I can’t imagine a New York without Lincoln Center, and if you’re in the event business, I bet you can’t either. I remember one season where I had dinner in the lobby of the David H. Koch Theater lobby (formerly the New York State Theater) every Monday for a month. I went to the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards almost every year (that’s nine times) they were held in Lincoln Center, where they will return June 15. And of course you have heard by now that Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, produced by IMG, will move from Bryant Park in fall 2010.
With an unveiling of the Alice Tully Hall revamp combined with a Lincoln Center 50th anniversary spring gala, and a performance by Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin last Tuesday, May 28—well, it seemed like all my eggs were being put in one basket. So off I went.
I’m one of those people who walk into a new room and can’t for the life of me remember what was there before. I have run galas, dinners, and award shows at Alice Tully Hall, but I could have been on a new planet as far as I could tell. A nice new planet. So I had to turn to architecture critic Paul Goldberger of The New Yorker for a reminder about what’s different, which is almost everything on the outside.
There used to be some weird circular staircases and a little traffic triangle—that’s all gone. Now, a taxi drops you right in front and a steel canopy (mostly) protects you from the rain as you enter the sunken main foyer that features deep cherry paneling everywhere you look.
Everything is dark, sleek, and low. The furniture is chunky, flat, dark and inviting. I arrived on time and watched as guests effortlessly filled the halls and seating, marveling, I sensed, at what a nice cocktail party we were enjoying.
Ginormous orange roses in square glass vases were the only real decor I noticed, but they were well placed in meaningful groups to anchor the ends of the long, long bars.
Catering was by Restaurant Associates and the preshow portion was a home run, everything an early pour should be. Despite a mad rush of a crowd, no bar had waits that I saw—and I checked four.
Waiters successfully penetrated the crowds with surprisingly memorable hors d’oeuvres. A deviled quail egg, black caviar, black truffle number was a treat, the truffle generous and long lasting. A duck a l’orange atop a red potato crisp was a filling and satisfying follow up. Only the dry and chewy risotto ball (more like a cylinder) disappointed. Tall drop tables (my favorite, I always want to put something down, don’t you?) afforded me a natural chance to meet some real (read high-paying) guests who all confirmed my review. Nice nibbles and lots of them.
Into the auditorium, which Mr. Goldberger describes as more intimate. Who am I to argue? I’ve seen Patti LuPone perform quite a few times now, so half of this new tour with Mandy Patinkin seemed well-worn: Sondheim, Gypsy, Evita—you get the idea—all impressively belted. I was about halfway back and the sound was perfect, but the lighting was a tad hot for my taste.
After the show, the lobby had been filled with pink and orange balloons. It was a simple transition but a successful one—a riot of color. This was a tip-off to what was to come at dinner in Damrosch Park’s giant tent, which was an enormous sea of balloons, not something I'd normally go for. The theme was a two-tone birthday party, which I honestly didn’t get, but most everyone liked the toys, noisemakers, and gifts on the tables. I clicked a clicker a few times to get into the spirit.
Dinner was a buffet, elaborately staged with everything from sushi to brisket, but unlike during cocktails, the lines looked interminable.
I decided instead to buttonhole Fern Mallis and ask about her plans for the fashion shows. She filled me in by phone afterwards. Fern is now a TV personality, serving as a judge on Bravo’s The Fashion Show.
First question: Are you going to be using this tent? “No. It’s a whole new footprint,” Fern told me. “We’ll be mainly in Damrosch Park, but in and around the whole Lincoln Center campus, both inside and outside.”
Fern comes from a family of architects, and explained to this rube that Lincoln Center is modeled after some Roman architecture idea that uses three squared-off buildings. Who knew?
I had been to a Lincoln Center briefing about a year ago where I had learned about what to me is the biggest news there, an elaborate rethinking of the traffic and parking patterns. (There’s a whole underground world. As a kid from New Jersey, my earliest memory of the famed arts campus is being bored in the back of the car in Lincoln Center’s garage.)
“There are major improvements being done that factored into our decision to move here,” Fern explained, “So many of these aren’t even done yet, but people will be really pleased at the way bodies and vehicles will flow in and out.”
I asked Fern if she was working with a fancy architect or designer, but that is “not for publication.” When will they unveil their elaborate plans? “Certainly by this September. Lincoln Center works even farther out, calendar-wise, than the fashion industry, so we’re well on our way.”
Are you excited about moving the shows to Lincoln Center? “More than excited. To be in the cradle of culture, with opera and ballet and music, well, these are great shoulders for the fashion industry to rub up against. And I’m pleased to say the industry seems to agree; they’ve been really supportive and enthusiastic.”
I asked Fern her favorite Lincoln Center memory. “Oh there are so many. First of all, growing up, that this was the neighborhood where West Side Story took place. And the sense of urban renewal—how historic. Then watching Nureyev and Baryshnikov dance and Pavarotti sing. I remember getting dressed up to go to the opera, when people really dressed to the nines. All of that.”
So now you know as much as I do about Fashion Week’s new—and culture’s hopefully eternal—New York home.
