For the Royal Ontario Museum's fifth annual PROM fund-raiser, held Saturday and hosted by the museum's Young Patron's Circle, event organizers combined elements inspired by the institution’s newly renovated Bat Cave with film noir to create a party designed to evoke the feel of an Old Hollywood premiere. The benefit, dubbed "PROM V: Noir," began with a V.I.P. reception for 200 followed by a party for 700 in the museum’s Samuel Hall Currelly Gallery.
“The V.I.P. portion of the evening has a more direct link to the ROM content, which was part of the inspiration," said Kirsten Kamper, development officer, donor events, who planned the gala with a volunteer committee, in an interview before the event. "The renovated Bat Cave was just launched this month and so we’ll be taking our V.I.P. guests on private tours of it during the cocktail reception."
The V.I.P. portion of the evening also adopted a new format. “Previously, we had a dinner,” Kamper said. “This year we wanted to create a more engaging environment.” The organizing committee, chaired by Raphaela Dunlap and Karen Papazian, opted to set up tasting stations and create a private supper club atmosphere rather than serve a sit-down meal. “It’s an added element of interactivity to the night,” said Kamper, who used all-black decor to dress the reception and party spaces.
“We have a lot of black with elements of film noir,” she said. “We’ll be projecting some public [domain] film noir movies. We’ll have hot pink florals, drapes with film strips teeming down them, bat decals, and projections of birds flying overhead."
MTV’s Dan Levy and Jessi Cruickshank hosted the evening, which featured music by the Advocats Big Band and a swing routine by members of Bees’ Knees Dance. DJ Fawn Big Canoe, DJ Johnny Strychnine, DJ Odario, and Som Bomb DJ spun tunes for guests. Event sponsors included Kinross, Puma, MTV, Toronto Life, Smartwater, Steam Whistle, Tag Vodka, and Yellow Tail Wines.
