The Riverside Theatre Friends Committee coaxed “the blues right out of the horn” Monday evening at the Premier Benefit Gala of the theater’s newest musical production, “Mame.”
Diane Feeley, Gala co-chair with Joanie Kasten, said she thoroughly enjoyed working with the committee on the event, adding, “It’s a lot of fun and you work with such a great group of women. And that’s what it’s all about.”
“We get a lot of community support, which is wonderful,” agreed Kasten, noting that they expected roughly 350 guests. “This is what keeps the theater going.”
The Friends Committee is the theater’s major fundraising arm, annually raising more than $500,000 through special events such as the Fall Luncheon, Supper Club and Preview Gala.
“It’s always fun to do your biggest show of the season in front of the theater’s most important people,” said Producing Artistic Director Allen Cornell with a wry grin, despite clearly having everything under control. “It’s just a little daunting.
After walking the red-carpeted stairway, the stylishly gowned and tuxedoed guests mingled over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres outdoors, blissfully rain-free despite earlier threats of a downpour. At the designated hour, they made their way in to dine at tables set in the Orchid Lobby and Waxlax Theatre on a sumptuous gourmet dinner by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Company, featuring beef filet and shrimp skewers, followed by a decadent coconut cake complete with an edible flower.
Channeling their inner Mame, the dedicated Friends Committee had fashioned a sophisticated fuchsia and gold table décor with an artistic flair that would have made the fashionably eclectic Beekman Place crowd feel right at home. Centerpieces, atop vibrant fuchsia tablecloths, featured mannequin hands with elegant, long fuchsia gloves and long cigarette holders at some tables, and brass fox-hunting horns at other tables, all draped in oodles of pearls and shimmering tinsel. And in the Waxlax, the talented Riverside artistic teams had fashioned fabulous hanging chandeliers of glittery fuchsia tinsel that gave the room a warm glow.
After dinner, guests were treated to the first viewing of the successful Broadway musical ahead of its opening night to the general public, and later closed out the evening with a champagne reception with the cast.
The production will run through March 26. Visit RiversideTheatre.com for more information.
