SEEING STARS
Probably the hottest event around was the much-anticipated premier of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” A galaxy of stars sailed down the red carpet in Hollywood, greeted by Storm Troopers and the film’s iconic characters. Selfies were all the rage, and there were more paparazzi than you could shake a light saber at. The parties continued at theaters across the city with fans dressed up as Luke and Leia (donut hair buns and all), and R2D2 and C3P0. The force is definitely with this franchise, which has gone way beyond the one billion dollar mark.
MALIBU MUSIC LOVERS DELIGHT
Locals Marc and Eva Stern had something to sing about as the Los Angeles Opera pulled out all the stops for this year’s opening night gala with an unforgettable performance and dinner in a tented party palace, complete with towering flower arrangements, music and dancing. Year after year, the Los Angeles Opera keeps getting better and knows how to get a bunch of bravos.
BEETHOVEN’S BEST
Across the way at Disney Hall, they were celebrating a whole lotta Ludwig. VIP guests donned their black tie best to see what Music Director Gustavo Dudamel had up his sleeve. Not a creature was stirring with the 9th Symphony and the Los Angeles Master Choral raising its voices for “Ode to Joy.” After a shower of sparkling confetti, music lovers made their way to a first-class feast and danced the night away. One thing’s for sure — this all-Beethoven bash couldn’t have been better.
QUITE A JOURNEY
The Hollywood Bowl had the house rockin’ at its Hall of Fame fete. Rock group Journey cranked out hits like “Lights” and the ever-popular “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Joining the rockers on stage were the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, affectionately known as YOLA.
HAVE A HEART
Longtime resident Jane Seymour opened her doors to raise money and awarness for her Open Hearts Foundation. The event honored rock icon Paul Stanley, founder of the Beating Hearts Foundation, as well as Eileen Garrido. The smashing shindig featured dinner, a silent auction, as well as live musical performances. It was topped off with an acoustic set by Gary Lightbody, lead singer of the band Snow Patrol.
FOR ART’S SAKE
It’s a big year for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The cultural treasure is celebrating its 50th birthday and loads of locals like Barbra Streisand were there to help blow out the candles. The celebration of five decades kicked off with a star-studded gala. Barbra joined Malibu neighbors like Dustin Hoffman and Brian Grazer, as well as funnyman Will Farrell, and Oscar winners Marisa Tomei and Anjelica Huston, Jim Carrey, Laura Dern and Naomi Watts, to name a few.
HAVING A BALL WITH HISTORY
After last year’s super successful exhibit Pompeii, you’d think the California Science Center would be hard pressed to top itself, but it did with another fascinating look back at the past. To kick things off, the institution launched its annual Discovery Ball.
The numbers are in and it turns out that the mesmerizing showcase of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” proved the center’s most successful fundraiser yet.
Eight hundred black tie and well-heeled guests arrived at the annual Discovery Ball, which went all out and raised a whopping $1.5 million.
All told, the events raised some big bucks for worthy causes from music and science education to medical research and the environment. Needless to say, in 2015 party goers had their fix, and there’s more in store in 2-0-1-6.