REFRESHINGLY DIFFA-RENT
You just know if Malibu’s Hutton Wilkinson gets behind something it’s going to be grand, and at this year’s Dining by Design fundraiser, the legendary designer did not disappoint. With a little bippity, boopity boo, Wilkinson, Matthew White and many other top style-makers worked their magic, creating a dramatic and dazzling one-of-a-kind evening for the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).
The Santa Monica Barker Hanger was transformed into a fragrant, flower-filled, eye-popping showplace. The 40 dinner tables were done up in a special theme that spanned the globe from Asia to Africa and Europe to the Americas. There were chandeliers fashioned from seashells and red coral, leopard fur throws, Japanese rock fountains and gem-encrusted tables. Towering centerpieces overflowed with yellow orchids, ripe mangos, seasonal persimmons, colorful crabapples and Casablanca lilies.
Thomas Schumacher, the man behind Broadway’s best, brought along performers from his celebrated productions of “The Lion King” and “Aida.”
Wilkinson’s exotic Indian pavilion came complete with authentic woodcarvings and bare-chested sword-carrying guards. I was assigned to the Malibu table surrounded by beach sand and “Baywatch” babes.
My dinner companions, Andrian and Sebastian, were equally interesting–and fearless. The two enticed me to boogie down to the dance floor and in a flash, moves were being busted in a way that put M.C. Hammer to shame. Before you could say, “show me the Monty,” dress shirts were coming off revealing jiggly love handles, fuzzy backs and stomachs about five cans short of a six-pack. They flipped and hustled and bumped and jumped for nearly two hours. Starbucks special blend? Viagra? Whatever fueled their enthusiasm, Andrian and Sebastian, I salute you as an inspiration to middle-aged men everywhere. Between the fantastic creations, the food, the flowers and fun-loving 40-somethings, this group really knows how to rock the Kasbah and serve it up with style.
MORE DISCO DAZE
Dance to the beat was the theme of this year’s 12th annual gala for the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Malibu’s Olivia Newton-John was the honoree at the ’70s-style bash, which featured music by the fabulous Four Tops. The Afros were gone, but the guys still got their groove. Although a lot of people here might be more familiar with Olivia de Havilland than Olivia Newton-John, that didn’t stop them from struttin’ their stuff to hits like “Bernadette” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love.” Next door, they were singing a different tune as The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers handed out its Golden Score Awards. This year’s honors went to famed music makers Michael Legrand Alan and Marilyn Bergman.
ON A HIGH NOTE
There were plenty of famous faces in the audience and backstage at the opening night performance of the Los Angeles Opera’s “La Traviata.” The sumptuous production was one of the company’s finest with a lavish second act worthy of La Scala. Up next, the opera puts a little ho, ho, ho in the holidays with “The Merry Widow,” which runs through Dec. 22.