Hooray and hallelujah, a sold-out Jersey Boys Bash wasn’t “too good to be true.” A benefit built around the Tony Award-winning musical that plays the Buell Theatre through Jan. 3 was every bit the smash that co-chairs Frances Owens and David Alexander hoped it would be, with nearly 800 guests and a net profit of $172,000.
The $500-a-ticket event began with cocktails and dinner in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom. The show was next, and then it was back to the ballroom for dessert and dancing with the cast.
Maybe it was the energy that’s infused by this fabulous show, or maybe it’s the need to blow off some of the bad-economy blues. Who’s to say? But biggest surprise of the night was the number of patrons who stayed for the whole shebang. Typically, not everyone returns for the after-party and those who do tend not to linger.
When the standing ovation subsided, it seemed like every single Bash ticketholder beat a path back to the Seawell to eat a gingerbread man or a crème brulee (or two) and then show off some moves to the music of the Tripping Griswolds.
To say it was a night to remember is an understatement, but several of the patrons will have more than a ticket stub to file away as a souvenir. BJ Dyer and Guenther Vogt of Bouquets were pleasantly surprised to see how popular one element of their decor was.
The oversized records, with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons labels on them, that they’d made for the tabletops started disappearing so quickly, says Guenther, that “BJ and I had to scramble to get one to keep for our own portfolio.”
Who all was there?
Denver Center for the Performing Arts chairman Dan Ritchie, with Joy Burns, Amy Oaks and Gregg Kvistad; Dutchess Scheitler with a table filled with family members; Jim and Alison Shetter; Scott Lewer, who’d come down from Steamboat Springs to escort Frances Owens; Bob and Linnette Noffsinger; Hilja Herfurth; Walter and Christie Isenberg; Jim and Shery Galbreath with her mom, Arlene McDonald; Don and Patty Cook; Sue Simos; Wendy and Paul Spencer; Margot and Allan Frank; John Carlen and Jean Gleason; Wanda Colburn; Kristina and Jay Davidson; Martha Kelce; Gail and George Johnson; Pam and Dave Duke; and the founder of the DCPA, Donald Seawell, with Judi and Marvin Wolf.
Spirit of the season.
HW Home’s gift to children this holiday season is to give shoppers a 10 percent discount through Dec. 24 and then donate an additional 10 percent to the Colorado Children’s Campaign. Or, better yet, if the shopper chooses to skip the discount, the entire 20 percent will be sent to the CCC. Qualifying coupons are at colorado . . . . Fifteen youngsters from Cope Branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver are set to arrive, by limousine, at Macy’s Cherry Creek on Thursday afternoon to buy holiday gifts for their families with $250 gift cards given to them by basketball star Marcus Camby. The one-time Denver Nugget can’t be there (he’s now playing for the L.A. Clippers) but his good friend and former teammate, J.R. Smith, will accompany the kiddos and give them autographed jerseys to commemorate the occasion.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, .
