Much of Los Angeles was looking forward to the reopening of the city’s beloved Beaux Arts landmark, the Griffith Observatory, after its five-year hiatus for $93 million in renovations and expansion. The new, improved observatory on Mount Hollywood has such trumpeted attractions as exhibits and a planetarium that have been spiffed up with space-age animation. It also has new outdoor terraces that add the observatory to the ranks of Los Angeles’s loveliest venues, and Sequoia Productions, working with Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission president Kathy Schloessman, showed them off to fine effect at the Galactic Gala celebrating the reopening. After all, what mortal event designer could beat a city full of glimmering lights?With 1,500 guests expected, logistics were a challenge, but event organizers seemed to have that down to a science—not surprising given Sequoia’s Cheryl Cecchetto’s and Gary Levitt’s considerable experience with other huge events, including the governors balls of both the Oscar and Emmy awards. Guests were directed to parking lots near the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park and shuttled to the observatory on mini-buses staffed with guides who prepped them about scheduling and logistics at the site. They arrived to find a carpet in midnight blue, in place of the traditional red, leading to the observatory, where the evening’s theme was “Inspiring the Future, One Imagination at a Time.” As guests checked in, they received passports (books with pages for stickers given at the various exhibitions), a playful nudge to encourage them
to visit the entire facility. Also part of the built-in entertainment were showings of Centered on the Universe at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium Theater and The Once and Future Griffith Observatory, a documentary hosted by Leonard Nimoy at the new, 200-seat Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon.
The event, cosponsored by the Friends of the Observatory, opened with a brief ceremony on the observatory’s steps, during which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials sang the praises of the face-lift for the 71-year-old institution. Then the crowd was unleashed on the eight bars and 15 buffets inside and on the terraces, where a jazz string quartet, a flamenco band, and other groups performed.
With alcoholic potables donated by Ketel One and Young’s Market, bartenders served specialty drinks with spacey names—Blue Moons, Watermelon Wormholes, Big Dippers, Galactic Gimlets, Planetary Punch, and Martian Mojitos. Wolfgang Puck Catering supplied spreads of miso salmon, pumpkin ravioli, and salad as well as four chocolate fountains and dessert buffets on the roof, which sweetened the 20-minute wait to see the stars through an observatory telescope.
Using grass sheaves, succulents, orchids, and banana leaves, L.A. Premier fashioned flower arrangements in earthly tones of blue and turquoise for buffets and tables on the lower levels and, for the upper levels that much closer to the cosmos, arrangements using otherworldly shades of orange, red, black, and white. Guests who didn’t mind waiting on line could be photographed against a cosmic backdrop so they could take home a memento of the evening. Everyone left with a gift bag with a commemorative book and DVD.
—Irene Lacher
Posted 11.14.06
Photos: Nadine Froger Photography
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The event, cosponsored by the Friends of the Observatory, opened with a brief ceremony on the observatory’s steps, during which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials sang the praises of the face-lift for the 71-year-old institution. Then the crowd was unleashed on the eight bars and 15 buffets inside and on the terraces, where a jazz string quartet, a flamenco band, and other groups performed.
With alcoholic potables donated by Ketel One and Young’s Market, bartenders served specialty drinks with spacey names—Blue Moons, Watermelon Wormholes, Big Dippers, Galactic Gimlets, Planetary Punch, and Martian Mojitos. Wolfgang Puck Catering supplied spreads of miso salmon, pumpkin ravioli, and salad as well as four chocolate fountains and dessert buffets on the roof, which sweetened the 20-minute wait to see the stars through an observatory telescope.
Using grass sheaves, succulents, orchids, and banana leaves, L.A. Premier fashioned flower arrangements in earthly tones of blue and turquoise for buffets and tables on the lower levels and, for the upper levels that much closer to the cosmos, arrangements using otherworldly shades of orange, red, black, and white. Guests who didn’t mind waiting on line could be photographed against a cosmic backdrop so they could take home a memento of the evening. Everyone left with a gift bag with a commemorative book and DVD.
—Irene Lacher
Posted 11.14.06
Photos: Nadine Froger Photography
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At the Griffith Observatory reopening gala, guests glimpsed the property's sweeping views.
Wolfgang Puck set up 15 buffet stations throughout the party.
Guests gazed at the mountain views from their seats: white chairs clustered at small dark-clothed tables.
An ice bar bore the name of sponsor Ketel One.
L.A. Premier set up towering flower arrangements on the bars.
