There are a zillion things we all coulda, woulda, shoulda done; none, perhaps, as glam as the musicals in which Tony-winning songbird Patti LuPone could have starred in, should have starred in, did star in and will star in.
All of which is to say that LuPone has just sent word that she’s chosen her “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” concert for the Nov. 3 appearance she’s making on behalf of Opera Colorado’s 25th anniversary gala. It’ll feature numbers from “Hair,” “Bye, Bye Birdie,” “Funny Girl,” “West Side Story,” “Peter Pan,” “Evita” and “Anything Goes.”
Opera Colorado hadn’t planned on starting ticket sales until summer, but response to the initial announcement was so strong that purchases can be made starting now, at 303-698-2334.
Prices start at $400 and include cocktails and dinner in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom and a post-concert dessert party and dance at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Chairmen are Kalleen Malone, Marcia Robinson, Walter and Christie Isenberg and Nat and Pamela Merrill.
Big names, big deals
Dr. Joel Levine, senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a professor in the division of gastroenterology-hepatology, will be installed as chairman of the American College of Physicians Board of Regents Saturday during the ACP’s annual meeting in San Diego.
Colorado chapter of the American Jewish Committee will present its 2007 National Human Relations Award to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet at an April 25 dinner held at the Grand Hyatt Denver. His brother, Atlantic Monthly editor James Bennet, is the keynote speaker. Before his current job, Michael Bennet was chief of staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and managing director of the Anschutz Investment Co. He has a law degree from Yale, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and was a personal assistant to Colorado College president
Richard Celeste when Celeste was governor of Ohio. Bennet also served in the Clinton administration as counsel to the deputy attorney general. Tickets to the award dinner are available from Gale Kahn, 303-320-1742.
Retired Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first U.S. military serviceman wounded in the Iraq war, and comedian Caroline Rhea will be here April 28 to speak at the Colorado Human Rights Campaign Mile High Gala. It’s at the Adam’s Mark and tickets can be purchased online at milehighgala.org. In addition, the Paul Hunter Award will be presented to Jeffrey Basinger, co-founder of Western Equality in Grand Junction. The Partners in Equality Award will go to the Gender Identity Center of Colorado while Lucienne Bercow will be recognized with the Outstanding Youth Award.
Members of the Nordstrom Cherry Creek Grand Opening Gala committee were the guests at an April 11 luncheon that honorary chair Annabel Bowlen had at her Cherry Hills Village home. The Oct. 17 gala is a benefit for Beacon Center, whose Cherish the Children Guild was founded by Bowlen and the American Transplant Foundation. Chairmen Holly Kylberg, Steve Farber and Tonya Frank are predicting that the $125-a-ticket night of food, fashion and fun will raise $150,000.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She also contributes at denverpostbloghouse.com/Davidson.
