“We’ve done all kinds of really wacky things in the past,” said Linda Roth, an organizer of previous foundation galas, referring to having King dress in all-white Saturday Night Fever-esque attire one year. “This year we are actually not going for wacky. We decided to instead pump it up with our entertainment.”The celebration, hosted by CNN host Larry King and his wife, Shawn Southwick-King, raised $1.2 million for the foundation, which provides heart operations to people who otherwise could not afford them. Roth kept the decor in the traditional Ritz-Carlton ballroom minimal, teaming up with Exquisite Design Studio to add bursts of color. Floral arrangements included bowls of red, white, and lavender roses, vases of white calla lilies, and lantern-festooned trees.
More than 600 guests noshed on a menu of smoked-salmon-tartare crepes and orange-glazed sea bass put together by the Ritz-Carlton’s catering staff. During dinner, artist Eric Waugh kept the audience entertained with a live painting performance, where he turned his brush on the audience, painting a scene from the gala that was later auctioned off.
The event brought in various District power players—and a former "Nanny"—thanks to King’s long list of friends and colleagues. Among the attendees were Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, actress Fran Drescher, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, and the not-so-popular-in-Washington Larry Flynt (who recently offered $1 million to anyone who could prove they’d had sexual relations with a lawmaker).
A new facet to this year’s event was the "Larry King and Friends: the State of Heart and Health Care" panel, held two days earlier at the George Washington University Hospital Auditorium. The discussion brought expert panelists together to address an audience of health-care practitioners and media. “This year we wanted to bring the message a lot closer to the gala, and when you have someone like Larry leading the discussion, it’s easy to get the best experts in the field to talk about the issues, which are the reason the foundation exists,” Roth said.
