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.
‘Romeo + Juliet’ + Donors + Dancers
The world premiere of Peter Martins’s choreography for Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo + Juliet” at the New York City Ballet Tuesday night won rave reviews from audience members.
“It was fabulous. I loved it.” President Clinton, making an early exit, said outside the theater. (Other up-and-outers included art dealer Amalia Dayan, and editor and dance critic Robert Gottlieb.)
After long rounds of applause, nearly a thousand real-life, and un-tragic, Romeos and Juliets assembled on the promenade of the New York State Theater including Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin who sat between designer Mark Badgley and James Mischka. Chelsea Clinton was seated next to the chairman of Lincoln Center, Frank Bennack. But the event’s chairwoman was probably in the most heartthrob-inducing place of all: Fe Fendi was seated between her husband, Alessandro, and the dancer who played Romeo, Robert Fairchild.
Though many of the tables were decorated with daggers and red roses, and red wine flowed freely, at the end of the evening, no blood had been shed.
Paleolithic PEN Pals
The PEN American Center was smart to have its literary gala at the American Museum of Natural History. Writers can’t help but look relevant, even sexy, when surrounded by dinosaurs. And they were lively indeed during the cocktail hour Monday: Event chairwoman Tina Brown was seen whispering in the ear of New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik, who had been one of her charges when she edited that magazine; her husband, Sir Harold Evans, chatted up writer Gay Talese. The event raised $1 million.
Getting Into a Hot ‘Kitchen’
For the 25th year, the Irvington Institute for Immunological Research’s annual “Through the Kitchen” benefit took place at the Four Seasons, with dinner served in the kitchen.
“It’s relaxed, and if you don’t like who you’re sitting next to, you run back into the kitchen,” the founder of the event, Lauren Veronis, said.
Most people stay seated, in part because the table decorations provoke so much laughter and conversation. This year, table centerpieces, decorated after the city government’s various departments, included trashcans, crayons, and aspirin.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sat at the Department of Education table, while Mayor Bloomberg — who filled his plate with tuna sushi, duck, and crab — sat at the City Hall table.
The event raised more than $300,000.
