The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel kicked off the 2016-17 season with the opening night gala: “Gershwin and the Jazz Age,” featuring Broadway stars Megan Hilty and Brian Stokes Mitchell at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Locals like Eli and Edythe Broad as well as Marc Stern were among those who wouldn’t miss the festivities. Mixing in for champagne and canapés, you’d eye VIP celebs and A-listers like Rosanna Arquette, Michael and Jane Eisner, Frank Gehry, Herbie and Gigi Hancock, Don Johnson, Sherry Lansing and William Friedkin, Neil Lane, Matthew Lillard, Alex Meneses, Benjamin Millepied, Amanda Peet, John C. Reilly, William Shatner and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Before you could say “hooch,” it was showtime. The program began with soloist George Li, making his LA Phil debut, and the orchestra led by Dudamel playing Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” variations. The young pianist made his orchestral debut at the age of nine, and is currently enrolled in the dual degree program at Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. After Li’s spirited performance, which set the stage for an upbeat evening, the program continued with Ellington’s “Night Creature: Stalking Monster.”
The lyrical portion of the program began when Megan Hilty took the stage for Porter’s “Always True to You in My Fashion” from “Kiss Me Kate,” followed by Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ellington’s “I’m Beginning to See the Light.” The two joined together for Porter’s “So In Love,” also from “Kiss Me Kate,” a musical for which Mitchell earned Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.
Next on the program was Bernstein’s “Prelude, Fugue and Riffs,” featuring LA Phil Principal Clarinetist, Boris Allakhverdyan.
The concert continued with three Gershwin songs — Hilty singing “Someone to Watch Over Me” from “Oh, Kay?,” Mitchell in “It Ain’t Necessarily So” from “Porgy and Bess” and the two in a duet of “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” from “Shall We Dance.”
Dudamel and the orchestra concluded the concert with Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.”
During the final notes of the piece, a flurry of champagne and martini-glass-shaped confetti drifted down from the ceiling.
The festivities moved from inside to Grand Avenue, where a large decorated tent had been assembled. Gala patrons were transported back in time to the legendary Coconut Grove club at the Ambassador Hotel, where the best jazz bands, swing orchestras and crooners once performed.
The decor featured a mix of Moroccan and tropical designs, filled with full-sized exotic palm trees, with striped marketplace-style awnings and Middle Eastern-style lamps above the stage and art deco bars. The stage was anchored by two hand-painted backdrops, highlighting the downtown Los Angeles skyline and the architecture of the famous Hollywood venue and nightclub.
The Cowling Band played a mix of lively contemporary and “oldies” music.
The menu, created by celeb Chef Joachim Splichal, started with a first course salad of haricots verts, frisée, capers, tart apples, shaved fennel and pickled mustard seeds in a Banyuls vinaigrette. The entrée featured tournedos of beef au poivre, Hasselback potatoes, caramelized red onions and glazed heirloom carrots in a sauce au poivre topped off with flaming baked Alaska.
The band played a lively combo of classics and standards, making it the perfect excuse to dance the night away.
And the icing on the baked cake? All proceeds go to the LA Philharmonic music and education programs as well as the “Dude’s” signature YOLA program.
Bravi a tutti!