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BLOCKBUSTER NIGHT Frances Marzio, Mark Sullivan, Diane Lokey Farb Laura Avila, Courtney Sarofim, Martha Long, Amy Purvis Rania Daniel Chairmen Michelle & Frank Hevrdejs THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON GRAND GALA BALL WAS A FÊTE FIT FOR A PHARAOH. CATHERINE D. ANSPON DECIPHERS THE SCENE. PHOTOGRAPHY JENNY ANTILL. AN EGYPTIAN FANTASY, INDEED Pershant & Nidhika Mehta It's hard to go wrong when planning a party where King Tut is the guest of honor — or at least his artifacts, set to unveil days later and footsteps away from the stage of the big fête. And so it was when chairs and grand underwriters Michelle and Frank Hevrdejs reigned over an evening of gilded splendor billed as "An Egyptian Fantasy." (Frank is actually known as a 19th-centuryAmerican-art collector, but for this big night, the pharaohs held sway.) The occasion? The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Grand Gala Ball, when the soaring spaces of Cullinan Hall and the echelons of the Upper Brown Pavilion were Egyptianized for the occasion by giant projected images of the pyramid complex at Giza. Tut-worthy touches included a seated dinner by Jackson and Company, whose crescendo was the Great Pyramid of Khufu rendered in chocolate, in which a hidden (faux) jewel was embedded; profuse palm fronds arranged by Jonathan Andrew Sage to evoke an oasis; and Darryl and Co.–devised centerpieces bearing (what else?) busts of King Tut and Queen Nefertiti. Adding to the revelry was a PA by Steve Martin impersonator Adam Nowicki, who gave a good rendition of Martin's infamous Tut skit from Saturday Night Live before the L.A.-based Sensation Show Band played on. The most fabulous finale ever — beside the night's $1.4 million bottom line? The impending arrival of "Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs," which opened 14 days later to fitting fanfare (through April 15). Pat Breen, Ed Becnel, Jeanie Kilroy "If Bill and Sara Morgan can dance like an Egyptian, so can you." Michael & Carol Linn — chairman Frank Hevrdejs Albert & Anne Chao Isabel & Wally Wilson Cornelia & Meredith Long Rose & Harry Cullen Cynthia & Tony Petrello Franci Crane Masoud & Sima Ladjevardian Sue & Lester Smith — "This is like being on a barge floating down the Nile," — MFAH deputy director Willard Holmes, glancing at the lavish palm-and-statue bedecked bar Acolytes of Tut: Cornelia and Meredith Long Brad Wyatt, Lynn Wyatt and daughter Martha Long; Margaret Williams with Jim Daniel; Laura and John Arnold; Donna and Robert Bruni; Fayez Sarofim with Dena Albea and his daughter-in-law and son Courtney and Christopher Sarofim; Sue Smith in Oscar de la Renta with husband Lester; Jeanie Kilroy with Ed Becnel; Nancy and Rich Kinder; Janice and Bob McNair; Rose and Harry Cullen; Beth Madison, squired by Ralph Burch; Melissa and Michael Mithoff, she in gold KaufmanFranco; Rania and Jamal Daniel; Nidhika and Pershant Methta; Diane Lokey Farb with Mark Sullivan; Mehrnaz and Ned Gill; Donatella and Fred Benckenstein; Craft Center founders/benefactors Sara and Bill Morgan; Anne and Charles Duncan; Isabel and Wally Wilson; Sima and Masoud Ladjevardian; Leslie and Brad Bucher; Phoebe and Bobby Tudor; Melanie Lawson and John Guess Jr.; Lynn Wyatt with son Brad Wyatt; Linda and Walter McReynolds, she resplendent in Dior; Joanne and Welcome Wilson; Jessica Phifer of Christies, hosting a table that included gallerist Sandy Parkerson; Kelly Silvers, ornamented in YSL serpent earrings (oh, so very New Kingdom) with husband Nick; art dealer Kerry Inman with Denby Auble; antiquarian Jas Gundry; Denise Bahr, bejeweled in Naeem Khan, with husband Philip; Kelli Cohen Fein and Martin Fein, she in Marchesa; art advisor Cecily Horton with Andrew Schneck; Neiman Marcus' Joan Marshak and David Watson; Tootsies' Chris Goins with gallerist Josh Pazda; lensman Simon Gentry; 2010 gala chairs Carol and Michael Linn; Glassell Gold curator Frances Marzio, who organized the Houston presentation of the Tut blockbuster; and jeweler Wayne Smith, whose Egypto-mania baubles inspired a gold rush at the silent-auction tables. JANUARY | PAGE 12 | 2012