Scene and Heard: Michael Kohn Gallery party

Just before leaving the 25th anniversary dinner at Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, Ellen DeGeneres took a turn on the vibraphone with the Lynne Gordon Quartet. “This is harder than it looks,” she said, tossing back the mallets.

DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi and about 80 others turned up Nov. 19 to celebrate Kohn’s longevity. The backdrop: paintings by artists such as Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. After checking out her portrait by Will Cotton, Katy Perry seated herself for dinner between husband Russell Brand and Kohn’s wife, restaurateur Caroline Styne. “It’s lovely,” Perry said of the painting, “Very unexpected.”

Votive candles glowed from inside 300 glass bubbles suspended over tables imprinted with images from 25 years of shows. “There’s been a tremendous change in the gallery scene in 25 years,” said collector Susan Gersh. “Michael really stayed with it and added tremendously to the art scene in L.A. That’s why we’re here to toast him.”

On this scene were Eugenio Lopez, Esthella Provas, Blake Byrne, Deborah Irmas, Susan and David Gersh, Linda and Bob Gersh, Linda and Jerry Janger, Cliff and Mandy Einstein, Alexandra von Fuerstenberg, Jean Connor, Kathi Cypress, Waldo Fernandez, Deborah Irmas, Jennifer Simchowitz, MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch, the Hammer’s Jennifer Wells Green and artists Kenny Scharf, Joe Goode, Mark Ryden, Case Simmons and Andrew Burke.

Saban Free Clinic gala

For busy Angelenos, the invitation to the Saban Free Clinic’s annual gala traditionally contains a welcome message: “Once again, you’ll be out by 10.” Jimmy Smits said that’s one of the reasons he likes this annual affair.

Not that guests didn’t want to pay proper tribute to the night’s honorees, Robert Greenblatt and Martha Henderson. On the contrary. Event co-chair Ellen Hoberman credited Greenblatt’s days-old appointment as chairman of NBC Entertainment to the record-breaking net of $1.3 million to help provide free medical care to L.A.’s underserved population.

“There’s nothing like a great charity and a little Hollywood drama to fill a room,” Hoberman said at the Nov. 22 Beverly Hilton gala. Greenblatt is Showtime’s former president; Henderson, executive vice president of City National Bank’s entertainment division.

Emcee Chelsea Handler also acknowledged Greenblatt’s role in generating such high numbers. “Basically, everything he touches is a success,” she said, also recalling his e-mail requesting her participation, which read in part, “Try not to [mess] this up.”

Seated in the audience of 800, Cheryl Saban traced her appreciation of the clinic back 26 years, to when she needed its services. “I was a working mom,” she said. “My money went to rent and my kids’ healthcare.” She and media giant Haim Saban are clinic benefactors.

Melissa Etheridge, Peter Krause of “Parenthood,” Guy Fieri of “Minute to Win It” and Warner Bros. President Bruce Rosenblum participated in ceremonies, along with co-chairs Ellen and Tom Hoberman, Leah Fischer and Kevin Reilly. Among others attending were previous honorees Barbara and Garry Marshall, Dana Walden, Gary Newman, Ted Harbert, Warren Littlefield, Peter Roth, Bob Broder and Marc Graboff.

Music Center brunch

The Fraternity of Friends and Blue Ribbon teamed up Nov. 14 for Brunch Among the Bugattis at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. Guests meandered among more than 65 luxury prewar autos in the 46,000-square-foot facility. The groups support the Los Angeles Music Center.

Peter Mullin, chairman of M Financial, called the silver-blue Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic the “Mona Lisa” of automobiles. His wife, event co-chair Merle, told the tale of the Brescia Bugatti, rescued from Lake Maggiore, Italy, after 70 years underwater.

Enjoying the autos were co-chair Joan Hotchkis, Pat McCabe, Connie Gavin, Judy Krantz, Andrea van de Kamp, Tom Decker, Bill Fitzgerald, Sandy Krause, Jerry Katell, Susan and Marvin Rothenberg, Ricki and Marvin Ring, Joan and Allan Burns, Leslie and Jack Kavanaugh, Carrie and Stuart Ketchum, Anne and Arny Porath, and Elinor and Rubin Turner.

ellen.olivier@society-news.com