| EVENT REPORT 12.09.08 8:00 AM |
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| The Spertus Institute cut costs for its fund-raising dinner by using a space that had already been built out for another event. |
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Thursday night's benefit dinner for the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies took place at a seemingly counter-intuitive locale: the Auditorium Theatre. The Spertus "doesn't lend itself to seated dinners for more than 300 guests," explained Event Architects' Fergus Rooney, who worked with Mari Philipsborn, the institute's director of development, to execute the fund-raiser. With some 450 guests expected, Rooney and Philipsborn knew they would have to host the dinner at an alternate venue, and they settled on the nearby theater for reasons both practical and thematic.
On the Saturday following the fund-raiser, Rooney planned to use the Auditorum Theatre for a corporate dinner party he was producing. In preparation, he had already arranged to have a deck built out over the seats of the theater to add space to the stage, where the dinner was to be served. Because the stage's increased size made it a viable option for hosting a seated crowd of 450, Rooney asked his corporate clients if they would mind if the Spertus event took place there on Thursday. "They didn't mind at all," he said, "and using that stage kept the event very affordable." Without having to chip in for decking and other costs associated with "builidng a venue within a venue," Rooney said, Spertus was able to stay within budget and maximize the dinner's fund-raising profit. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | The evening began with an hour-long cocktail reception in the theater's lobby, where tables bore burgundy linens and white floral arrangements.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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 | Orange lighting at the back of the stage reflected the Spertus Institute's signature hue.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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 | To create a roomy dinner space, Event Architects built the Auditorium Theatre's stage out over the venue's first level of seating.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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 | A member of the Spertus Institute's board of trustees donated floral arrangements from designer Virginia Wolff.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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 | Some 450 guests sat for dinner on the theater's stage.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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 | A 15- by 20-foot screen showcased the evening's featured speaker, writer Joseph Epstein.
Photo: Paola Ignatova |
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Philipsborn added that hosting the event at the theater fed into the dinner's theme, "A Landmark Celebration." "We used architecture to be the bridge between the institutions," she said, explaining that the Auditorium Theatre is considered an iconic Chicago building and the Spertus Institute "has received awards and recognition for how its contemporary design reflects and contributes to our landmark district."
To help enforce a link between the two structures, Event Creative designed lighting that was intened to bring the look of the Spertus Institute into the theater. A scrim in back of the stage was uplit in orange (Spertus's signature shade) and bore prismatic gobos which were meant to evoke the institute's undulating glass facade.
—Jenny Berg
RELATED TOPICS
Spertus Institute
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