| EVENT REPORT 09.28.09 5:30 PM |
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Men in Drag Take to "What a Pair" Stage
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 | Steven Weber and Jason Alexander in What a Pair's stage production
Photo: Chris Weeks/WireImage.com |
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Traditionally, the What a Pair fund-raising concert, which benefits breast cancer research at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, presents a strictly all-female cast, so when producers decided to tap the singing talents of Jason Alexander and Steven Weber for the show’s seventh season last Saturday, they had one stipulation: The men had to perform their duet in drag.
Just as female performers such as Marg Helgenberger, Deborah Gibson, and Vicki Lewis donned dresses and heels to belt out Broadway-style duets, so too did Alexander and Weber, who playfully tossed their women’s underpants at the audience during a rendition of “The Beauty That Drives Men Mad.” The move to include the men was one of a few new variations on the established format that producers adopted this year.
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RELATED TOPICS
John Wayne Cancer Institute, Broad Family, Harvey's, Pinky Vodka, Royal Order, What A Pair |
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| FRESH FACE 08.13.08 12:00 PM |
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Cake Monkey Specializes in Mini, Retro Desserts
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 | Cake Monkey's Elizabeth Belkind (left) and Lisa Olin.
Photo: Zen Sekizawa for BizBash |
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Internet Connection: A love of cake and a Craigslist posting brought business partners Elizabeth Belkind and Lisa Olin together. Olin, a film and television producer with a sweet tooth, wanted to open a bakery specializing in individual layer cakes and her favorite childhood treats. With the concept, logo, and bakery name selected, all she needed was a qualified baker. Enter Belkind, a Campanile-trained pastry chef and designer of the dessert menu at contemporary American restaurant Grace. “Because I was familiar with [Belkind’s] background, I knew I wanted her before I even spoke with her,” Olin says. “But then when we met, it was all the better, because we had the same ideas when it came to cakes, like what ingredients and flavors to use.” With their interests in sync, last December the pair launched Cake Monkey Bakery.
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RELATED TOPICS
Mango, In Style Magazine, Elle, Des Kohan, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Paramount |
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| EVENT REPORT 04.09.08 11:30 AM |
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John Wayne Odyssey Ball Brings Broadway Touches to Beverly Hilton
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 | The John Wayne Institute Auxiliary's 23rd annual Odyssey Ball
Photo: Lee Salem |
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Guests of Saturday night’s 23rd annual Odyssey Ball found themselves mingling underneath street signs pointing them towards Broadway, and conversing over the sound of blaring sirens and taxi horns, despite the fact that they were nowhere near the streets of New York City. Instead, attendees socialized with one another across the country in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary worked together with Randy Fuhrman to produce a Manhattan-themed evening.
Rather than attempting to recreate the city’s many landmarks, Fuhrman focused his energies on evoking two iconic spots: Broadway and Central Park. In addition to bringing in Broadway-bound signs and playing audio of signature city sounds, Fuhrman littered tabletops in the silent auction area with 150 authentic playbills, as well as top hats and white gloves, and had servers dish up mini pizzas and other hors d’ oeuvres from carts resembling those used by street vendors. Guests also got a taste of the entertainment the theater district is known for during the silent auction, where a group of singers performed classic Broadway hits. (Fuhrman steered away from more modern-day productions in order to cater to the ball’s older crowd.)
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RELATED TOPICS
John Wayne Cancer Institute |
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