Baltimore twinkled with stars on a recent Thursday night. Julie Bowen, star of NBC's weekly series Ed and a Baltimore native, was the guest of honor at a get-together in Fells Point's new Bond Street Wharf for the Maryland / D.C. chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Guests had a chance to chat with the lovely Julie and take a gander at a photo exhibit of wild places the organization has helped protect. The party was also the official kickoff of the Nature Conservancy's capital campaign -- some $10 million of the $15 million goal has been raised.
Meanwhile, up at the Senator Theatre, at "The Fifth Annual GEDCO Senator Theatre Classic," film and TV star Shirley Jones introduced a screening of The Music Man, one of the many musicals she starred in. She said she had been pregnant during the filming of the movie, so -- as she grew -- so did the ruffles and bows on her costumes to hide the pregnancy. And she told the audience of 500 that when she and co-star Robert Preston were filming their big romantic scene on the footbridge, Preston suddenly jumped back from his big clinch with her, asking "What was that?" That, she informed him, was a kick from soon-to-be-born Patrick.
Shirley graciously signed autographs and chatted with just about everyone who approached her. The evening brought in some $75,000 for the Govans Ecumenical Development Corp.
Add Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Alfred Uhry to the list of celebrities whose attitude seems to be one of abundant grace. The author of Driving Miss Daisy was the speaker for a Baltimore Hebrew University lecture at the Gordon Center. The talk centered on how his Jewish identity affected his childhood in the South, and how he used that experience in Miss Daisy and The Last Night of Ballyhoo.
University President Rela Mintz Geffen says the audience of 450 loved Uhry, and he couldn't have been nicer at the dessert reception afterward -- autographing at least 50 books, and saying something special to each person he spoke with.
And talk about gracious. Rela says she had recently had knee surgery. At the end of the evening, she relates, Uhry saw how uncomfortable she was and offered to drive her home.
"So I had the opportunity to be Miss Daisy," she says with a laugh, "except I didn't sit in the back seat."
All sorts of "celebrities" spotted in the crowd of 250 at the Maryland SPCA's Howl-O-Ween Hop -- celebs like Homer and Marge Simpson, Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci. Need we even clarify that those were just some of the costumes folks wore to the third annual shindig?
The SPCA's David Drake says there were four or five Cruella DeVils (the villainess in 101 Dalmatians), including event committee members Day Bank and Victoria Valton. David says Doug and Erin Becker, along with their daughter, came as a zebra family. And "scarecrows" Pam Wetherbe-Metcalf and hubby Robert were so realistic, says David, that when they stood still, he thought they were decorations.
The Halloween party scared up some $63,000 for the SPCA.
And then there were the "costumes" at Karl and Marilyn Pick's bash at Woodholme Country Club last weekend. As anyone who knows Marilyn will tell you, there are two colors in her life, black and red. That's all she wears, and it's how she has decorated their home. So, when this exercise guru and her orthodontist hubby decided to throw a party, guess what color the invitation was? And what colors guests were asked to appear in? This was obviously a crowd who knew how to get into the spirit of things. Almost everyone showed up in the requested color scheme, creating a sea of ink and crimson that flowed around similarly tinted ostrich feather "palm trees." This was a dancin' group, too, partying on until the wee hours.
The C. Grimaldis Gallery was party central at the opening reception for John Waters -- Straight to Video last weekend. A couple hundred of John's friends poured into the gallery to check out his movie-themed photographic compilations and to congratulate the B-more filmmaker / artist. The crowd was so big, it spilled out onto the sidewalk and street, where the party continued.
Social Calendar
Nov. 15: "ArtWeek 2002 Opening Night Reception." Benefits Baltimore Choral Arts Society. Open bar, hors d'oeuvres, preview. Purchase artworks by regional artists, meet artists. Sheppard Pratt Conference Center, 6501 N. Charles St. 6 p.m. Tickets $75. Call 410-523-7070.
Nov. 16: "17th annual Gift of Life Gala." Benefits National Kidney Foundation of Maryland. Open bar, hors d'oeuvres, seated dinner, live music, dancing, drawing for 2003 Porsche Boxter. Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, 202 E. Pratt St. 7 p.m. Tickets $195. Call 410-494-8545.
Nov. 16: "La Festa Dei Mari." Benefits American Council on Italian Matters of Maryland scholarship fund. Open bar, hors d'oeuvres, seated dinner, live music, dancing. Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center, 2700 Turf Valley Road, Ellicott City. 7 p.m. Tickets $100. Call 410-296-1217.
Nov. 17: "12th Anniversary Event." Benefits Yeshivat Rambam scholarship fund. Open bar, heavy hors d'ouevres, performance by comedian / singer Robert Klein. Mechanic Theatre, 25 Hopkins Plaza. 5:30 p.m. reception, 8 p.m. performance. Tickets $150, $27.50-$37.50 performance only. Call 410-358-8419.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
A spirit of exuberance filled Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 20th Anniversary Gala Concert. First, there was BSO board chairman Calman J. "Buddy" Zamoiski Jr., who captured the evening's theme of "Let Freedom Ring," when he strode on stage to get the evening's activities started decked out in a red, white and blue spangled top hat and tails. Guest conductor Bobby McFerrin then provided a concert full of emotional high points: singing the National Anthem unaccompanied; leading the BSO and audience members in several patriotic pieces; joining with the Sandtown Children of Praise chorus in one number; and leading the orchestra in the finale by singing, rather than playing, their parts.
And there was no drop in the energy level during the post-concert cocktail hour. As if a lobby jam-packed with Baltimore's movers and shakers wasn't enough, almost every political candidate from Baltimore and the surrounding counties seemed to be working the room, doing some last-minute campaigning three days before Election Day.
Among the more than 1,000 partygoers: Ruth Marder, Dorothy and Henry Rosenberg, event co-chairs; Carol and Bill Knott, Ted Herget, Lee Kappelman and Lainy LeBow-Sachs, event committee members; Peter Angelos, Margery Pozefsky, Philip English, Terry Rubenstein, Linda Hambleton Panitz, Harvey Meyerhoff, Jeffrey Liss, Jim O'Conor, Michael Bronfein, Ramon Getzov, Theo C. Rodgers, Wendy Jachman and M. Sigmund Shapiro, BSO board members; Hanan "Bean" Sibel, Sibel Leasing CEO; Tom Bozzuto, the Bozzuto Group CEO; Clarence Bishop, Chesapeake 2012 Coalition senior vice president; Steve Burch, Comcast Cable president; Tom Segal, Thomas Segal Gallery owner; Dr. Ira Fine, Baltimore rheumatologist; Harold Adams, RTKL chairman; Nate Beil, KCI Technologies executive vice president; Gen. Ben Lucas, Maryland Defense Force commander; Gail Fine, community volunteer; Dr. Darrell Bunkley, Howard University Hospital clinical psychologist; Dr. Jennifer Brown, University of Maryland Medical Center counseling psychologist; Donald Hutchinson, SunTrust Maryland president / CEO; Edgar Silver, retired Baltimore Circuit Court judge; Sandra Long, Sandra Long Consulting president; Elaine Katz, Owings Mills-based attorney; Sheldon Caplis, University of Maryland Baltimore County vice president; Pat Sudina, community volunteer; Dr. John Rybach, Johns Hopkins Hospital neurosurgeon; Stephen Kramer, First Union vice president; Martha Perl, the Chimes vice president; Mary Mangione, community volunteer; and Reed Cordish, the Cordish Co. vice president.
The gala raised about $600,000 for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.