A touch of old Hollywood glamour was bestowed upon a relatively new city last weekend, when Theatre Calgary hosted its annual Night with the Stars fundraising gala. At the posh Ranchmen’s Club (second only in stature and iconic namesake to the Petroleum Club) close to 300 guests gathered in black-tie. They enjoyed fine wine, martini bars, a buffet-style feast of international flavours, silent auctions, and multiple live large-screen projections of the Academy Awards show.
Local actors roamed the gala in character - a Moroccan gendarme, a detective in a neck brace, and a vacationing heiress among them - providing another layer of entertaining escapism while promoting an upcoming production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the play which gives life to those personalities on stage.
Hosts Jocelyn Laidlaw and Jefferson Humphreys provided a lively distraction from the broadcast’s commercial breaks, while The Honourable Lindsay Blackett, Provincial Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, provided opening remarks and provoked small whirlpools of activity as he worked the room. As the leader of a fledgling ministry, he is receiving top marks for enthusiasm, promotion, and politicking in the cultural communities. Many guests also commented on the exceptional talent based in Calgary.
“When you see a Theatre Calgary show, you could be watching theatre in any world class city. You’d never know where you were,” says Carlo Bellusci, president of Vendemmia Wines and a member of the host’s board of directors, “The quality of show is outstanding.”
And that’s no secret, according to Tom McCabe, president of Theatre Calgary. “We’ve had more interest and support in the last year than in the last twenty years combined,” he says, “It’s the first time that the government has really paid attention to the arts. We finally have a ministry of culture, and that makes a big difference, in fact it’s wonderful!”
Dr. Ian Beddis, who was honoured along with his wife Robin Beddis earlier in the evening for their continued support of the organization, agrees on both counts. “Theatre Calgary is the best live theatre you’ll see in the city,” he says simply, “Calgarians are becoming more culturally knowledgeable, as we travel and see what the rest of the world has to offer. And now we can say that Calgary offers the best and supports the best.”
Among the starlets gathered for a night of glamour were: Larry Fichtner, director of development for S.I. Systems, Terry Koch, Senior Associate at Stantec Consulting, Dr. David Cenaiko, Brian Mennis, regional director at Investors Group, Michael Stevens and Stuart Walker of UTS Energy, Nicci Shores of GWL Realty Advisors, Glenn Tibbles, managing director of Knightsbridge for Alberta and the Prairies, author Suzanne Devonshire-Baker, Jim Floyd, board director for Theatre Calgary, and Gary Duke, project director for the University of Calgary Health Research Innovation Centre.
Published in National Post, February 28 2009
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