Overheard: “My Phone Auto-Corrected Your Name to ‘Nasty’”

David and Stacey Goel with ART artistic director Diane Paulus and executive director Kelvin Dinkins Jr., unveiling the model of the Goel Center. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

Only the American Repertory Theater could pull off a Gatsby-level gala in a hockey arena, and, in fact, the main topic of conversation during cocktails was the theater’s debut run of the new musical Gatsby. “It’s literally my favorite novel, so this is saying a lot, but I actually think they improved on Fitzgerald,” asserted one guest, while another said, “I didn’t even mind them locking up my phone, which is saying a lot.”

The party, held at Harvard’s Bright-Landry Hockey Center, honored Stacey and David Goel and attracted the city’s biggest arts boosters, among them gala cochairs Ami Kuan Danoff and William Danoff and Linda Hammett Ory and Andrew Ory; Fidelity head Abby Johnson and her husband, Christopher McKown; tireless benefactors Paul and Katie Buttenwieser; private wealth adviser Raj Sharma; and artistic director Diane Paulus, to name a mere smattering.

Producing oohs and aahs was a model of the ART’s new home, the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance: The multistage, mixed-use space was designed by British architecture firm Haworth Tompkins and is already under construction next to Harvard Stadium. Dinner was superb (a pleasant surprise at any gala), and the live auction raised oodles of cash, while the only thing that upstaged a performance by Broadway star Elizabeth Stanley was a fund-a-need that resembled a game of whack-a-mole, with one supporter after another throwing up their bidding paddles to pledge six-figure gifts.

Attendees seemed to recognize the high-roller nature of the event early on: Before dinner, one guest looking for his table said, “I’m sure I’m in the cheap seats,” to which someone responded, “There are no cheap seats.” However, the evening’s funniest exchange came when two people were trying to swap contact information:

“My phone auto-corrected your name to ‘Nasty.’”

“Well, it’s not entirely wrong.”

Elizabeth Stanley performing. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

The Bright-Landry Hockey Center transformed for the evening. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

Kasey Kaufman and Michael Horwitz. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

Raising a little dough-re-mi. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

Brit d’Arbeloff and Priscilla Douglas. / Photo by Gretjen Helene

Caroline Holland and Vivien Li. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Stop and Smell the Roses

“I have an abnormally large head, so hats are tough,” said one guest at the 27th annual Rose Garden Party, held in the Kelleher Rose Garden to raise funds for ParkArts, which coordinates free programming in parks throughout the city. Otherwise, hats were de rigueur, with the assortment of headgear making Royal Ascot look like amateur hour. Present and accounted for: honorary chair Mayor Michelle Wu; fashion plate Maggie Ahearn and her adoring other half, Kevin; clothing designer Candice Wu; and one man who introduced a female friend by saying, “She’d make a great future ex-wife.”

Kevin and Maggie Ahearn. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Ingrid Calder. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Jodi Wolin. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Kerry Swords, Kaia Miller Goldstein, Tiffany Ortiz, and Bryan Rafanelli. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Kids’ Stuff

UNICEF clearly plucked at a few heartstrings when it unveiled its interactive Heart Strings installation at the BCA’s Cyclorama with a stylish soiree. Guests included board chair Kerry Swords; TV host Jenny Johnson; Beacon Hill doyenne Alli Achtmeyer; the flawless Tiffany Ortiz; real estate guru Gail Roberts; and others of an equally sparkly ilk. It raised more than $1.6 million to further the organization’s mission of supporting the world’s most vulnerable children.

The Cyclorama decked out for the evening. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Part of the interactive installation. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

Jenny Johnson and her husband, Robert Cocuzzo. / Photo by Michael Blanchard

First published in the print edition of the September 2024 issue with the headline, “Putting the “Art” in Party.”