‘Guys and Dolls’ gather for a cause
NOTHING could have kept William Shatner away from the 15th annual Night at Sardi’s Benefit for the Alzheimer’ Assn. Shatner presented an award to Wells Fargo exec Shelley Freeman. “When I was asked to present, I said, ‘Wild horses could not keep me away. Domestic horses, burros, donkeys, zebras could not keep me away!’ ” But Shatner didn’t join 6. Dick Van Dyke, 7. Eric McCormack, 8. Ken Howard (left) and Peter Gallagher, Megan Mullally, Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, Sharon Lawrence and Michael Chiklis on March 6 in belting out tunes from “Guys and Dolls,” written by Abe Burrows, event chair Laurie Burrows Grad’s father, who died from Alzheimer’s. McCormack said, “I just sang ‘Luck, Be a Lady’ to Dick Van Dyke. I can die now.” Why wasn’t Denis Leary there to accept an award for his “Rescue Me” Alzheimer’s story lines? “Denis is working tonight,” explained Gallagher, star of the canceled “The O.C.” “Actually, he’s just trying to rub it in that his show is still on the air.”
ELIZABETH SNEAD
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The boutique runneth over
What would cause Melrose Boulevard to close? No, not another Vanity Fair Oscar party, but the John Varvatos Benefit for the Stuart House, which helps rape victims. The family-friendly fete began five years ago inside Varvatos’ WeHo boutique but has grown to spill out onto the tented street. The March 11 event was so huge that Varvatos half-joked about a move to the Hollywood Bowl. 1. Angie Harmon and her daughter painted Converse sneakers and played rock ‘n’ roll dress-up (eyeliner and faux tattoos). 2. Melina Kanakaredes read stories to rapt children, but the crowd’s fave was Justin Chambers, reading from his book “Walter the Farting Dog.” Inside the shop: Ashley Scott, Henry Simmons and Sharon Lawrence did charitable shopping. Outside, Greg Kinnear, Freddy Rodriguez and his family sampled pizza, waiting to hear 3. Macy Gray sing, wearing a Varvatos suit, natch. Drew Carey and 4. Heather Thomas auctioned swanky trips, including a N.Y. weekend/dinner at Morimoto. Asked if he’d eaten there, Carey joked, “I’m wearing a Gap shirt with a stain on it. No, I haven’t.” Thomas rallied bids for an organic garden she’d personally plant: “Never be afraid of lettuce again!” 5. Varvatos happily took it all in.
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... a wedding cake, regardless of whether there is actually a wedding. This one made perfect sense as decor at “The Wedding Bells” party in the Wilshire Ebel Theatre for 9. David E. Kelley’s new Fox TV series. The show is about the adorably neurotic Bell sisters (KaDee Strickland, Sarah Jones and Teri Polo), who run a “wedding factory.” Pig out on cake while you can, girls. Your eating habits may be seriously scrutinized in the weeks to come.
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Last winter’s glam party for the “Skin + Bones” exhibition was just the tip of MOCA’s social iceberg. 10. The March 3 members’ opening party at the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo for “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution” and “Andrea Zittel: Critical Space” rocked with a special DJ set by JD Samson and Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre, heavy on power-girl stuff like Gwen Stefani and Blondie. The museum’s outrageously hip development events manager, Vanessa Gonzalez, gave the affair a too-cool retro color scheme of orange, avocado, blue and brown.
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Snead writes the Styles & Scenes blog at TheEnvelope.com
