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Event Coverage

SEASON OF GALAS

For Film Music Gala, Kennedy Center Stages Red Carpet in Dining Rooms

White Wigs and Giant Pumpkin Accent Ballet Ball

Corcoran Ball Dining Rooms Get Colorful Americana Interpretations

Folger Library Gala Runs With a Mystical Theme

Inn at Little Washington Celebrates 30th Birthday With a Garden Party
 

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION COVERAGE

Bloomberg Party Stages Interactive Art Installations in Drippy Tent

Capitol File Keeps the Press-Focused Night Rolling at the Newseum

Modern Lounges Accent Correspondents Dinner Preparties

Correspondents Dinner Prepartiers See More of the Same, Look Forward to New Administration

Best of the Rest: People, McLaughlin, and More Correspondents Weekend Parties
 

POLITICALLY ALIGNED

Corcoran-Inspired Linens for Conference of Mayors Gala

Meet the Press's Newseum Fete

GQ's Toast to (Some of) Washington's Power Players

HRC's 3,000-Strong Annual Dinner

Presidential Candidates Vie for U Street Venue
 

DESIGN-FOCUSED DETAILS

National Mall Trust Hosts Appropriately Rainy English Garden Luncheon

Faux Prom Washes Kennedy Center in Pink Hues

ISES Gala Celebrates 20th Birthday With Hollywood Theme

Renewable Energy Conference Booths Mix Comfort, Conversation, and Education 

Congressional Quarterly's Big Band After-Party
 

BIG NAMES AND BRANDS

Repubs Get Goofy at Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner

Food Network Brings Reality TV to Cherry Blossom Kickoff

History Channel's Futuristic Competition

BET's Royal BET Honors After-Party

The Bucket List's Budget-Savvy Screening
 

FOODIE FUNCTIONS

Blue Jeans Ball Lets Guests Relax in Blue-Hued Bash

Politicians Don Aprons at March of Dimes Cook-Off

Rammy Nomination Party Low on Decor, High on Industry Bonding

Share Our Strength Highlights Local Culinary Talent (and Amasses Dishes)

Wine and Food Festival Ticket Holders Like PS 7's Rockfish
 

FASHION FOCUSED

Sugary, Fairy Tale Fashions Take the Sweet Charity Runway

Pooches and People Catwalk at Humane Society Fashion Show

Nordstrom's Biggest Men's Fashion Event of the Year

Fashion Fights Poverty's Model-Filled Catwalk
 
 

EVENT REPORT

   05.09.08 4:14 PM

National Mall Trust Hosts Appropriately Rainy English Garden Luncheon
The luncheon's views of the Capitol
The luncheon's views of the Capitol
Photo: imagelinkphoto.com
Yesterday wasn't exactly the best day for a garden party, with rain pouring and a storm brewing. But the Trust for the National Mall went ahead with its inaugural benefit luncheon, held under a series of circus-style century tents in the shadow of the Washington Monument, with the Capitol in sight. "We have 500 umbrellas," said freelance planner Allison Signorelli, who produced the event with Trust president Caroline Cunningham.

For the decor and flowers, Signorelli brought on New York-based planner David Tutera, who envisioned an English garden setting for the lunch. "The idea he had was, this is what the Mall is [with the view] and this is what the Mall could be if we had manicured gardens and beautiful flowers," Signorelli said. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Trust for the National Mall

EVENT REPORT

   05.09.08 3:00 PM

New Nokia Products Make Movies (and Take Drink Orders) at Gen Art Event
The Nokia-branded bar
The Nokia-branded bar
Photo: Brian Choi
FROM CHICAGO On Wednesday, a face-painted man wearing a pink shirt and toting a green water gun wove his way through the stylish crowd assembled at the River East Art Center for Gen Art and Nokia's Art in Motion event. The colorful guest was part of one of three films that were shot on site, as emerging filmmakers commissioned by Gen Art made short movies using Nokia's N95 8GB device.

The moviemaking was only one of the ideas that Gen Art Chicago's regional event director, Laura Lachman, cooked up for the event, which was intended to showcase the cutting-edge capabilities of Nokia's N95 and N810 devices.

Guests had the option of ordering drinks the old-fashioned way (by bellying up to the bar) or by taking a more technological route: Nokia reps standing at three highboys held N810 Internet tablets that they used to type in guests' drink requests. The orders went electronically to a computer behind the bar, and a server brought the drink orders to the tables within a matter of minutes. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Gen Art, Nokia

NEWS

   05.07.08 6:12 PM

Hill Vote Delays Will on the Hill Curtain Call
Will on the Hill's 20-person cast
Will on the Hill's 20-person cast
Photo: Kevin Allen
On Monday night, the Shakespeare Theater Company held its annual Will on the Hill event, where some 20 D.C. personalities and members of Congress took the stage to perform in A Comedy of Capitol Errors. While all was status quo throughout most of the evening, one glitch did occur: According to Yeas and Nays, half the cast was missing at curtain call, due to a vote on the Hill—which artistic director Michael Kahn eloquently dubbed as "democracy in action" when he made apologies to the 300-person audience.

"We handle events every day, but to work with a cast that doesn't have any experience is difficult," added associate director of special events Joanne Coutts. "But they're really engaged and want to be part of the event."

Written by playwright Peter Byrne and directed by Ethan McSweeny, the play (staged on the set of the current Julius Caesar production) featured cast members such as Vermont senator Patrick Leahy, Capitol File publisher Susan Nixon, and Motion Picture Association of America chairman Daniel Glickman. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Will on the Hill, Shakespeare Theater Company

EVENT REPORT

   05.07.08 3:43 PM

Sugary, Fairy Tale Fashions Take the Sweet Charity Runway
Models walked the runway in confectionary outfits.
Models walked the runway in confectionary outfits.
Photo: Jay Moore
It was Food Network meets Project Runway at Monday night’s Sweet Charity event at the Mandarin Oriental. Benefiting the Heart of America Foundation, which provides books to at-risk children, the annual fashion show presented outfits made from candy and chocolate on the runway, this year under a fairy-tale theme (think Tinker Bell and Alice in Wonderland).

Some of the models—including wives of Washington Wizards players and America’s Next Top Model's Saleisha Stowers—wore chocolate from head to toe and had to tread carefully on the runway. In order to keep the chocolate from melting, the staging area was kept at a chilly 50 degrees. Another precautionary tactic: covering the ballroom’s floor in plastic, as the 15 participating chefs-turned-fashion designers (including Aron Weber of the Fairmont Washington and Shaun McCarthy of Brasserie Beck) spent four hours before the show, with gaggles of assistants, perfecting their chocolaty looks. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Heart of America Foundation, Sweet Charity

NEWS

   05.07.08 1:59 PM

Amtrak to Host National Train Day Events on May 10
May 10, the anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad, will be the first-ever National Train Day, an Amtrak-sponsored event taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., according to USA Today. In order to highlight its recent success (1.5 million more travelers rode Amtrak in 2007 than in the previous year), the national passenger railroad is spending $2.2 million on the event, in addition to bringing on as its spokesman Al Roker, who will host the Washington events at Union Station with singer Sara Bareilles.

The Harlem Globetrotters will make an appearance at the New York events at Penn Station. In all of the cities, Amtrak will set up displays, offering visitors the opportunity to walk through actual trains, and feature sweepstakes, giveaways, and concerts. According to the event's Web site, Amtrak has partnered with MasterCard and Wheel of Fortune for National Train Day. The game show is sponsoring an Amtrak train wrapped in a Wheel of Fortune ad running between Chicago and Milwaukee through May 15.   —Wendy Wollenberg


RELATED TOPICS Amtrak, Harlem Globetrotters, Wheel of Fortune, MasterCard

EVENT REPORT

   05.07.08 11:55 AM

Crown Royal, In Touch Host Friday-Night Derby Fetes in Louisville
The Crown Royal Lounge
The Crown Royal Lounge
Photo: Playboy/James Trevenen
Several big-name brands showed up in Louisville over the weekend to host events surrounding the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. Dubbed the Run for the Roses, the horse race has become a breeding ground for tabloid-friendly celebrities—and where celebrities go, endorsement-seeking brands follow. (Ubiquitous types like The Hills' Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, model Molly Sims, Entourage's Adrian Grenier, and former Miss USA Tara Conner were on the scene.)

"The Derby is one of our favorite events," said Hi-Fi Marketing Group partner Brian Gefter, who produced Friday's In Touch Weekly Parlor party with his partner Mike Satsky. "We do all of these parties around national event properties like Super Bowl, but the reason the Derby is appealing to us is that it’s very celebrity-driven but it’s less cluttered. There's a real chance to make a huge impact in an area where there aren’t as many events going on, as, say, the Super Bowl."

Playboy division vice president of creative services Donna Tavoso, who produced the Crown Royal Lounge on Friday night, said, "I think as more and more people realize that the Derby is a celebrity event and a great consumer event, they are drawn to the whole idea. It's not surprising that others want to throw a party [on the Friday night before the Derby]. That said, we know the level and quality of the party we throw, and we rest on that reputation." READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Kentucky Derby, Barnstable Brown Gala, Playboy, In Touch Weekly, Pama, ProFlowers, Crown Royal, Grey Goose

EVENT REPORT

   05.06.08 4:33 PM

For Film Music Gala, Kennedy Center Stages Red Carpet in Dining Rooms
The Kennedy Center gala's preperformance dinner
The Kennedy Center gala's preperformance dinner
Photo: Joseph Allen
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' annual spring benefit, held Sunday night, paid tribute to the "Art of Film Music," with a performance hosted by directors (and Kennedy Center honorees) Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg and featuring the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by composer (and honoree) John Williams. Songs from Lawrence of Arabia, E.T., and Indiana Jones, among others, were accompanied by clips from the movies.

With Hollywood bigwigs in the house (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes arrived later in the evening), Kennedy Center director of special events Leslie Miller aimed to create an appropriately glamorous setting for the preperformance dinner, held in the atrium and the north and south galleries. The rooms took on striking color palettes, mixing stark black-and-white decor elements with splashes of red. "Every year we take our decor theme from the performance, so each has a different feel," Miller said. "Last year we had a spring feeling in the room, with lighter colors."

Miller channeled the red carpet in the dining spaces, with catwalks erected between the tables and models walking in dresses from previous award ceremonies. Neiman Marcus manager Martha Slagle helped wrangle the outfits (including the green Escada number worn by Kim Basinger when she won the Oscar in 1997 for L.A. Confidential), and New York's Siegelson provided $27 million worth of accompanying jewelry. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Kennedy Center

FROM THE EDITORS

   05.06.08 3:01 PM

Tribeca Film Festival Mixes Thriller Zombies, Big Premieres, and Sponsored Lounges
FROM NEW YORK The Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up Sunday, completing 12 days of indie movie screenings, big-budget studio premieres, sponsored lounges, lavish parties, outdoor events, concerts, and more. (Spokespeople confirm that the total attendance was just under 400,000.) We covered a variety of the offerings, from Thriller zombies at the Drive-In to American Express's new entertainment and hospitality lounge. And we talked to Joshua Cicerone, vice president and creative director of Dalzell Productions (the company that produces the festival) to hear about a typical day during the festival and how he works with city agencies to coordinate the event's logistics. You can find an archive of all of our coverage here.   

RELATED TOPICS Tribeca Film Festival

EVENT REPORT

   04.30.08 4:02 PM

White Wigs and Giant Pumpkin Accent Ballet Ball
The entrance to the Ballet gala
The entrance to the Ballet gala
Photo: J.C. Martins/Fotobriceno for BizBash
Inspired by the Washington Ballet’s upcoming performance of Cinderella, the organization’s spring gala transformed the classical Mellon Auditorium into a pink-hued palace on Friday. Six fanfare-playing trumpeters and two eight-year-old footmen sprinkled rose petals on the pink carpet as the 500 guests arrived at the venue, only to be greeted inside by more footmen in white powdered wigs and period costumes (who were also on hand to offer drinks).

Produced by the ballet's special events manager, Mary Alice Nay, the event combined predinner cocktails in the venue’s Green Rooms with dinner in the ornate auditorium and then—appropriately—dancing for all. READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS Washington Ballet, Cinderella

NEWS

   04.29.08 2:36 PM

Correspondents Dinner Dubbed "Lame" by Time, "Hideous" by Rupert Everett
As Washingtonians recuperate from the storm that was the White House Correspondents Association dinner weekend, media types have been quick to assess how it all went down, what was great, and what was not so great.

In an article titled "The Coolest D.C. Party is Still Lame," Time.com asserted that as hard as Washington tries, it will always be the dorky sibling to New York and L.A., saying, "So each year, nearly three thousand Beltway tribe members and their guests gather at the Washington Hilton ... to dine with the current president of the United States and pretend for a night that we actually belong to a cool crowd, a hip scene, an exclusive network of movers and shakers that everyone wants to join."

The piece went on to describe how the Secret Service closed down the men's room—possibly because the president was being held in an adjacent room—vetoing access to tuxedo-clad notables like Wolf Blitzer. (Variety confirmed the story, adding that Newt Gingrich, too, was barred.) All in all, "The dinner itself was an unspectacular spread of white wine, white fish, steak and cheese cake."

British actor Rupert Everett agreed, telling the Reliable Source that the evening was "one of the most hideous events I've ever been to." READ MORE

RELATED TOPICS White House Correspondents Association Dinner, Capitol File, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair
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