Roughly 500 ladies left Riverside Theatre last Tuesday afternoon humming wonderfully memorable Broadway tunes following this year’s Friends Fall Luncheon which showcased “My Romance: The Works of Richard Rodgers,” directed by Producing Artistic Director Allen D. Cornell and arranged by Musical Director Ken Clifton.

Prior to the musical production, guests enjoyed a delightful luncheon catered by Elizabeth Kennedy & Co. at tables featuring colorful croton centerpieces to compliment the overall leaf-themed décor. Artistically gifted event co-chairs Ann Jones and Kathleen Poole enlisted the help of fellow Art in Bloom floral designers Ann Webber and Susan Pyles to create the arrangements, using leaves ‘harvested’ from Quail Valley Club in vases on loan from William Bainbridge Steele.

“We saved ourselves more than $3,000 compared to what we spent in the past,” said Jones. “It’s been a fun process; it’s a great team working on all this.”

Later in the evening, vocalists Kristin Carbone, Peter Lockyer, Michael St. John and Jennifer Hope Wills, accompanied by pianists Clifton and Anne Shuttlesworth, gave an encore performance so that others could enjoy their talents.

The Friends committee is the theater’s major fundraising arm, generally netting more than $500,000 through the Fall Luncheon, Supper Club and Gala special events.