Curtain Lifted On Harman Center For The Arts' 2010 Annual Gala!

NORTHWEST -- The 2010 Harman Center For the Arts Gala had a little bit of something for everyone. For the people watchers, there were plenty of 'A-listers' (Warren Beatty, Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito, etc.) in attendance. For the Broadway crowd, there were showtunes. For the fleet footed, there was a 'pas de deux'. For the children, there was a reference to Disney's The Little Mermaid. And, seeing as how the evening was hosted by the Shakespeare Theatre Company, there was, of course, plenty of Shakespeare.

While most Washingtonians sought refuge from the evening's rain inside their homes Sunday night, hundreds of supporters of one the city's most admired arts programs enthusiastically donned their raincoats and opened their umbrellas as they made their way to Penn Quarter.

There, inside the sleek and warmly lit walls of Sidney Harman Hall, they prepared themselves for a decidedly celebratory evening, as they reveled in the energy emanating from the audience that night.

Indeed, such enthusiasm wasn't always guaranteed. When the modern complex first opened in 2007, the country had just entered what was to become the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Suddenly, a gleaming new arts complex didn't seem like the safest of investments!

However, such hesitance is all in the past now. Acknowledging the financial health of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, philanthropist Sidney Harman proudly trumpeted the success of the program over the past two years in his opening speech.

In his enthusiasm, Sidney even forgot to use the podium's microphone which prompted a humorous intervention from his wife, Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-CA 36th District)!

The night's master of ceremonies was stage and screen actor René Auberjonois. Known best to some for his role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and to others for lending his voice to The Little Mermaid franchise as Louis the Chef, Auberjonois began his post-college career in front of D.C. audiences at Arena Stage. A more fitting emcee could therefore hardly exist!

As the evening progressed (and using his boot as a map!), Auberjonois led the audience all across the globe, from Shakespeare's England to the Italian towns Shakespeare wrote about to the Broadway plays that he inspired. Guests were treated to performances by Rebecca Luker ("Falling in Love with Love" and "So In Love"), American Ballet Theatre's Paloma Herrera, dancers from The National Ballet of Canada, and the Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble.

And in one of her final recitals during her farewell tour, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade delivered a commanding performance to a grateful crowd.

Yet, despite the impressive talent that performed on-stage throughout the earlier part of the evening, nothing compared to the standing ovation Annette Bening received after she delivered an impromptu reading of Juliet's balcony scene speech from Romeo & Juliet.

In declaring that no actor ever had the chance to "perform enough Shakespeare," the gala's honoree for the night essentially closed the performance portion of the evening.

Afterwards, guests were split into two groups. The Shakespeare Theatre Company's younger patrons were invited to a dedicated after hours party of drinks and dancing inside the Harman complex itself, while veteran supporters were quickly whisked to the National Building Museum for an Italian sit-down dinner of bruschetta, gnocchi, veal scaloppine, and semifreddo.

Shakespeare himself might have described the night as:

    Not marble nor the gilded monuments.
    Of princes shall outlive this pow'rful rhyme.
    But you shall shine more bright in these contents.
    Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time."

End scene.