In a Good Light

Missives from the Jet Set

Au Revoir

(Left: Ryan Gosser, Stephen Martyak, Valerie Stephens and Brandon Martinez at Spotlight Spectacular; Middle: John Spooner, Shelly Karol and Bill McQuillan at Spotlight Spectacular; Right: The crowd at Spotlight Spectacular)

If they handed out Tony Awards for best party, the Huntington Theatre Company would deserve one for Spotlight Spectacular, its annual gala, held at the Cyclorama.

Co-chaired by Neal Balkowitsch, Donald Nelson and Jill Roberts, the evening honored the dazzling Carol Deane and attracted the likes of her adventure-seeking son, Carl, culture vultures Cokie and Lee Perry, the incandescent Cassandra Henderson, party planner extraordinaire Bryan Rafanelli, Chestnut Hillions Linda and Dan Waintrup, puckish architect Stephen Martyak, MIT panjandrum Stuart Madnick and the ever elegant Yvonne, Fidelity big shot Roger Servison and one person who made the suspect observation—apropos of absolutely nothing—that “you can’t find a prostitute in LA these days.”

The cast of A Little Night Music entertained guests between courses, and the highly inventive menu included saffron pickled beets and monkfish osso bucco. The award for fanciest getaway, meanwhile, went to real estate tycoons David and Bob Epstein and their flawless other halves, Betsy and Esta, who went straight from the party to the airport to catch a flight to Paris. As one guest said, “Now that’s what I call an exit.”

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem

(Left: Suhail Kwatra and Ricardo Rodriguez at ClimACTS!; Middle: Performers at ClimACTS!; Right: Performers at ClimACTS!)

The sexiest, most decadent and most scantily clad benefit of the year, ClimACTS!, took place at Theater District nightclub Icon to raise money for LGBTQ theater troupe The Theater Offensive.

“Miners” in booty shorts delivered on the night’s “Underground” theme, and performers included a pole dancer in Lucite heels and a pair of nearly naked men writhing around in a metal tub. Present and accounted for: co-chairs Suhail Kwatra and Ricardo Rodriguez, stunning designer Alina Wolhardt and her sneaker pimp husband, Jay Gordon, Back Bay beauty Christy Cashman, the unsinkable Mary Kakas, reformed weatherman David Brown, lovable shutterbug Joel Benjamin, the always dapper David Sebastien Wedemeyer, impish scribe Scott Kearnan, blond bombshells Laura Baldini and Beth Dickerson, media mogul Ron Ansin and a passel of equally alluring others.

The evening’s funniest remark: “Someone seems to be having a glitter malfunction.”

Spanx Won’t Cut It

(Top left: Kerry Swords and Jen Dolins at the Green and White Ball; Top right: Jim and Renee Skeffington at the Green and White Ball; Bottom left: Jackie McCabe, Gretchen Novak and Jessica Schmitz at the Green and White Ball; Bottom right: Miguel Rosales and John Corey at the Green and White Ball)

All of Back Bay and Beacon Hill slipped into gowns and tuxedos for the Green and White Ball, a black-tie fundraiser for the Friends of the Public Garden, held in the ballroom of the Taj Boston.

Front and center: the incomparable Matthew and Lori Sidman, unfairly gorgeous couple Katherine and Ian O’Keeffe, latter-day Lucille Ball Julia Owens, shoe designer to Lady Gaga Thom Solo, the ethereal Maggie Moran and her handsome husband, Bill, dashing hotelier David Colella and the delightful Nancy, debonair architect David Hacin and his handsome other half, Tim Grafft, the super soignee Ann Fitzpatrick, brunette beauty Tamar Frieze and her other half, Ken, Beacon Hill power couple Miguel Rosales and John Corey, and a woman who was surprisingly gracious when a waiter stepped on the train of her dress.

Dinner was delightful, the ballroom never looked prettier, and the wine flowed like wine’s supposed to. The evening’s best exchange: “You look fantastic!”

“Thanks. I’ve got flying buttresses holding all the saggy bits in.”

RuPaul Would Be Proud

(Verna Turbulence at Drag Brunch)

Sunday brunch is never a drag when it’s Drag Brunch, the fundraiser for the Boston Living Center, held at Club Cafe and hosted by the incomparable Verna Turbulence.

The wickedly entertaining afternoon featured some of Boston’s top performers, including Fena Barbitall, Morgana De Luxe and Ms. Kris Knievil, who made it rain dollar bills from the likes of fashion icon Yolanda Cellucci, hot ginge Michael Harper, attorney and activist John Affuso, blue-eyed smokeshow Eugene Weitz, leggy models Linda Cole Petrosian and Sonia Garufi, uber-photographers Cheryl Richards and Tracy Aiguier, tall drink of water Mark Schwindenhammer, several of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and so on and so forth.

The outfits were outrageous, the humor bawdy, and the bartenders super attentive, which meant that yours truly was sound asleep before 7 o’clock. The afternoon’s best remark: Walking into the men’s room to find two of the urinals occupied by men in dresses, one attendee said, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in North Carolina anymore.”


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