Feed

The Shindigger

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 1/29 8:24pm

The Shindigger

_DSC5095

Wham, Ma’am, Thank You BAM!

As John Turturro approached the head table, the president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Karen Brooks Hopkins, rose from her seat. “I present to you the consul general of Sicily,” she said in jest, introducing the actor to her tablemates, a group that included South African Consul General George Monyemangene, his wife, Louise Monyemangene, and Mr. Turturro’s better half, Katherine Borowitz.

It was a frigid night, smack in the middle of the city’s latest cold snap. Inside the grand foyer of the Peter Jay Sharp Building, however, the atmosphere was warm and bubbly. Many had braved the elements for BAM’s 2013 Theater Benefit, an evening honoring renowned British theater and film director Peter Brook and celebrating the U.S. premiere of his latest (quite beautiful) production, The Suit. Read More

By Benjamin-Emile Le Hay 10/03/12 1:15pm

The Shindigger

Playing post for Every Woman Every Child.

Global a Go-Go: A Boozy Night with Dignitaries Aplenty to Open the U.N. Meetings

Our city was under siege—and all we wanted was a glass of Champagne.

Just before noon last Tuesday, we traipsed into the Pierre Hotel for Fashion 4 Development’s Second Annual First Ladies’ Luncheon. Before nearly everyone threatened or warned of nuclear war, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showcased his artistic inclinations, we joined the wives of the U.N.’s leading men as they paraded into the ballroom of Taj Resorts and Palaces of India’s U.S. flagship on East 61st.

In a world rife with crisis—the Middle East and Africa were among the week’s major talking points—we had but one imminent concern: we had missed the better part of a cocktail reception.

And it seemed we weren’t alone in not being particularly focused on the state of international affairs.  Read More

By Elise Knutsen 3/07/12 1:45pm

The Shindigger

Diana DiMenna at the School of American Ballet's Winter Ball

Dance, Dance, Pre-Revolution: The School of American Ballet’s Winter Ball

“Honestly, there is nothing like it,” Dianna DiMenna told The Observer Monday evening. “The beauty, the discipline, the lineage, the heritage, the history!” she gushed. While Ms. DiMenna’s lavish words may have applied to a great many ventures beloved by the city’s gentility, she was in fact referring to ballet. As the evening’s prima, she greeted guests in the marbled lobby of the David H. Koch Theater with that particular hostess’s élan, kissing elegant consoeurs and their bow-tied husbands. The decorous crowd had gathered for the School of American Ballet’s Winter Ball, and there was surely no shortage of pomp or circumstance. Read More

By Daisy Prince 10/27/10 3:08am

The Shindigger

Inside the Life of a Guinness

Lavish is not a word normally associated with book parties. Most of them are characterized by warm white wine and pallid cubes of cheese. Unless you are a member of the celebrated Guinness family, in which case your guests will be treated to Blood Orange Bellinis and delicate crab cakes in a mind-blowingly glamorous apartment Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 10/20/10 1:58am

The Shindigger

Honors for Angela

“She never says anything!” Kate Mulleavy said of her sister, Laura, wrapping up her acceptance speech for their shared Bill and Maria Bell Young Artist Award at the National Arts Awards on Monday evening. Kate wore a signature all-black outfit–cardigan, crocheted top, trousers and flats–to receive the award, which was presented by Sonic Youth co-founder Read More

By Chloe Malle 10/13/10 12:42am

The Shindigger

Sarah Jessica’s Ballet Twirl

As the take-your-seats bell tolled, Sarah Jessica Parker swished out of the orchestra like a salmon swimming upstream.

The Sex and the City star, and former ballerina, is a newly elected member of the board of directors of the New York City Ballet. Inaugurating her tenure on the board, the self-professed “ballet enthusiast” acted as Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 10/06/10 1:22am

The Shindigger

Comedy Central Laughs for Charity

The party-reporting business tends to make a person sensitive to hyperbole–so when we heard about “Night of Too Many Stars,” a live show and auction hosted by Comedy Central at the Beacon Theater on Saturday to benefit autism education, we were skeptical. But The Observer is happy to report that there were just enough stars Read More

By Nate Freeman 9/29/10 12:51am

The Shindigger

Bombshells at the Met

Brazil’s most celebrated export is its inexhaustible quality of extraordinarily beautiful women. At the 8th Annual Gala for the Brazilian Foundation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there was no shortage of stunners, many of whom were sheathed in colorful column dresses that made them look like exotic tulips imported for the evening. Fernanda Motta, Read More

By Alexandria Symonds 9/24/10 4:30pm

The Shindigger

Why Georgina Bloomberg Stays Out of Politics, and Fabiola Beracasa and Moby’s Best Dog Stories, at the Humane Society Gala

The Humane Society is not a hypocritical organization — and so the cuisine served at its benefit gala Wednesday night was, fittingly, vegan. (Munching on seitan chops, The Observer barely missed the meat and cream.) The event packed 525 animal lovers, including Topper Mortimer, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Hunt Slonem, Sharon Bush, and co-chairs Amanda Read More