The Friends Committee of Riverside Theatre brought the Great White Way to Florida for this year’s Broadway Night Spring Gala, which featured stage and screen stars Stephanie J. Block, a Tony Award winner, and the accomplished Sebastian Arcelus. The annual event, Riverside’s biggest fundraiser of the season, was co-chaired by Marcy DeWolfe and Paula Shorts.
The elegantly attired guests were given the star treatment as they ascended the steps of the theater where they mingled outdoors over cocktails before moving into the Stark Stage main auditorium.
Before the performers worked their magic, Cindy Rounsavall, chair of the Executive Friends Committee with Wheatie Gibb, and Jon Moses, Riverside’s executive producer and CEO, welcomed and thanked everyone for their support. They noted that the event raises critical funds for the theater, from assuring its ability to provide exceptional theatrical experiences to enabling its Performing Arts programs, which foster “growth, creativity and collaboration in students of all ages.”
Block and Arcelus then entranced the audience as they shared stories of their theatrical lives interspersed with displays of their outstanding musical talents and powerful voices, singularly and as a couple.
The two met while on tour, playing together in “Wicked” and, while in Florida, said they fell in love “under the Okeechobee moon.” Then, in New York to perform “Wicked” on Broadway, they made a stop at City Hall to get married, performing that night “without anyone knowing we were husband and wife.”
The pair, who have been married nine years, also played husband and wife in the 2022 Broadway revival of “Into the Woods” before taking the production on tour with the full Broadway cast and their daughter.
As she is known to do, Block closed with Nancy LaMott’s lovely song “We Can Be Kind,” calling it something that “we can, and should, all do.”
After the performance, guests dined on a delicious repast prepared by Elizabeth D. Kennedy & Co. Catering. The enticing décor included Broadway Nightclub style tables, set with multicolored linens and floral arrangements in the Orchid Lobby and upstairs outside the Founders Lounge.
Others made their way to the Riverside Lounge in the Waxlax Stage, designed for the evening as a cozy, colorful oasis, with comfortable couches for lounging and feasting.
For more information, please visit RiversideTheatre.com.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
