Rebecca Reports

Last Wednesday was the opening of “Say Goodnight Gracie”, the third production in the Libby Dodson Live at Lynn Series at Lynn University. The evening was a special one for producer Jan McArt because the play starred her brother, Don McArt as the legendary comedian, George Burns. As she explained to a full house, which included the Ross family and Christine E. Lynn, “I had to book him through another producer and he was expensive. I used to get him for free in our living room!” McArt channeled Burns brilliantly.

Saturday was Boca Raton Community Hospital’s 46th Annual Ball, the Imagination Ball at the Boca Resort & Club. And imagine we did-all 800 of us! The event was produced on an Academy Awards scale--floating asteroid centerpieces and one of the best dance bands I have ever heard, Marcia Mitchell! Highlight of the night--the announcement of the hospital’s second largest gift to date naming the new Jack and Marilyn Pechter Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery/Robotics at the new Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center. The Pechters received a well-earned and loud standing ovation!

Monday was the 3rd Annual “Broadway Babies” fundraiser at the Caldwell Theater. This year’s new evening format as a great success. Once again Michael Hall wheeled out his stable of “triple-threats.” Regular Caldwell cast members, Elizabeth Dimon, Terry Hardcastle and Bruce Linser surprised us all with their performances of Broadway show tunes. None appeared more surprised than narrator, Hall, who announced that his “Broadway Babies” had only had one hour to rehearse with pianist Eric Alsford and that was only an hour before curtain up! Of course Boca’s very own diva, Avery Sommers, delivered a soulful finale-we would expect nothing else!

Thursday morning Boca Museum of Art’s marketing director Bruce Herman gave me a preview of the newly opened Degas and Tiffany exhibitions. Degas appears to have been equally fascinated by horses and ballet dancers—he must have been an interesting man! As a publicist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. I worked on the opening of an important Art Nouveau exhibition from London’s V & A. It was good to see so many original Tiffany lamps again! The museum is predicating record visitor numbers for these two shows--particularly as the Tiffany lamps from the Holtzman Collection have never been publicly exhibited before!

Looking ahead to one of the “sweetest “events on the Society calendar--the Junior League of Boca Raton’s 7th Annual Chocolate Decadence on Feb. 7 at The Shops at Boca Center. Call 561-620-2553 for your decadent VIP tickets!

And that is life in Boca….