Vintage Michael Jackson video, or network event? It was hard to tell at Showtime network's party at L.A.'s Hollywood
Forever Cemetery, a star burial ground that is sometimes used as an unusual event venue. Paragon Events & Catering president Debbie Lee, event designer Michael Maize, and Showtime special events director Brad Setting produced an eerie event in honor of the network's current lineup—the American Candidate, Chapelle's Show, Dead Like Me, and Huff—that looked far more Dead than Chapelle.
Guests walked through a rose petal-dotted mausoleum into a velvet-draped grassy area behind it, where the party space was set up like a haunted garden. In each of the garden's four corners, Paragon set up a sitting area to match the shows' disparate themes. Dark wood tables and leather couches with psychology books, antique-like lamps, and a framed diploma in one corner represented the Huff lead character's office. For Chapelle, a performance stage with a mic called to mind the comic's act. Spindly dead trees and tombstone props from Greenset complemented the cemetery's real ones.
On the buffets, old encyclopedias, lamps, and crushed velvet in earth tones gave the stations a spooky, weathered look. Paragon's dinner menu included New York steak with rosemary port wine reduction, grilled halibut with artichoke caponata, and grilled chicken breasts with tomato fennel jus.
Red rose petals dotted the tables among red candles in lieu of centerpieces. In addition to executing a surprise pyrotechnic show midway through the evening—including fire eaters, stiltwalkers, and streamer cannons—TLC Creative Special Effects piped in dry ice to punctuate the haunted effect, and to subdue the waning warmth of the L.A. air.
—Alesandra Dubin
Forever Cemetery, a star burial ground that is sometimes used as an unusual event venue. Paragon Events & Catering president Debbie Lee, event designer Michael Maize, and Showtime special events director Brad Setting produced an eerie event in honor of the network's current lineup—the American Candidate, Chapelle's Show, Dead Like Me, and Huff—that looked far more Dead than Chapelle.
Guests walked through a rose petal-dotted mausoleum into a velvet-draped grassy area behind it, where the party space was set up like a haunted garden. In each of the garden's four corners, Paragon set up a sitting area to match the shows' disparate themes. Dark wood tables and leather couches with psychology books, antique-like lamps, and a framed diploma in one corner represented the Huff lead character's office. For Chapelle, a performance stage with a mic called to mind the comic's act. Spindly dead trees and tombstone props from Greenset complemented the cemetery's real ones.
On the buffets, old encyclopedias, lamps, and crushed velvet in earth tones gave the stations a spooky, weathered look. Paragon's dinner menu included New York steak with rosemary port wine reduction, grilled halibut with artichoke caponata, and grilled chicken breasts with tomato fennel jus.
Red rose petals dotted the tables among red candles in lieu of centerpieces. In addition to executing a surprise pyrotechnic show midway through the evening—including fire eaters, stiltwalkers, and streamer cannons—TLC Creative Special Effects piped in dry ice to punctuate the haunted effect, and to subdue the waning warmth of the L.A. air.
—Alesandra Dubin
At Showtime network's party at L.A.'s Hollywood Forever Cemetery, guests walked through a mausoleum into a velvet-draped grassy area behind it, where the party space was set up like a haunted garden.
On the buffets, old encyclopedias, lamps, and crushed velvet in earth tones gave the stations a spooky, weathered look.
TLC Creative Special Effects piped in dry ice to punctuate the haunted effect.
Paragon Events & Catering set up a sitting area to represent the office in Huff in one corner of the party space.
