Attending the Book-It Rep Gala
Last night was the Book-It Repertory Theater's fundraiser gala, an evening they called Guilty Pleasures. It was held at Teatro ZinZanni, and featured a cocktail hour, dinner, an auction, a performance, and a Bullwer-Lytton contest. After much dithering back and forth about what to wear, I chose the Spring Dress, and dressed it up with heels, sparkly jewelry, and my big, black feather boa.
As it turned out, I wasn't the only one sporting a boa last night. They were everywhere, mostly in pink or black or pink-and-black or red or green... you name it. And e_bourne was right: I saw people dressed in everything from jeans to full-length gowns. I probably could have worn the Oscars Dress and not felt out of place. e_bourne wore a gorgeous mud silk blouse, a beautiful key pendant, and dark slacks; markbourne wore a blue turtleneck with dark slacks and a black jacket. They both looked smashing. Later in the evening, varina8 joined us for dessert and the show wearing an adorable black, empire waist blouse with a cowl and slacks. The other folks with whom we shared a table were dressed to the nines, tux and evening gown; we were under-dressed compared to them.
The evening commenced with cocktails. We said hello to Book-It's founders, with whom Mark and Elizabeth are friends and whom I've met on a couple of occasions. We ran into my friend FL, formerly my supervisor at a tech company I worked for years ago, now a nearly-full-time actor here in town. And then it was time to enter the big top for dinner.
Teatro ZinZanni is a little like Seattle's answer to Cirque du Soleil, and their location looks a little like a big top from the street (located across the street from the opera house, the Seattle International Film Festival, and several theater companies). Inside, the main dinner and performance venue is decorated to suggest an extravagantly draped tent with glamorous lighting. Tom Douglas caters ZinZanni, and so catered this event as well. Dinner was salad, a magnificent steak (there were choices for a game hen or a vegetarian meal as well), and a delectable, decadent chocolate mousse for dessert (possibly the best I've ever had).
The fundraising auction was held during the meal. I let e_bourne have all the fun, and she won both of the auctions in which she bid--no details here; those stories are hers to tell. I eventually made a donation rather than competing for auction items. I'm too much of a fan of Book-It's not to have made a contribution.
Now, if you're unfamiliar with Book-It Repertory, what they do is adapt books for the stage, often including narration and staying true to dialogue as written. Usually they stick with literature, but for Guilty Pleasures they do adaptations of trashy books--celeb autobiographies, self help, and so on. Inside the framing story of a Southern school marm talking about books were brilliant adaptations of Growing Up Brady, Great Sexpectations, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, It's a Book!, The One for the Mojave Kid, and a spoof on historical romance novels. I think that Breaking Dawn and the Mojave Kid made us all laugh loudest.
The Bullwer-Lytton contest was something of a letdown, partly because both Mark and I wanted to participate but missed the collecting of entries, and partly because the winner was such a disappointment, at least to us.
Nevertheless, the evening was a delight, so much fun in such good company. I'm grateful to have been able to attend, and was quite happy to give the Spring Dress a shakedown cruise. I've learned its quirks well enough that I know what I need to do to tweak it so that it runs without a hitch for my brother's wedding. All in all, a fine evening indeed.
As it turned out, I wasn't the only one sporting a boa last night. They were everywhere, mostly in pink or black or pink-and-black or red or green... you name it. And e_bourne was right: I saw people dressed in everything from jeans to full-length gowns. I probably could have worn the Oscars Dress and not felt out of place. e_bourne wore a gorgeous mud silk blouse, a beautiful key pendant, and dark slacks; markbourne wore a blue turtleneck with dark slacks and a black jacket. They both looked smashing. Later in the evening, varina8 joined us for dessert and the show wearing an adorable black, empire waist blouse with a cowl and slacks. The other folks with whom we shared a table were dressed to the nines, tux and evening gown; we were under-dressed compared to them.
The evening commenced with cocktails. We said hello to Book-It's founders, with whom Mark and Elizabeth are friends and whom I've met on a couple of occasions. We ran into my friend FL, formerly my supervisor at a tech company I worked for years ago, now a nearly-full-time actor here in town. And then it was time to enter the big top for dinner.
Teatro ZinZanni is a little like Seattle's answer to Cirque du Soleil, and their location looks a little like a big top from the street (located across the street from the opera house, the Seattle International Film Festival, and several theater companies). Inside, the main dinner and performance venue is decorated to suggest an extravagantly draped tent with glamorous lighting. Tom Douglas caters ZinZanni, and so catered this event as well. Dinner was salad, a magnificent steak (there were choices for a game hen or a vegetarian meal as well), and a delectable, decadent chocolate mousse for dessert (possibly the best I've ever had).
The fundraising auction was held during the meal. I let e_bourne have all the fun, and she won both of the auctions in which she bid--no details here; those stories are hers to tell. I eventually made a donation rather than competing for auction items. I'm too much of a fan of Book-It's not to have made a contribution.
Now, if you're unfamiliar with Book-It Repertory, what they do is adapt books for the stage, often including narration and staying true to dialogue as written. Usually they stick with literature, but for Guilty Pleasures they do adaptations of trashy books--celeb autobiographies, self help, and so on. Inside the framing story of a Southern school marm talking about books were brilliant adaptations of Growing Up Brady, Great Sexpectations, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, It's a Book!, The One for the Mojave Kid, and a spoof on historical romance novels. I think that Breaking Dawn and the Mojave Kid made us all laugh loudest.
The Bullwer-Lytton contest was something of a letdown, partly because both Mark and I wanted to participate but missed the collecting of entries, and partly because the winner was such a disappointment, at least to us.
Nevertheless, the evening was a delight, so much fun in such good company. I'm grateful to have been able to attend, and was quite happy to give the Spring Dress a shakedown cruise. I've learned its quirks well enough that I know what I need to do to tweak it so that it runs without a hitch for my brother's wedding. All in all, a fine evening indeed.