Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1439511
GAZING CRYSTAL BALL AT THE By Billy Fong. Photography Jonathan Zizzo. U n i o n J a c k w a s ringing, and the call was heard by the black-tie Dallas throng. "Peace, Love & London" was the theme of this year's Crystal Charity Ball, and after a year off due to COVID, more than 1,500 were ready to dance the night away. Chairman Leslie Diers greeted guests as they passed the beefeaters standing guard at Buckingham Palace, aka the Hilton Anatole. The evening harkened back to the swinging '60s and The Beatles, through the talent of ball designer Tom Addis; floral designer Junior Villanueva of The Garden Gate; Lambert's Paul Fields, who provided the landscape design; and decorations chairman Ola Fojtasek. At the appointed hour, 9 pm, the grand doors to the Chantilly Ballroom opened to a gloriously set scene. Performers from the Broadway show Live and Let Die, including a singer who was the spitting image of a baby- faced Paul McCartney, performed a lively 40-minute set along with dancers from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, clad in Union Jack shifts and go-go boots. The 24-piece band Simply Irresistible kept guests dancing until close to 1 am. Reed Robertson Piper Wyatt, TJ Griffin Sean McClure Bela Cooley Monique Dawood Kate Meyer Toni Munez-Hunt Michelle Wong Haley Arias Katharine Newman Jordan Jones Munoz, Sydney Watters Dunbar Robin Wilkes, Vatana Watters Gabriella Khristov David & Janie Condon Kameron Westcott Lisa & Clay Cooley 42