The Beach Boys’ 1964 hit, “Fun, Fun, Fun,” only made it to No. 5 on the Billboard charts, but no matter: It was the No. 1 way to describe the fantastic time 800 people had when the Boys sang about beaches, boards and muscle cars at the 31st Saturday Night Alive.
The beach-themed gala chaired by Sharon Magness Blake and Ernie Blake sent out plenty of “Good Vibrations” by raising $650,000 for Arts in Education. This initiative of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts introduces 50,000 children a year to the theater via student matinees, living history residencies, family programming and workshops.
Temperatures were on the chilly side when guests came to the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex on Saturday night, so thoughts of sunshine and surfboards were a bit of a stretch. Until, that is, they got a load of the 1964 Thunderbird convertible parked out front.
The ragtop owned by Wayne Maddox was part of the SoCal atmosphere created by BJ Dyer of Bouquets, who also tracked down the surfboards that were stowed in the car’s back seat, next to a buff couple wearing bathing suits to give this decor element its punch.
“One of my goals was to avoid the fake surfboards you usually see as beachy decor,” Dyer said. “We wanted real ones, but finding them was an interesting task in landlocked Denver.”
He didn’t give up and, with partner Guenther Vogt, procured a half-dozen or so, mostly from transplanted Californians who make regular visits back to the coast. One of them, in fact, was the guy who volunteered to brave the elements in his board shorts.
In keeping with tradition, Saturday Night Alive began with a two-hour silent auction social and continued with dinner, catered by Epicurean, in the Seawell Grand Ballroom.
Despite the beach theme, this was not an aloha shirt kind of night. Elegant evening gowns, many featuring floral prints and soft pastels, were de rigueur, and some of the prettiest were worn by Denise Snyder, Gail Johnson, Kristina Davidson, Yvonne McCallum, Sharon Magness Blake and Denver Center Alliance president Gayle Novak.Roger Hutson of HRM Resources had a nice treat for the women at his table: Fresh flower leis imported from Hawaii. For his fiancee, Leslie McKay, a vice president at Children’s Hospital, there was a double strand of purple and white orchids; for pal Jack Overstreet’s wife, Darci, one fashioned from plumeria.
Larry Mizel and David Mandarich were there solo, sitting with Dan Ritchie and DCPA trustee Joy Burns. Which was fitting because Mizel and Mandarich made the lead gift of $100,000 in the year-long Ritchie Challenge. At last July’s opening of “South Pacific,” Ritchie, the DCPA’s chief executive, offered to personally match donations made in the next 12 months, up to $500,000.
Tangy and Brad Buchanan have been friends with several of the Beach Boys for decades, and were looking forward to visiting with original member Mike Love during the VIP meet-and-greet that followed the 10 p.m. concert. Their relationship began when Tangy and her brother, Stuart Hough, had Stuart-Buchanan Antiques in Lower Downtown and the Beach Boys were among their customers. As a favor to their friend, the Beach Boys had come to Denver twice to perform for free (“I think it was in 1990 and 1991,” Tangy recalls) at The Adoption Exchange Fantasy Ball.
The founder and chairman emeritus of the DCPA, Donald R. Seawell, was at Saturday Night Alive with Marvin and Judi Wolf; so, too, were such former SNA chairs as the 2010 leadership team of Stan and Sarah Sena and Ed and Susan Mueller.
DCPA president Randy Weeks and Denver Center Theatre Company artistic director Kent Thompson were there too, joining a crowd that also included DaVita’s chief executive, Kent Thiry; Alex Cranberg; Margot and Allan Frank; Hilja Herfurth; Diane Kremer and Ed Casady; Mark Sexton; Ralph and Trish Nagel; Bob and Judi Newman; June Travis; Ralph and Anne Klomp; Glenn Jones and Dianne Eddolls; Jack and Alice Vickers, who were guests of Ted and Sharon Gelt at the Baker Hostetler table; Susan Troyan and Peter Womphrey; John and Lana Proffitt; Aaron and Sandee LaPedis; Alan and Katie Fox; Marlis and Shirley Smith; Dave and Amy Seneshen; Howard and Leslie Farkas; Wanda Colburn; Jim and Jenene Stookesberry; Faye and Dr. Reginald Washington with son, Quinn, and Quinn’s girlfriend, Nicole Miller; Kathy and Dr. Jim Crapo; Andrew and Betsy Ogan and master of ceremonies Ed Greene and his wife, Barbara.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, davidson and GetItWrite on Twitter
