PREVIEW PARTY FOR THE GOTHAM FOLLIES OF 1939
On the night of that uber-crazy flash flood a couple of weeks ago, my friend Nina A., (as they say on The Bachelor when two or more girls have the same name, which is what I do with multiple “Nina” pals,) and I went to an interesting event at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood.
A few of the early arrivers to the party. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one at the top of this page.
I love that place, so, even though exhausted from a daytime event before it, off we went, in that crazy quick weather. (It was hailing on our deck! The whole house shook and I thought the windows were going to crack in!)
The purpose of the fete was to preview The Gotham Follies of 1939, a show that will be there in June.
The whole thing was fun from the get-go. As we entered the premises, there were two masked “maids” in the lobby, handing-out books with the same title as the show. They’re hard covered ones, to boot! (The volumes, of course, not the maids!)
Photo by Karen Salkin.
First up was a hipster cocktail party on the theatre’s mezzanine. There was tons of mingling. I rarely chat with strangers at parties, but this one was so conducive to the good vibes that I just had to go along with them. (The vibes and the strangers!)
Along with the open bar, there were passed bite-sized treats such as egg-rolls and cheese-and-salami bites, and later came adorable desserts—tiny chocolate mousses and lemon drops, both with the most delicious whipped cream on top.
The adorable and sweet servers. Photo by Karen Salkin.
But the treat that everyone seemed to love the most was…containers of theatre popcorn! And they provided several tasty seasonings that you could sprinkle on to your heart’s content! We were all like kids in…well, in a popcorn store.
And I must laud the adorbs servers. Every single one of them, including the popcorn girl, were happy to serve! That’s a rarity in the world of soirees, trust me.
Russall S. Beattie on the steps with the costumes behind him. Photo by Karen Salkin.
And then the assemblage moved to the theatre itself to hear about the upcoming show. I didn’t get much of the info because the producer of it, Russall S. Beattie, chose to forego using a mike, so those of us who were sitting a little further back, (by choice—the invitees had our run of the place,) couldn’t hear everything he said.
But we did get to see a few clips of other entertainments he produced in the past, along with a quartet of the costumes for the show being on stage the whole time.
And perchance I’ll review it for you when it opens in June. I just can’t wait to get back to The Montalban for that popcorn!
