Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
There’s such a thing as party fatigue: “Not another cocktail hour.” So Lincoln Center Theater made a brilliant move Monday night by starting its fundraising event in the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Before Elaine Stritch and Barbara Cook took the stage, the glitterati did the meet and greet from their seats. There were waves and air kisses across the aisles, and lots of leaning forward and back to chat with guests seated nearby.
The chairman of Lincoln Center, Frank Bennack, gave a grandfatherly wave of the hand to Jerry Speyer, the husband of fellow Lincoln Center board member Katherine Farley.
When the chairman of Lincoln Center Theater gave a tribute to longtime board member Memrie Lewis,the entire audience gave raucous applause, with certain dear friends – the actor Sam Waterston, fellow Spoleto Festival USA board member Lou Hammond – standing for their ovation.
And then, the show – a lovely, unpredictable, sort-of scripted romp. Ms. Cook came out chirping about love, followed by Ms. Stritch, who sang of love as an ache, then described several past and failed heartthrobs. Ms. Cook reminisced about her 25 years of performing at the Cafe Carlyle (her current engagement there started Tuesday).
Here were two talents with very different attributes, longtime friends, together to show off their hot stuff. Everyone in the audience knew immediately how rare and special the moment was.
After the show, it was off to dinner on the promenade of Avery Fisher Hall. Most people eagerly found their seats, but the event’s co-chairmen, John and Jill Chalsty and Michael and Ninah Lynne,were bombarded with congratulations.
The patrons of Lincoln Center Theater are an uncommonly down-to-earth bunch as far as groups of this caliber go. As the hour advanced, there was a real sense of warmth in the room, created in part by a shared passion for the stage.
One small-world encounter: Suzanne Cochran was telling her tablemates how her daughter loves the new Bostock Library at Duke. Turned out her tablemates were the Bostocks.
The event raised $400,000.
