Wednesday night was a spectacular culmination of months of hard work when Lynx Ensemble Theater hosted their 1st Annual Benefit Gala. Held at the GINA Gallery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, over 100 people came out to support non-profit theater group Lynx Ensemble, co-Artistic Directors Aileen Barry & Mark O'Connell, and the important, stereotype-shattering work they produce. I was lucky enough to style the beautiful party and dress Aileen, and both Life, Styled. and StyleWhipped were proud sponsors of the evening.
The event was generously sponsored by so many amazing people and companies, which allowed almost 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and the incredible silent auction to go directly into Lynx's 2009 programming. I have to personally thank David Robbins and Genre Magazine, Ann Priftis at GINA Gallery, David Reid from Radiant UX, Heron Hill Winery, Brooklyn Brewery, and Stephanie Gueldner from Studio Artiflora for sponsoring the party. I also have to give a huge thanks to artist & photographer Dino Aspromatis, Andrea Stratton of AJS Design Studio, Revlon, jewelry designer Alicia Marilyn, David McCasey from Buster's Skin Care, Lenn Shebar at N Boutique, Darrell Owens from Your Best Face Skincare, interior designer & StyleWhipped's own Serge Van Lian, make-up artist & columnist Nathan Johnson, and the extraordinary Suede from Project Runway for contributing to the silent auction and gift bags...and helping to raise a lot of money for Lynx!
This was more than a cocktail party...we were treated to performances by the amazing Bill Bowers, Vanessa Hidary and Esther Friedman, who kept the spirit of Lynx in the forefront of everyone's mind and reminded us all that we need to continue supporting theater and performance art in NYC! Guests also had over two hours to participate in a fabulous silent auction with eleven amazing lots...dazzling jewelry, gorgeous framed photography, consultations with celebrity interior designers, fashion-insiders & make-up artists, huge baskets of amazing skincare products, and so much more. I'd also like to thank some of the special people who joined us...like jazz singer Gregory Generet (who I was also lucky enough to see perform the next night - more to come on that...), the amazingly supportive Rhonda Ross, radio host (and my lovely client) Diana Falzone, the talented Colman Domingo from Broadway's "Passing Strange," and pop star Ari Gold.
In the end, we ate, drank, talked, laughed, watched, and had a fabulous time. Congratulations to Aileen and Mark for your official introduction to NYC. You have many new fans, friends, and supporters of Lynx Ensemble Theater...and I can't wait for the next event! If you'd like to learn more about Lynx Ensemble Theater or make a donation to the organization, please visit www.lynxtheater.org.
~ Alison
(Photos courtesy of Julie Beers Photography. Simply click on images to enlarge. See all the professional photos here: http://juliebeers.com/Events/lynx/index.html!)
