NIGHTLIGHT: GUILD HALL OF EAST HAMPTON 25th ANNIVERSARY ACADEMY OF THE ARTS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS DINNER Honoring Bob Balaban, Richard Prince, Marsha Norman, Susan and Alan Patricof
Guild Hall, the center for performing and visual arts on eastern Long Island, held its 25th Anniversary Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Awards Dinner on Monday March 8 at Cipriani 42nd Street. Whom You Know was pleased to cover our first event for this fabulous organization. The 2010 honorees were Bob Balaban for Performing Arts; Richard Prince for Visual Arts; Marsha Norman for Literary Arts; and Susan and Alan Patricof for Leadership and Philanthropic Endeavors. Lead sponsor was Gagosian Gallery with co-sponsor 1stdibs.
The Master of Ceremonies, comedian Angela LaGreca, introduced and presented the awards to Ms. Norman, Mr. Prince and the Patricofs who were warmly congratulated by former President Bill Clinton who appeared via video. Henry Schleiff presented the honor to Mr. Balaban who delivered an entertaining acceptance speech as members of The Flying Karamazov Brothers juggled the award, along with bowling pins.
Roy Furman, president of Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts, welcomed the guests and spoke about the history and legacy of the awards before departing to open his revival of The Adams Family on Broadway. Ruth Appelhof, Guild Hall’s executive director, gave highlights of the upcoming summer season, including Alec Baldwin starring in Equus; the first Hamptons Institute featuring leaders in the arts and industry discussing the economy; the first live simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera; the Winslow Homer, Mercedes Matter, and Barbara Kruger exhibitions; KidFESt workshops and live performances on Wednesdays; among other exciting events and entertainment. Mickey Straus, chair of Guild Hall Board of Trustees, reviewed the past season and its success despite a challenging economy.
Peachy Deegan enjoyed meeting:
Catherine Cabaniss
Bill Cabaniss (glad you were cheering for Jaromir Jagr and the Czech republic during the Olympics)
Magda Bleier, fabulously friendly and introduced us to many!
Edward Bleier
Susan Jacobson, on the board
Steven Jacobson, theater committee
Robert Stern
Ruth Appelhof, Guild Hall’s executive director
James Anderson
Liz Robbins
Doug Johnson
Among those attending the dinner were Ellin Saltzman, Chuck Scarborough and Ellen Ward Scarborough, Domenica Scorcese, Richard Steinberg, and Robert A.M. Stern; among others.
Throughout the past twenty five years the Academy has honored both summer and year-round East End residents who have demonstrated excellence in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Some past recipients include: Steven Spielberg, Billy Joel, Elaine Stritch, Mel Brooks and Alec Baldwin for Performing Arts; Julian Schnabel, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, April Gornik and Chuck Close for Visual Arts; Kurt Vonnegut, E. L. Doctorow, Edward Albee, Joseph Heller and Joe Pintauro for Literary Arts; and Special Awards to Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Peter Jennings, to name a few.
Funds raised from the Award’s dinner benefit Guild Hall’s mission of celebrating the artistic spirit on the East End by educating, inspiring, and enriching diverse audiences with excellent and engaging year-round programming. This event is the first of three to financially support these goals. A Season Opener will be held on Friday, June 25 to support the newly renovated John Drew Theater. Located in the historic district of East Hampton, the theater boasts state-of-the art technology pristinely integrated so as to not compromise the design and architecture of the building. The Guild Hall Summer Gala scheduled for Friday, August 13th will feature a preview of the opening of the Barbara Kruger exhibition in the Museum’s galleries.
Bob Balaban recently directed Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in Georgia O’Keeffe (Lifetime). He received three 2008 Emmy Award nominations, two for directing and producing the HBO film Bernard and Doris, starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes, the third for his performance in Recount. Other directing credits include The Last Good Time (starring Armin Mueller Stahl and Maureen Stapleton) and Parents (with Randy Quaid and Sandy Dennis. He produced and co-starred in the award-winning film Gosford Park. His acting career spans nearly one hundred films including Capote, A Mighty Wind, Ghost World, Best in Show, Cradle Will Rock, Waiting for Guffman, For Your Consideration, Absence of Malice, Prince of the City, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Catch-22, Midnight Cowboy, and the upcoming Howl, starring James Franco. His theatre appearances includePlaza Suite, The Inspector General (Tony Award nomination), Speed the Plow, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Marie and Bruce, and Some Americans Abroad. He directed and produced the original hit off-Broadway production of The Exonerated (Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, New York Times #1 Play, Fringe First Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival), as well as the television version starring Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover. He is the author McGrowl, a best-selling series of children’s books.
Richard Prince Born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1949, Richard Prince first drew art world attention in the early 1980s, presenting rephotographed magazine ads. With these works, he sought to challenge and redefine the ideas of authorship, ownership, and the aura of a work of art. His unique oeuvre has since expanded to all mediums, encompassing painting, sculpture, printed matter, and fashion, in addition to photography. His work is filled with the echoes of other artists’ signatures, yet it is always, unquestionably, his own.
Marsha Norman Marsha Norman is the winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, Blackburn Prize, Hull-Warriner, and Drama Desk Awards for her play ‘NIGHT, MOTHER. In l992 she won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for her book for the Broadway musical, THE SECRET GARDEN. She also wrote the book for the Broadway musical, THE COLOR PURPLE, for which she also received a Tony nomination. THE COLOR PURPLE is currently in the third year of its national first-class tour. She has Grammy and Emmy nominations, as well as grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. She has won the Margo Jones Award, and the Sidney Kingsley Award. Ms. Norman is a member of The Fellowship of Southern Writers, and Co-Chair, with Christopher Durang, of the Playwriting Department of The Juilliard School. She teaches the Master’s Thesis in Playwriting class at NYU. She writes and lectures frequently on the theatre and has 18 honorary degrees from American colleges and Universities. She is Chair of the Academic Affairs committee of the Board of Trustees of Agnes Scott College, and a former Vice-President of the Dramatists Guild of America. She is a native of Kentucky and currently lives in New York.
Susan and Alan Patricof
Alan Patricof is a Board member of Techno Serve; NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship); Trickle Up; Global Advisory Board of Endeavor [all dealing with entrepreneurship in the developing world]. He is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the Corporate Advisory Board and the African Policy Board of this organization. He is on the Board of Overseers of Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a Board Member of the Millennium Challenge Corporation – a development organization of the U. S. Government. He is a member of the Leadership Council of Initiative for Global Development (IGD) and an Advisor to Grass Roots Business Initiative.
Susan Patricof has been a member of several domestic and international nonprofit organizations. She is on the board of the International Rescue Committee, and is a co-founder of the Leadership Council on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, and Co-Chair of the Children’s Unit. Susan travels in Africa for the IRC for children and health programs. She also works with refugees resettling throughout the US. Ms. Patricof serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Overseers of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The Mailman School works to transform, and improve public health worldwide. She was a founding member of the Advisory Committee for Film Aid International, a joint project of the IRC and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been a member of the board at Northside Center for Child Development for thirty years, the last twenty of which she has served as its Chair. Northside Center is a Harlem-based organization that provides ongoing mental health, education, evaluation and referral services to 2,500 children and families and in 2005 opened Head Starts for over 200 children. Ms. Patricof received her BS from Cornell University.
Angela LaGreca For nine years Angela was with ABC-TV’s The View, first as the audience warm-up personality and then as the head writer, working with Meredith Vieira on the show’s popular ‘Hot Topics’. When Vieira left to co-anchor the Today show, she brought Angela over as her producer. Angela is the winner of six MAC Awards (New York's 'Oscar") for outstanding live performance. Her own show -- a unique blend of standup, impressions, and musical comedy - -has played to rave reviews and sold-out shows across the country. She has performed everywhere from Carolines to Carnegie Hall. In the Hamptons, she has performed at Guild Hall, Bay Street, and the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, and hosted her own interview series on Plum TV called “Laugh Out Loud with Angela LaGreca.” Angela is a graduate of Smith College and a member of SAG, WGA, AFTRA, ASCAP, and the NY Friars Club. She lives in NYC but holds regular ‘Salon Nites’ at her home in East Hampton. Find her on: Facebook, Twitter, www.AngelaLaGreca.com
Founded more than 75 years ago, Guild Hall is the year-round arts center wholly dedicated to serving the residents, members, families, and artists of the East End and offering them, as well as visitors and tourists, enriching experiences by presenting relevant and meaningful programs in the visual and performing arts, working in collaboration with artists, and providing a meeting place for the community. For more information about the Museum, Theater and Education programming and to become a member, visit www.GuildHall.org
