters.
I first saw him speak a few years ago at a UNA-USA dinner where they were honoring Jim Wolfensohn,
then head of the World Bank. His speech (this was pre-9/11) admonished that poverty
enveloped more than half the population of the world to such a degree
that if we, the richer nations, didn’t deal with it, “they have nothing
to lose” and we have everything to lose. It was an astonishing speech,
delivered with an unassuming, soft-spoken authority, to a room full of fat cats,
many of whom have been snoozing ever since. |
Above,
left: New
York merchant James Beekman (1732 - 1807)
acquired his coach in 1771, the crown jewel in his fleet of
prestigious
vehicles that already included a chaise, chariot and phaeton.
His account book records the purchase of the coach for 138
pounds from London ship captain Peter Burton,
with additional expenditures for painting the family arms and
varnishing.
Beekman used the coach for special occasions that required
the utmost decorum, such as balls, dancing assemblies and other
formal
social occasions, such as a gala at the New York-Historical
Society. Beekman was a great-grandson of Dutch settlers to
New Amsterdam.
By the 18th century the Beekmans were a socially prominent
family in New York. In 1763, Beekman built himself a handsome
mansion,
Mount Pleasant, on the East River at the foot of what is now
51st Street. One of his descendants, William Beekman, serves
on the Society's Board of Trustees today.
Above, right: Mount
Pleasant, the Beekman residence at the foot of what is now East 51st
Street and the East River. |
At
Monday night’s fete, they showed a short documentary that
the brilliant
documentarian Ric Burns made about Mr. Rubin’s life. Outside
the auditorium
there were a lot of late-comers taking in the new Alexander Hamilton and “Arriving
In Style” exhibit whose centerpiece was the Beekman family
coach (there really was a Beekman family very prominent in the city back in
the 18th century). The horse-drawn coach was the ultimate prestige vehicle of
its
day. Rather like
our SUVs or Maybachs or Bentleys of today, and it’s on beautiful display
at the Historical Society.
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James Beekman
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There is also, as part of the Alexander Hamilton exhibition, two
bronze statues
of Hamilton and Aaron Burr set ten paces from one another, bearing
arms in their famous (and fateful for Hamilton) duel that took place on the other
side of the
Hudson River 200 years ago last July 11.
To this writer, there was still something dreadfully affecting at the sight of
these two men holding revolvers aimed in each other’s direction, knowing
of course the outcome. Life-size according to their time, they were both, compared
to today’s man, about five-seven, and slight in size, hand, limb and feet,
two men incapable of resolving their political disagreements and buttressing
egos, exacting the ultimate price of death on one hand and ultimate ruin on the
other – wasted lives in the end. A lesson for all of us to bear in mind.
After the showing of the Burns film, the two hundred or so guests (they raised
$1 million on this night’s benefit) walked up the marble steps to the second
floor hall and library for dinner, after which there was lots of dancing with Peter
Duchin and his orchestra. |
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This
past Monday
in New York. Tiffany
and Company held its annual holiday lunch for members of the
press (magazine contingent)
which included 18 editors-in-chief from around the town. Their
luncheon used to be held on the second floor of the store on 57th
and Fifth but that’s all changed thanks to the renovation
that has created a new “Home” department which is just
about finished now and features a grand staircase connecting the
second and third floors.
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Michael Kowalski |
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Last year they treated us to lunch in the grand ballroom of the
new Mandarin Hotel in the Time Warner Center. This year it was
the Lever House restaurant in Lever House (now a city landmark)
on Park Avenue between 53rd and 54th Street. The interior looks
something like the interior on an ocean liner and is very sleek.
The restaurant is a runaway hit, and has been since the day it
opened.
Michael Kowalski, Tiffany’s president hosted
the lunch along with Fernanda Kellogg, executive
vice president, publicity and public relations. Mr. Kowalski gave
us a short report on Tiffany’s
state of business – continuing to expand. They have launched
two new stores, separate from Tiffany, called Iridesce and specializing
in pearl jewelry and accessories from $100 to $30,000. Only pearls
and no other Tiffany products.
Company lunches for the press can be a bore but never so for Tiffany’s
mainly because they get together a group, many of whom know each
other but
never see each other except on rare occasions (or passing each other’s
tables at Michael’s) such as that famous
fashion foodie, Hal Rubenstein; Travel & Leisure’s Nancy
Novogrod, Pamela Fiori of Town & Country, Harriet
Mays Powell,
fashion editor of New York magazine, Cricket Burns of Quest; Mike
Cannon and Sarah Medford also of T&C, Wendy
Moonan of the New
York Times; House & Garden’s Dominique
Browning, Elle
Décor’s Margaret Russell, James Reginato of W; Geoffrey
Simpson of Architectural Digest, and Aileen
Mehle, none other than
the glamorous Suzy herself.
And when lunch is over, everyone gets to leave with a Tiffany blue
box tied in a white ribbon in a Tiffany blue shopping bag. This
year’s? ... handblown glass candlesticks. |
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Robert
Rufino and Harriet Mays Powell
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Michael
Kowalski and Wendy Moonan (The New York Times)
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Cathy
Horyn (The New York Times)
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Anita
Sarsidi and Margaret Russell (Elle Décor)
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Lorraine
Gracey (Tiffany & Co.)
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Dominique
Browning (House & Garden)
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Sarah
Medford (Town & Country), Jim Reginato (W),
and Millie Bratten (Bride's)
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Beth
Canavan (Tiffany & Co.) and Linda O'Keefe (Metropolitan
Home)
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Avril
Graham (Harper's Bazaar), Danya Unterhalter (Vogue),
and Samantha Yanks (Gotham/Hamptons)
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Anne
McNally (Vanity Fair) and Caroline Naggiar (Tiffany & Co.)
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Heather
Bracher Severs (Town & Country)
and Denise O'Donoghue (Bride's)
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Penny
Proddow, Marion Fasel, and Jacqueline
Goewey (InStyle)
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Isabelle
Kellogg (Hamptons Cottages and Gardens)
and Mark Grischke (Forbes FYI)
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Kim
France and Ashley Kennedy (Lucky)
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L.
to r.: Etta Froio, John Loring, and Fernanda Kellogg;
The table setting.
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Blaine
Trump, Joan Rivers, Matthew Modine Tyson Beckford, and Councilwoman
Christine Quinn braved reports of rain and all came out to support
God's Love We Delivers 11th annual Race to Deliver last Sunday in
Central Park.
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John
Demsey (CEO MAC cosmetics), Blaine Trump, Matthew
Modine, and Nancy Mahon (executive director of
God's Love we Deliver)
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It turned out to be a nice, although not sunny, day and Joan kept
the crowd laughing about how she was not allowed to run because the
last time she ran it took her so long to cross the finish line organizers
asked her to please refrain this time.
The Race to
Deliver is a 4 mile run/walk and God’s Love’s
biggest fundraiser raising more than $800,000 with more 8,000 runners.
Since the race’s inception, God’s Love has raised more
than $5.8 million, providing 2.8 million meals to men, women and
children living with AIDS/HIV, cancer and other serious illnesses.
Their mission is to ensure that no one ever has to face the unthinkable
combination of hunger and illness.
Sponsors included MAC Viva Glam, Equinox, Niketown, Ford 500, Pfizer,
Vogue, Bloomberg, Bloomingdales FMG Macy’s Group, QVC, glaceau
vitaminwater & Music Choice. Other sponsors present, Mac's John
Demsey, Tim Schifter, David Kirsch.
Douglas Elliman's Alan Rogers and public relations exec Paul
Wilmot hosted a brunch immediately following at The Plaza Athenee where
John Demsey Presented GLWD with a check for $150,000. |
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