All the world's a stage

The entire cast of Jim Henson’s Musical World as part of the Weill Music Institute’s Family Concert.

On Saturday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Stern Auditiorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute presented Jim Henson’s Musical World, two Carnegie Hall Family Concerts featuring The New York Pops and Music Director Steven Reineke. Written by Craig Shemin and hosted by renowned puppeteer John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Sesame Street), these two performances celebrate the whimsical music and magical world of puppetry created by Jim Henson more than 50 years ago.

Both concerts featured performances by the dynamic Essential Voices USA led by director Judith Clurman, with additional special guests to include: Alison Bartlett, Loretta Long, Sonia Manzano, Bob McGrath, Alan Muraoka, Roscoe Orman, Nitya Vidyasagar, Tony-Award nominee Stephanie D’Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Saturday Night Live alumna Rachel Dratch, puppeteers Dave Goelz, Eric Jacobson, Karen Prell, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, and singer/songwriter Paul Williams. Pre-concert activities took place one hour before each performance and were free to all ticket holders. Carnegie Hall Family Concerts are recommended for ages 5–10.

Saturday Night Live Alum Rachel Dratch, host John Tartaglia, and New York Pops Music Director Steven Reineke

Gonzo, Kermit, Fozzie, and John Tartaglia

Following the 3:30 p.m. performance, the Notables, Carnegie Hall’s young patrons hosted the Third Annual Notables Family Party in Carnegie Hall's Rohatyn Room featuring dinner, crafts, cookie-decorating, face-painting, balloons, and other Muppet®-themed activities for children.

Brooke Shields served as the event’s Honorary Chair alongside co-chairs Caroline Rocco Dennis, Christin Barringer Rueger, Sarina Sassoon Sanandaji, Lyss Stern, Amy Tarr, and Mary Wible Vertin.

All proceeds raised from the Third Annual Notables Family Party will directly support the music education and community programs of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.

Notables Family Party Honorary Chair Brooke Shields

Jimmy and Luca Zankel

: Lyss Stern, June Ambrose, and Mary Wible Vertin

Victoria Li, Dushy and Indira Roman, Kim Hastie and guests

Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson with Notables Family Party Co-chairs Mary Wible Vertin, Lyss Stern, Brooke Shields, Amy Tarr, Caroline Rocco Dennis, Christin Rueger, and Sarina Sassoon Sanandaji

Guests getting photos taken and printed by Photo Op

Faces by Derrick

Muppet cookie-decorating

Guests enjoy Twisted Balloons

This past Monday at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea, the junior committee for the El Museo del Barrio 2012 gala hosted a private viewing of Hernan Bas, "Occult Contemporary." The 19th annual gala is set to take place May 17th, 2012 and will honor renowned fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez, philanthropist and El Museo trustee Yaz Hernández and corporate visionary Bacardi USA. The private gallery viewing welcomed the gala's junior committee as well as honorees Yaz Hernández and gala chairs Nina Garcia, Alex Gonzalez and Sarah Wolfe.

Other guests included Audra Acensio, Margarita Aguilar, Werner Federico Ahlers, Tatyana Miron Ahlers, Fabiola Arias, Hernan Bas, Jane Bloomingdale, Bethanie Brady, Christian Cota, Jessica De La Espriella, Ashley Dodgen-McCormick, Teresita Fernandez, Alex Gonzalez, Amanda Hearst, Valentin Hernandez Jr., Flavia Kelson, Rachel Lehmann, Pamela and Arturo Lopez Martin, Karla M. Martinez, David Maupin, Luisana Mendoza, Maria Luisa Mendoza, Angel Otero, PJ Pascual, Aura Reinhardt, Brian Reyes, Gabriel Rivera-Barraza, Liana Ryan, Jesus Torres, and Alexis Zambrano.

Carlos Campos, PJ Pascual, Valentin Hernandez Jr., Alexis Zambrano, Carolina Crews, Karla Martinez, Flavia Kelson, and Gabriel Rivera-Barraza

El Museo del Barrio, New York's leading Latino cultural institution, welcomes 230,000 visitors of all backgrounds to discover the artistic landscape of Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American cultures. Their richness is represented in El Museo's wide-ranging collections and critically acclaimed exhibitions, complemented by film, literary, visual and performing arts series, cultural celebrations, and educational programs.

Sarika Rastogi

Liliana Cavendish and Tony Bechara

Tony Bechara, Narciso Rodriguez, and Yaz Hernandez

Taylor Weiland and Mercedes Fernandez

Margarita Aguilar and Susan Delvalle

Bethanie Brady and Angel Otero

Patrick Fields

Whitney Wolfe and Carolina Crews

Carlos Campos

Rebecca O'Neill, Valentin Hernandez, and Alexandra Pappas

Alexis Zambrano and Gabriel Rivera-Barraza

Last Wednesday night over at Christie’s, BID to Save the Earth held its third annual Green Auction and raised $600,000 for the cause. “The Opportunity to Sail Aboard Hemisphere,” which is the world’s largest luxury sailing catamaran, was won for $150,000.

David Rockefeller, Susan Rockefeller, Grace Potter, Glenn Close, and David Shaw

Julie Gilhart, Jo Champa, Susan Rockefeller, and Marjorie Harris

Steve Kilcullen, Angela Kilcullen, Juli Dershewitz, and Michael Dershewitz

Lydia Fenet, Grace Potter, Graydon Carter, and Anna Scott Carter

It was a New York celebrity night, sipping cocktails listening to a special performance by Grace Potter of Grace Potter & The Nocturnalists, people watching and bidding up the lots.

Amanda Hearst

Sharon and Lauren Bush

Adrian Garzon

Coralie Charriol

Peter Glatzer and Maya Albanese

Gail Tobias, Susan Rockefeller, and Sam Tobias

Julie Gilhart and Harlan Bratcher

Grace Potter

Maggy Frances Schultz, Hannah Bronfman, and Hassan Pierre

Coco Rocha

Monica Chang

Almudena Fernandez and Maria Giron

Kate de Brienne

Van Muller and Polina Margasova

Maria Giron, Keith Addis, and Cindy Davis

Bunta and Minako Inoue

Janie Chase

Angela Martini and Perri Arenas

Shirley Ephraim

Summer Osterman

Suzanne Weinstock and Andrew Nodell

James Reginato, Mark Tevins, and Lionel Geneste

Melissa Seligmann and Fran Kaya

Robert Cochran, Marcia Mishaan, and Suzanne Cochran

Denise Richards and Richard Turley

Olivia Chantecaille and Adelina Wong Ettelson

Douglas Blonsky and Terri Coppersmith

Kristin Studeman and Melissa Berkelhammer

Bronson Van Wyck, Kate Schelter, and Chris Schumacher

Anna Safir, Bronson Van Wyck, and Eleanora Kennedy

Meri Miller and Karen Boyer

Emma Grady and Bonnie Morrison

Lana Smith and Polina Proshkina

Jenny Turner, Marla Goldwasser, Blair Clarke, and Kelly Padden

Laura Bowling

Mark Tevis, Angela Lindvall, and Lionel Geneste

Also last Wednesday, WIN (Women in Need) held its annual gala luncheon over at the Waldorf, and brought a lot of the local dynamos and movers and shakers.

They honored Martha Nelson, the Editorial Director of Time, Inc. Ms. Nelson was for many years the force behind the very profitable PEOPLE magazine. That kind of success in the publishing world breeds moguls yet she has conducted herself rather diffidently in terms of public persona. I don’t know her, not sure I’ve ever met her, but sitting at that table in Michael’s as I often do, watching the media world pass-by, Ms. Nelson does not advertise herself -- although no doubt she is noticed by her confreres and peers.

Anna Quindlen, Bonnie Stone, Kayce Freed Jennings, Karin Sadove, Leila Maw Straus, Monica Rich Kosann, and Karen Harvey

Jackie Mayfield, Joan Steinberg, Alice van Cleese, Leila Maw Straus, Adrienne Cleere, Jeanne Linnes, and Mickey Straus

Bettina Zilkha, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Sarah Arison, Peter Lydon, Susan Fales Hill, and Felicia Taylor

I have a feeling she’s like some of those other women editors (not all of them, mind you: there are exceptions) who just do their job as well as they can muster. And get on with it. Helen Gurley Brown was like that. They assume that if they get the job, their job is to do their best. Martha Nelson proves that one.

The luncheon brought out a lot of the fashionable and fashion-related and publishing/media related luminosity about town. This isn’t networking, this is the networkers’ world. Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Whatever, can’t beat this kind of New York event. Then again not everyone is invited. Or can afford to attend. But it’s a good cause.

Bonnie Stone, Diane Sawyer, and Martha Nelson

Cindy Weber Cleary, Hal Rubenstein, and Charla Lawhon

Alissa Heumann and Jessica Sciacchitano

Leila Maw Straus, Karin Sadove, Monica Rich Kosann, Kayce Freed Jennings, and Anna Quindlen

Teri Agins and Bill McComb

Cindy Weber-Cleary, Martha Nelson, and Hal Rubenstein

Esther Armah

Thia Breen, Karyn Lerner, and Laurie Dowley

Monica Rich Kosann and Ginny Hershey Lambert

Shirin von Wulfen and Frederic Fekkai

Holly Greenwald and Ellen Newhouse

Steve Sadove, Georgia Frasch, and Ron Frasch

Cathie Black, David Daniel, and Dr. Joyce Brown

Michael Clinton, Jaqui Lividini, Jim Hardy, and Anne Hardy

Josie Natori and Ray Kelly

Chris Foster, David Mon, and Veronica Kelly

Josie Natori, Calvin Tsao, and Annabel Tollman

Alex Sudder, Cardaja Murray, and Cody Joseph

Kerry Pieri, Lola Mendez, Kelly Framel, and Erin Framel

Dr. Lisa Airan, Jamie Tisch, and Jennifer Zuccarini

Danielle Kosann, Monica Rich Kosann, and Laura Kosann

Susan Fales-Hill and Sarah Arison

Annabel Tollman, Frederic Fekkai, and Shirin von Wulffen

Last Thursday night the ASPCA held its annual Bergh Ball at the Plaza. Some of the celebrity guests brought their pets. The ASPCA also brought a few future pets – those who need to be adopted. This is a very successful night in New York and its organizers and patrons have worked hard to make it that. Simon Cowell was the honoree although he came only via video.

The last time I went to the Bergh Ball was two years ago, also at the Plaza. As I was moving around talking to people and taking photos, a woman walked by carrying a black and white shih-tzu of then undetermined (to me) age. The dog was resting comfortably, as if luxuriously in the woman’s arms. The dog reminded me of another shih-tzu who lived with me for ten years, before he died. Buster. I’ve written about him on these pages. A little angel.

Michele Gradin, Margo Nederlander, Arriana Boardman, Isaac Mizrahi, Lauran Zambelli Barket, Linda Lambert, and Kim White

For that reason I decided on the spur of the moment to tell the woman that I would adopt the dog. She. Her. Jenny, her name. They took my name. She was eight or nine. I don’t know what her background was, only that she had had some serious health issues that were being cleared up by the doctors at the ASPCA. Somebody had her for a long time and then threw her away.

Jenny wasn’t ready to come home for a few more weeks. They were focusing on her healing. She is also almost blind.

Laura Zambelli Barket, Kim WHite, Margo Nederlander, Michele Gradin, and Linda Lambert

When she first came to her new home she was not greeted with enthusiasm by Missy who is Madame in her house. Missy, who is charming and vivacious and sweet and cute and cuddly, also can be like Joan Crawford in “The Women” when it comes to another female living under her roof. She’s not that bad; I exaggerate because it is human comedy and drama and makes me laugh. But she kinda “bitchy.” (“Who me?” wags the tail.)

However, Jenny was naturally alienated anyway. Wherever she had been before (and she had numerous tumors on her teats which had been removed by the ASPCA — she healed well), she was not used to friendliness of any kind. The first few weeks she would only sleep in one spot near my desk, facing the wall. She wouldn’t eat anything unless she saw the other dogs eating it. At night I’d bring her into the bedroom but as soon as I put on the bed, she’d jump off and return to her bed.

One of the great things about adopting a dog or a cat is you get to see the rewards of TLC. Rewards for the dog or cat and even bigger rewards for you, What are they? You feel good many times. You get the pleasure of expressing care and affection, the likes of which we often take for granted with those around us; and as time passes, you learn what unconditional love is and what it can return. These dogs and cats also teach you patience, which is a hard lesson in life, maybe especially city life. Not to mention laughter.

Lucy Suarez, Ben Lambert, Linda Lambert, Albert Behler, and Lillian Lake

Jenny sleeps on the bed every night now. She has for more than a year. She sleeps on a dog bed by my chair during the day. Last Christmas Blair Sabol gave me one of those fake fur throws that Dennis Basso sells so successfully on QVC. Lots of times Missy sleeps right next to her. (She’s an angel when she’s asleep.)

She’s not easy to walk compared to the other two, especially Madame who has places to go and pea-spots to sniff, and Byron her humble servant and besotted admirer. Jenny doesn’t mind. She’s got Madame number anyway and like all smart girls she knows how to ignore it. We’ve been housemates for two years in June and she wags her tail a lot and is always by the kitchen door (along with Madame/Missy) whenever they hear me moving around.

This is why I love the Bergh Ball and its origins, and the ASPCA and its work and care, and why I’m always reluctant to go. I can’t adopt another under the circumstances. You can though.