Oh, What A Night!

Oh, What A Night!

by contributor Donna Shor
Photo credit: Tony Powell

Does that title sound familiar? At the smashing LUNGevity Foundation Gala at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, it was all “Jersey Boys” with echoes of Frankie Valli and that signature song.

Valli-voiced John Lloyd Young, the Tony-and Grammy-winning actor who portrayed the famed singer on stage and now on screen in the movie “Jersey Boys” lived up to the gala’s subtitle a “Musical Celebration of Hope” as soon as he began to sing. The New York Times has described Young’s amazing voice as “a disciplined one-in-a-million high tenor shading into a falsetto that he can direct through the stratosphere.” And so he did.

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

John Lloyd Young from the movie “Jersey Boys”

Valli fans with long memories may recall the origin of the lyrics “Oh what a Night” and its very enthusiastic choruses of “What a lady, what a night!” Valli at one point in his career confessed the words referred to the night that the Lady who gallantly remained unnamed “made a man” out of the young singer.

The musical part of the program began when a troupe of gold-lamé-jacketed, gold toppered Jersey Boys couples surged into the dining room, made their way onto the floor and had the crowd soon surrounding them.

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

Jerry Sorkin, La’Kisha Cole, Richard Heimler, Andrea Ferris (President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation), Chip Kennett, Greta Kreuz, and David Gobin

The Mellon was an elegant setting for the gala. Fingers of shaded tones of red light washed the walls, making striking columns around the room; tall flute-shaped crystal vases crowned with gigantic masses of deepest-red roses were stunning.

Design Cuisine provided a menu to match, with melt-in-your-mouth filet of beef sauced in a satiny red wine demi-glace. The excellent wines were a Salmon Sancerre, Vieilles Vignes which demonstrated the magic of “old vines” in producing admirable wine. Olema’s Cabernet Sauvignon truly complemented the beef.

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

Bob Norton, Suzy and Bob Pence, Grace Bender

Perfectionist Grace Bender, who was Dinner Chair this year, got LUNGevity off to a good start when it was successfully launched a couple of years ago, despite the handicap of being one more new cause on Washington’s charity-saturated scene.

Now LUNGevity’s fund-raising gala continues its success, with a most serious purpose: to help find early detection and targeted therapies for lung cancer, and to give more hope to people with the disease. There are at present 400,000 people in the United States living with lung cancer; 1.7 million died of it in the last 10 years.

The foundation honors all lung cancer survivors, caregivers, families and friends, many of whom were in the audience, many participating as ongoing donors to LUNGevity.

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation

Andrea was inspired to become involved in the lung cancer nonprofit world by an especially lovely lady, her mother, Pat Stern, who was known to several of those present.

Andrea reminded us that for decades, the story of lung cancer remained unchanged, saying: “ Patients were not expected to survive their diagnosis. The treatment options were limited, ineffective, and often dreadful to endure.”

She said that: “In the last ten years there has been an incredible shift with individuals and organizations, such as tonight’s remarkable honorees, Rep. Diana deGette and Abbott Molecular, both driving change to insure that people living with lung cancer experience both longevity and a better quality of life.”

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

Chip and Sheila Kennett, Doug and Holly Kammerer

The Abbott Molecular Hope Award for Corporate Leadership was accepted by Christopher Jowett and presented by Richard Heimler. Rep. Diana DeGette who was named the Face of Hope Award recipient, participated by video, as she was in her home state.

The evening was ably emceed by NBC meteorologist Doug Kammerer. Gala Chairs were Bob Norton and Suzy Pence, who both understand the devastation of lung cancer. Suzy lost her father-in-law, her best friend and another dear friend. Bob Norton lost his wife of 28 years to the disease, after a three-year battle.

Photo by Tony Powell. 2014 LUNGevity Gala. Mellon Auditorium. October 24, 2014

Jamie and Dave Dorros

Vice chairs were Ginny Grenham and Michelle Olson. Attendees and supporters included Wilma and Stuart Bernstein, Marcia Carlucci, Alexine Jackson, Gilan and Dr. Milton Corn, Annie Totah, Elaine Cole, Jane and Calvin Cafritz, Fred and Marlene Malek, Mark and Lyn McFadden.

 

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