What Do You Do for an Encore?

(Top Left: An Rhiel and Courtney Wang at the Wang Theatre gala; Top Center: Brian Flatley and Lily Poduska at the Wang Theatre gala; Top Right: Celeste and Scott Wilson at the Wang Theatre gala; Middle Left: John and Jessica Tocco at the Wang Theatre gala; Middle Center: Sue Dahling Sullivan and Marty Sullivan at the Wang Theatre gala; Middle Right: Joyce and Joe Spaulding at the Wang Theatre gala; Bottom: The stage at the Wang Theatre gala)

The Wang Theatre celebrated its big birthday with a gala that rivaled any spectacle that’s appeared on its stage during the past 90 years.

Cocktails were served in the orchestra pit, followed by a dinner that included a poached lobster confit and beef Wellington, served at sumptuously decorated tables on the stage. Performances punctuated each course, and among the Who’s Who on hand were Lorraine and Courtney Wang, former board chair Bill Poduska and the flawless Susan, their stunning daughter Lily and beau Brian Flatley, fizzy beverage boss Ralph Crowley and his lovely wife, Joan, Boston boosters Pat Moscaritolo and Paul Guzzi, real estate mogul Bob Epstein and the swanlike Esta, Back Bay party pair Jeff and Christine McCormick, Broadway in Boston nabobs Ann Sheehan and Tivon Marcus, the effervescent Betty Salemme, head honcho Joe Spaulding and his stunning other half, Joyce, and one guest who said, “I’m feeling very Phantom of the Opera this evening.”

A highlight of the party was watching Spaulding play guitar with the cast of Once as they performed “Falling Slowly,” but everything was pretty damned spectacular. The evening’s funniest remark: “I always knew I’d be onstage someday. I just never thought I’d be eating dinner.”

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

(Left: John Bertucci, Noah Schneiderman, Brian Chu, Jim Labeck and Lisa Bevilacqua at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum event; Center: Randy Kinard, RoAnn Costin and Taylor Bodman at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum event; Right: Lisa Blumenthal, Paul Gilbert, Pat Romeo-Gilbert and Pieranna Cavalchini at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum event)

It was an “everyone who’s anyone” affair when the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum hosted a farewell soirée for outgoing director Anne Hawley.

You know you’re at a swanky party when New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham is there to take pictures. Among the notables on hand were board member Jack Gardner (Isabella’s great-grandnephew), major museum donor Barbara Hostetter, patron of the arts Anne Fitzpatrick, Beacon Hillions Biddy and Bob Owens, the ethereal Trevania Henderson and the dashing John, improbably good-looking do-gooders Gloria and Ray Hammond, Cambridge doyenne Ann Gund, blond fashion plate Alli Achtmeyer and the ever affable Bill, the soignee Marjie Kargman, developer extraordinaire Ron Druker, the fabulous Kyra and Coco Montague, Our Lady of Chanel Mary Nobile-King and Gallic funboy Eric Jausseran, investment guru Tony Pell, the delectable Harron Ellenson, musician and impresario Shea Rose, incorrigible scamp Juan Prieto, brunette beauty Lisa Blumenthal, patrons of the arts Paul and Katie Buttenwieser, and mayor Marty Walsh, about whom one guest said, “Let’s hope his commitment to the arts in this city goes beyond an extended run of Elf.”

Cocktails and small plates in the courtyard were followed by a musical performance in Calderwood Hall, and more than one guest teared up at the thought of Hawley leaving. However, the funniest comment came from the man who listened to a friend tell a story about an airline and responded, “That’s not a faux pas; that’s a fuck-up.”