Party Pictures 11/15/05 - Screenings, benefits, concerts, and book parties

Screenings, benefits, concerts, and book parties

Sarah Jessica Parker and Oscar de la Renta

Last week The Cinema Society staged another one of their special screenings at the Tribeca Grand, with Twentieth Century Fox’s “The Family Stone” and a big contingent of glamorous New Yorkers turned out for the occasion. The film’s star Sarah Jessica Parker, hosted the evening along with Oscar de la Renta, and Vogue magazine.

The much anticipated film, which is due to open December 16th, is a funny, poignant story about the annual holiday gathering of a New England family — the Stones — who meet their eldest son’s girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker doing a brilliant turn as a controlling, uptight New Yorker power woman). Awkwardness, confusion and hostility ensue; relationships unravel, new ones are formed and secrets are revealed. The moving film, which was written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, also stars Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, and Luke Wilson.

Jennifer Creel

Renee Rockefeller

Bettina Zilkha

Among those who joined Parker, de la Renta, writer/director Bezucha, and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir for the screening and after-party were Anna Wintour, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Barbara Walters, Trudie Styler, Oliver Stone, Helena Christensen, Maggie Rizer, The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli, Candace Bushnell, Chris Noth, Amy Sacco, Damon Dash & Rachel Roy, Tory and Chris Burch, Jane Lauder, Renee and Mark Rockefeller, Marina Rust, Marjorie Gubelmann Raein, Jennifer Creel, Eliza Reed and Alex Bolen, Moises de la Renta, Bee Shaffer, Debbie Bancroft, Daniel Benedict, Bettina Zilkha, Tinsley Mortimer, Ivanka Trump, Jill Kargman, Helen and Tim Schifter, Tiffany Dubin, Miles Redd, Allison Sarofim, Greg Calejo and Queer Eye’s Thom Filicia, Alexandra Kimball, Robert Burke, Paul Wilmot, Samantha Gregory, and Vogue’s Hamish Bowles, Andre Leon Talley, Sally Singer, Connie Anne Phillips, Deborah Cavanaugh, Meredith Melling-Burke, and Plum Sykes.

This stellar evening benefited Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation.

Alexandra Kimball

Sally Singer

Connie Anne Phillips

Debbie Bancroft

Eliza Reed Bolen

Plum Sykes

Helen Lee Schifter

Tiffany Dubin

Trudie Styler

Marina Rust Connor

Andrew Safffir and Oliver Stone

Candace Bushnell

Moises de la Renta

Amy Sacco, Damon Dash, and Rachel Roy

Chris Burch, Marjorie Gubelmann Raein, and Daniel Benedict

Andrew Saffir and Sarah Jessica Parker

Mikhail Baryshnikov

Michael Imperioli

Oscar de la Renta and Barbara Walters

Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker

Tory Burch

L. to r.: Andrew Saffir, Thomas Bezucha, and Daniel Benedict; Thom Filicia and Tinsley Mortimer.

Jane Lauder

Maggie Rizer

Helena Christensen

Ivanka Trump

Last Wednesday, Arts for Healing and the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC) hosted the 2nd annual One World One Child event at the Pierre Hotel. The event benefited both organizations, whose combined missions are vital to raising awareness of the many health issues facing children in the U.S and restoring their health and well-being.

This year’s Honorary Chair was Meryl Streep, two-time Oscar winning actress and mother of four. She presented the OWOC Lifetime Achievement Award to John Adams, Founder and President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for the past 35 years.

Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc

The OWOC Special Citizens Award was presented to Maria Rodale, Vice Chairman of Rodale Inc. and the OWOC Corporate Honoree was Ray Anderson, Chairman of Interface Inc. Performances were given by Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Michael McDonald, formerly of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers and singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman. The Master of Ceremonies was “Fox and Friends” anchor E.D. Hill.

Anne Robertson was this year’s Dinner Chair and the co-chairs were Joan and Joseph Dionne, Tanya and David Murphy, and Joan Werner. Host Committee members in attendance were Cricket and Frank Benevento, Kristina Copeland, Mark Davis, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Therese Elron, Shahri Griffin, Dede Trefts McEvoy, Mary Parr, Carrie Cook Platt, Nicole Segal, Lenny Stern, Christina von Schilling and Nick Shevloff, and Madeline Weinrib.

More than $400,000 was raised by the evening’s festivities.

Founded in 1992 by Nancy and Jim Chuda following the tragic loss of their daughter to a rare form of non-hereditary cancer, CHEC’s goal is to provide all parents with the knowledge they need in order to raise their children in a healthier environment. CHEC has worked collaboratively with government agencies and other non-profit organizations to improve the quality and quantity of environmental health information reaching the public. Olivia Newton-John and Erin Brockovich-Ellis serve on CHEC’s Board of Directors and have helped these issues gain national attention and recognition. Nancy and Jim Chuda continue to educate, inform, and protect the lives of children across the country.

Arts for Healing was founded in 2000 by Karen Nisenson in order to provide innovative therapeutic and educational programs through the arts for both children and adults with special needs. Arts for Healing seeks to integrate current neurological research into methodologies that will result in the most effective and up-to-date special education programs. Neuroscientists are already aware that music and art are powerful catalysts for effecting emotional and behavioral change in those with a range of disabilities from autism to Parkinson’s disease. Arts for Healing’s goal is to establish a unique not-for-profit community based arts therapy center that will become a model for others around the country.

For additional information go to www.artsforhealing.org and www.checnet.org.

Matt and Anne Robertson

Dede Trefts McEvoy and Tanya Murphy

Honorees John Adams, Maria Rodale, and Ray Anderson

Karen Nisenson and Sherman Baldwin; Maria and Maya Rodale; Beth DeWoody and Anne Robertson.

Karen Nisenson and Nancy Chuda

Tanya and David Murphy

Joan and Joseph Dionne

Tessa Hill, E.D. Hill, Karen Nisenson, Anne Robertson, Meryl Streep, and Nancy and Jim Chuda

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That had a luncheon for Lilly Pulitzer, making one of her rare trips to New York to introduce her new book at a book-signing at Bloomingdale’s at the Lilly Shop on the 3rd floor. Among the guests were Rachel Hovnanian, Somers Farkas, Alexis Waller, Boo van Ingen, Mary van Pelt, and Blair Husain.

No one has a flair for effortless entertaining like Lilly Pulitzer. The fashion designer celebrated from Palm Beach to Kennebunkport for her bright, bold, and breezy style is also famous for her gifts as a hostess. Just in time to ease the stress over those big special occasions, the Queen of Green and Pink has presented her unique take on annual calls for festivity in Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Holidays (CollinsLifestyle; November 2005; $30.00).

Lisa Selby, Lilly Pulitzer, and Kim Coleman

“I have never in my life needed a reason to give a party,” says Lilly. “They just sort of happen — some because I want to empty out the icebox and some because people keep showing up and you can’t not feed them. Now, that being said, a few days come around every year that deserve some extra oomph, and that is what this book is all about.”

In it Lilly invites “peeps” everywhere to revel in her memorable parties — from inventively themed birthday bashes (imagine South Seas in the Macadamia Nuthouse) to leisurely Thanksgiving feasts around the pool. Between reminiscing, she shares her crowd-pleasing, no-fuss recipes for success. Among her many honorary titles, Lilly is the Queen of the Shortcut. Besides keeping everything simple, her formula for holiday entertaining boils down to five Fs: Family, Friends, Flowers, Food, and Fun.

A few tidbits:

Spring: Toast your mother with a Latin-flavored Mother’s Day luncheon, a la Lilly. The menu includes white sangria with oranges and raspberries and beef and olive empanadas ... then reminisce with mom over old times and discuss some of the top ten movie moms, including Irene Dunne from I Remember Mama and Shirley MacLaine from Terms of Endearment.

Summer: Throw a favorite kid (Lilly has seven — her grandchildren) a “fishy birthday,” complete with grilled shark sandwiches (plus grilled hot dogs for landlubbers) and an awesome shark-shaped cake — and chill out with Lilly’s top ten kids party planning tips.

Fall: Deck the house with cobwebs and throw a Halloween costume party, tempting hungry witches and goblins with Roasted Pumpkin Salsa and other treats — then stay up late watching a scary flick from the list of Lilly’s faves (remember “Rosemary’s Baby”?)

Winter: Keep the romance in and the anxiety out of Valentine’s Day by hosting an elegant supper dance, culminating with White Chocolate Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Sauce — and insist, as Lilly does, that intimate guests come dressed in some shade of red

Name the holiday — everything gets the distinctive Lilly treatment. Buy the book and see.

Jerry Blum and Lilly Pulitzer

Lilly and Jay Mulvaney

L. to r.: Evelyn Tompkins; Lilly, Lisa Bytner, and Cece Black; Mary Snow and James Bradbeer.

Jill Roosevelt and Lilly

Lilly and Chris Meigher

Lilly, Gillian Miniter, and Mark Gilbertson

On Tuesday, October 18, The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra celebrated the Opening Night of its 2005-06 Season and its 33rd season at Carnegie Hall.

Martina Arroyo and Connie Steensma

The festive evening began with cocktails and a private dinner in The Rohatyn Room at Carnegie Hall. Orpheus honored Martina Arroyo for the brilliance of her artistry and her many other contributions to the world of music with the Orpheus Lifetime Achievement Award.

Following the dinner there was a concert of Orpheus performing with guest artist, Richard Goode in Carnegie Hall. The program included perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. III, Sinfonia in B-flat Major by J.C. Bach; Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, Jeunehomme by Mozart and Overture to Faniska. Following the performance there was a champagne reception for special guests, donors, and artists.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

Among the guests were Bill and Melinda vanden Heuvel, Rosalind Walter, Mr. and Mrs. Neil Rudenstine, Stanford and Sandra Warshawsky, Lizabeth Newman, Ilse Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Art Lindenauer, Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kaufman, Terry Liebman and Ellen Liman, Bruce and Barbara Gimbel, James Freund and Barbara Fox, Paul and Susan Goldberger, David and Carolyn Cohen, and Michel Maurel with Martina Arroyo.

The evening for The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will support its extensive educational programs, integrating classical music into the lives of the next generation. Corporate Sponsors of the Opening Night Concert were SpencerStuart and U.S. Trust.