Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center transformed the Long Wharf in Sag Harbor into the place to be when its 26th annual Summer Gala unfolded on July 15, 2017. Benefiting Bay Street's educational and theatrical programs, the benefit gala featured special performances, a cocktail party and live "Fantasy Auction" along with dinner and dancing. There were plenty of stars in attendance ensuring the evening was filled with entertainment and theatrical flair.
Honorary chairs for the evening were celebrated names from Broadway: producer Daryl Roth (Indecent, Hello, Dolly!, Present Laughter) and actress Betty Buckley (Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Bay Street’s Grey Gardens). Continuing the star power was Richard Kind (Amazon’s Red Oaks, The Producers, Bay Street’s Enter Laughing) as Celebrity Auctioneer and Ashlie Atkinson (FX’s Rescue Me, BAM’s As You Like It/The Tempest/The Bridge Project), star of last summer's world premiere of The Forgotten Woman at Bay Street Theater, as Emcee for the evening.
The Gala honored board member and art gallerist Christine Wächter-Campbell (Winston Wächter Fine Art in Chelsea/Seattle) and Bill Campbell, Bay Street Theater patrons J.C. Compton & Nicholas Wentworth and Broadway director Michael Wilson (Bay Street’s Grey Gardens, Broadway’s The Trip To Bountiful, The Who’s Tommy). Award were presented by Karen Brooks Hopkins, Tracy Mitchell, Bay Street Theater’s Executive Director and Tony award winner Elizabeth Ashley (HBO’s Treme, Barefoot in the Park, You Can’t Take It With You), respectively.
"The annual gala was a wonderful event and Bay Street's only fundraiser of the year," stated Executive Director Tracy Mitchell in the event announcement. "Besides being a fun night in the theater and on the Wharf, the gala is the cornerstone of our fundraising allowing us to support more than thirty other community organizations on the East End. We are so very grateful to Mayor Schroeder and village trustees for use of the Wharf for this important night."
The evening included special appearances and performances by Broadway stars. Betty Buckley revisited her performance as Big Edie with the song, “The Cake I Got,” from Grey Gardens. She also sang the new original song “Christmas at the Klostners,” written by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, which was a live auction item won by a patron at last year’s Bay Street Theater Gala.
Obie award-winning actress Lois Smith (The Grapes of Wrath, Marjorie Prime, HBO’s True Blood) read a monologue from Tennessee William's play Orpheus Descending, the role she created in the first production of the play on Broadway in 1957. Kyle Barisich (Phantom of the Opera) sang “Night and Day,” Edward O’Blenis (currently in Intimate Apparel) read an excerpt from Shakespeare about creativity. The music director for the evening was David Caddick (Phantom of the Opera).
BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance Company led the attendees from the theater to the tent in a festive atmospheric dance. BodyStories: The Teresa Fellion Dance is a contemporary dance company that captures and communicates universal human encounters through dynamic, purposeful movement in order to inspire audiences to physically sense emotional and psychological aspects of the human condition on stage.
Also in attendance at the gala was the cast for Intimate Apparel, currently on stage at Bay Street Theater through July 30, 2017. They include Kelly McCreary (Grey’s Anatomy, Passing Strange), Portia (Ruined, McReele, Our Lady of 121st Street), Blake DeLong (Othello, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), Julia Motyka (Bay Street’s Travesties, Richard III), Edward O’Blenis (Uncle Vanya, Tall Grass), and Shayna Small (The Colored Museum).
Continue scrolling to see who turned out for Bay Street's benefit celebration as well as some of the scenes that unfolded during the evening.
.
Karol and Steve Todrys, Board Chair. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Jerry Cohen and Board Member Adrianne Cohen with guests. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Scott Schwartz, Julia Motyka and Esme Schwartz. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Jamie DeRoy, Tracy Michell, Board Member Riki Kane Larimer and Joe Cirillo. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Honorees Bill Campbell and Christine Wachter Campbell, Bay Street Board Member. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy Bay Street Theater.
.
Daryl Roth. Photo by Barry Gordon. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Daniel Marsili and Board Member Erik Batt. Photo by Barry Gordin. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Daniel and Cristina Thorpe. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Honorees Nicholas Wentworth and J.C. Compton. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Patron Chair Lance Gotko and Tracy Mitchell. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Robin and Joe Sparacio. Photo by Barry Gordin. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Elizabeth Ashle honoring Michael Wilson. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Jon Vaccari, Jeff Sander, Mala Sander and Steve Fleming. Photo by Barry Gordin. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Lois Smith. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Having fun at the benefit are Scott Schwartz, Tracy Mitchell, Betty Buckley and plenty of others. Photo by Lenny Stucker. Courtesy of Bay Street Theater.
.
Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. We serve as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists. To discover more, visit
__________________________
Copyright 2017 Hamptons Art Hub LLC. All rights reserved.
___________________________