For the past several years, Germania Place has played host to the Wonka Ball, a fund-raiser for the About Face Theatre (a local company dedicated to raising awareness about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community). This year, "it was time to change things up," said Mollie Speer, the theater's director of development and marketing.
Because Calihan Catering was one of the evening's sponsors, Speer decided to use the catering company's newly opened event space, Gallery 1028, as this year's venue. "So much of our event is made possible through sponsorships and donations," she said. "Our relationship with Calihan has been key [in the planning process]. They have a new space that they want to showcase with a big, fabulous party; we have a big, fabulous party."
The on-site kitchen of Gallery 1028 was recently featured in an episode of Top Chef, which, according to Frost Lighting's Dennis Remer (who designed the Wonka Ball and acted as its co-chair), tied in to the evening's "Everyone's a Celebrity" theme. Remer chose to hold a V.I.P. reception in the kitchen, allowing guests (like Project Runway's Steven Rosengard) to look on as Calihan chefs prepared the goods for a buffet of beef carpaccio, skewers of grilled shrimp and fennel, and olive-oil poached tuna.
The celebrity theme continued with a red carpet that formed a trail from the outside of the kitchen to a neighboring room. There, a general-admission check-in desk sat beside a step-and-repeat illuminated by continually flashing lights, which Remer employed to mimic the frantic flashbulbs of paparazzi cameras.
In the gallery's third room, Remer said, his goal was to "create an active, clublike atmosphere within a raw, industrial space." A temporary V.I.P. lounge (open to roughly 200 bracelet-wearers) anchored one side of the room. Surrounded by wispy drapes splashed with polka-dot-patterned lights, the lounge featured cushy, low-slung benches and plexiglass cubes that served as cocktail tables.
For a presentation honoring the theater's outgoing artistic director and a brief performance by transsexual Mimi Marks (who strutted her leather-clad stuff to Madonna's "4 Minutes"), Remer erected a Lucite stage that was lit from within with color-changing LED technology. After the entertainment ended, the stage doubled as a Saturday Night Fever-style dance floor, which guests put to use while DJ Erik Roldan spun songs by Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse.
Because Calihan Catering was one of the evening's sponsors, Speer decided to use the catering company's newly opened event space, Gallery 1028, as this year's venue. "So much of our event is made possible through sponsorships and donations," she said. "Our relationship with Calihan has been key [in the planning process]. They have a new space that they want to showcase with a big, fabulous party; we have a big, fabulous party."
The on-site kitchen of Gallery 1028 was recently featured in an episode of Top Chef, which, according to Frost Lighting's Dennis Remer (who designed the Wonka Ball and acted as its co-chair), tied in to the evening's "Everyone's a Celebrity" theme. Remer chose to hold a V.I.P. reception in the kitchen, allowing guests (like Project Runway's Steven Rosengard) to look on as Calihan chefs prepared the goods for a buffet of beef carpaccio, skewers of grilled shrimp and fennel, and olive-oil poached tuna.
The celebrity theme continued with a red carpet that formed a trail from the outside of the kitchen to a neighboring room. There, a general-admission check-in desk sat beside a step-and-repeat illuminated by continually flashing lights, which Remer employed to mimic the frantic flashbulbs of paparazzi cameras.
In the gallery's third room, Remer said, his goal was to "create an active, clublike atmosphere within a raw, industrial space." A temporary V.I.P. lounge (open to roughly 200 bracelet-wearers) anchored one side of the room. Surrounded by wispy drapes splashed with polka-dot-patterned lights, the lounge featured cushy, low-slung benches and plexiglass cubes that served as cocktail tables.
For a presentation honoring the theater's outgoing artistic director and a brief performance by transsexual Mimi Marks (who strutted her leather-clad stuff to Madonna's "4 Minutes"), Remer erected a Lucite stage that was lit from within with color-changing LED technology. After the entertainment ended, the stage doubled as a Saturday Night Fever-style dance floor, which guests put to use while DJ Erik Roldan spun songs by Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse.
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi
Photo: Brian Choi