WHO’S YOUR DADDY?
Whaddayah know Joe? It was 23 Skidoo with Zoot suits all around as the Pepperdine Center for the Arts Guild hosted its annual fundraising bash in high style. The action took place at the beautiful Hidden Hills estate of Center for the Arts Guild prez Linda Beisswanger. This year’s theme? 1940’s swinging under the stars with none other than those sultans of sizzle Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Oh yeah! There were plenty of pin curls, snazzy fedoras, slick suspenders and nifty white suits paired with black shirts and ties making this normally staid Pepperdine crowd look like a casting call for The Godfather. The surroundings were equally swell indeed done up in tones of hot, hot pink and deep jet black. It was a fragrant affair with pink peonies, red antherium orchids, parrot tulips and lilies artfully arranged throughout the spacious abode while colorful carnations bobbed in the pool.
What’s buzzin cousin? At an elaborately carved ice bar they mixed up lemon drops, dirty tinis and cosmos by the dozen while servers made the rounds with caviar topped pancakes and cordon blue puffs.
Cool kitten! If Linda was a bit frazzled from all the last minute details and rain clouds overhead, she wasn’t showing it. Our hostess pulled off a miracle finding a transparent party tent at the very last minute ensuring that the Daddy and the boys would go on with their show as planned. The event was indeed open to the heavens, as for a night under the stars … “Well,” Linda said with a smile, “We’ve got the sky, just pretend there are stars.”
Mucho moolah! The silent auction featured all kinds of eclectic goodies from electro-body sculpting to stand up comedy lessons, fresh water pearls to an old-fashioned diner clock. After the final bids were placed on the auction items, we made our way to the party tent for a tasty dinner of entrecote à la bordelaise, chicken provencal and decadent chocolate cake. Instead of party favors, guests were given thank you letters from kids that the Center for the Arts touches. Mine came from a 4th grader named Mark who wrote, “Thank you Pepperdine for math magic. It was fun to my eye and good to my brain.” Another raved about an excursion to the Malibu campus. “Thanks so much for arranging my field trip. It was my first concert and the best music I ever heard.” “Nothing speaks more directly than those letters,” said Marni Mitzi. “It’s a lasting impression of what we do.” There was a special award to “Leave it to Beaver” mom Barbara Billingsley. We’re talking June Cleaver folks, and you can’t get more Pepperdine PC than that.
Go Daddy-O! Next, it was Daddy time and with a little hi-di-hi-di-hi, the boys came out swinging. BBVD brought down the house with their gobble pipes, skins and gob sticks. “Mini the Moocher” turned us into red-hot hootchie-cootchers busting it up on the dance floor.
Crazy! The sold-out evening of swing raised a cool 100 K for Pepperdine’s ARTSReach program, which provides free visual and performing arts programs to thousands of kids throughout Los Angeles.