It felt like the joint really was jumpin'...you could actually feel the floor vibrate when 400 attendees at the 87th annual International Hospitality Ball joined Show Stoppers' 10-person troupe on the dance floor 10 minutes after entering the Marriott Marquis' Broadway Ballroom. Joseph Spinnato, president & CEO of the Hotel Association of New York—which hosts the event during the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show at the Javits Center—said that he is always nervous until he sees everyone on the dance floor, and then he can relax knowing that the event is working. Based on that standard alone, the event was an immediate success.
"It is all about the pacing and interactivity," Show Stoppers president Ginny Schulsohn told us about her plan for the evening. "We had over 30 people involved in the show. Everything is planned from the choreographed dancing and interactivity to the first confetti drop that signals that the party is really underway."
Working with a "Viva New York" theme, the entertainment included African street drummers, a cabaret act performing songs from the Broadway hit Hairspray and a snowy Christmas finale that had guests dancing with Santa and 10 dancers in red and white holiday costumes.
For decor, Kiriba Logan of Atlas Floral Decorators underlit white Plexiglas tables decorated with red rose centerpieces and crisscrossing ribbons that reached from the tables to the ceiling.
—David Adler
"It is all about the pacing and interactivity," Show Stoppers president Ginny Schulsohn told us about her plan for the evening. "We had over 30 people involved in the show. Everything is planned from the choreographed dancing and interactivity to the first confetti drop that signals that the party is really underway."
Working with a "Viva New York" theme, the entertainment included African street drummers, a cabaret act performing songs from the Broadway hit Hairspray and a snowy Christmas finale that had guests dancing with Santa and 10 dancers in red and white holiday costumes.
For decor, Kiriba Logan of Atlas Floral Decorators underlit white Plexiglas tables decorated with red rose centerpieces and crisscrossing ribbons that reached from the tables to the ceiling.
—David Adler