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DA CAMERA LOVES PARIS IN THE SPRINGTIME MATTHEW RAMIREZ REPORTS FROM THE CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES. PHOTOGRAPHY KIM COFFMAN. L ong before there was Midnight in Paris, there was April in Paris. Da Camera of Houston embraced the latter as the theme for its annual gala, which transported 300 performing arts fans to the City of Light via The Corinthian. Co-chairs Heidi and David Gerger and Page Kempner welcomed supporters to a rustic Parisian setting, where a bubbling cast-stone fountain was the centerpiece of a floral mise en scène creatively realized by Bergner & Johnson Design. Jazz vocalist Danielle Reich evoked Edith Piaf during cocktail hour, followed by courses from Jackson and Company including boeuf en croûte and crêpes Suzette à l'orange with Grand Marnier. Three of Da Camera's Young Artists — mezzo-soprano Teresa Procter, baritone Elliott Hines and violinist Jackson Guillen — also took the stage with a program curated by Da Camera's general and artistic director Sarah Rothenberg, which included a surprise turn from jazz pianist Jose-Miguel Yamal. Silent auction chairs Cat Baen and Matt Hennessy enticed bidders with trips to Marfa, Wyoming, and Steamboat Springs; top art lots from Moody Gallery, Sonja Roesch, Koelsch Haus and Devin Borden Gallery; luxe bijoux from Mariquita Masterson, Past Era Fine Antique Jewelry and Deutsch & Deutsch; and a private backstage dinner at a Da Camera jazz concert during the upcoming season. The Gallic gala honored former Da Camera board president Claudia Hatcher, in a pink Dior gown, set the fashionable stage for others, including her husband David and current DC prez Chinhui Allen, with husband Eddie Allen. Francophiles: Nathalie and Charles Roff, Laura and Leo Sayavedra, Elaine and Marvy Finger, Nina and Michael Zilkha, Susie and Sanford Criner, gallerist Sandy Parkerson, Carrie and Al Pepi, Sissy and Denny Kempner, Mimi Lloyd, Franci Neely, Nicolas Phan, and Susan and Richard Ashcroft. The night raised $300,000 for the educational programs, concerts and future seasons of Da Camera, which is now in its 27th year of producing chamber music and jazz happenings at The Menil Collection, the Wortham Center and other storied local venues. For more party coverage, visit papercitymag.com. Alesha Yamal Allison Durig Benjamin Durig Jacquelyn Cox Collin Cox Jane Rucker M.K. McCleary Roger McCleary Nathalie Roff Charles Roff Bill Rucker John Sievers Caroline Farish Jennifer Spivack Andrew Thorington Emily Reeves David Reeves Bent Plougmand Andersen Co-chair David Gerger Sarah Rothenberg Nicholas Phan Franci Neely Sanford Criner Mark Hanson Co-chair Page Kempner Co-chair Heidi Gerger Cat Baen Honoree Claudia Hatcher Jose- Miguel Yamal Craig Young Lucy Young Anna-Louise Plougmand Susie Criner OCTOBER | PAGE 14 | 2015 I t's been more than a year in the making, but in other ways, the public's big reveal this month of the reborn Alley Theatre — set for Friday, October 2, with the production of the hilarious Tony-garnering British romp One Man, Two Guvnors — marks the culmination of a vision that began nearly 70 years ago, with the founding of the theater by the determined Nina Vance in a rented dance studio at 3617 Main Street. The Alley's first curtain rose November 18, 1947, with the staging of A Sound of Hunting. The troupe moved to a second home 15 months later, a former fan factory (709 Berry Avenue). The venue was so edgy that audience members once had to flee when a ceiling threatened to tumble down during a production. But since 1968, both home and image for this innovative theater company have been indelibly linked with New York architect Ulrich Franzen's 1968 Brutalist masterpiece, a concrete castle at 615 Texas Avenue. November 26, 1968, its grand opening was commemorated by a production of Bertolt Brecht's Galileo, directed by Vance, which marked a new era in Houston's performing arts as well as for American theater. (Fittingly, opening night lured 37 astronauts for the classic Brecht tale of the astronomer, as well as Maggie Smith from the National Theater London; patrons ponied up an astounding $1,000 per ticket to take it all in, and Newsweek, Time, CBS and The New York Times all dispatched correspondents.) Flash forward nearly a half century, and the 800- some-seat proscenium theater that was then cutting edge needed a facelift to facilitate today's modern productions. More than a nip and tuck, this was akin to laying the entire building bare, pulling off the roof, BY CATHERINE D. ANSPON removing four epic, load-bearing columns in the middle of the stage, adding a fly loft and a trap floor, and extending the stage into the house, to create a greater sense of intimacy and a more immersive experience for both actor and audience. This was a grand redux led by Studio Red's Pete Ed Garrett and Bellows Construction to the tune of six million pounds of concrete removed and recycled, the fabrication of and erection of 410 tons of steel and 300,000 man-hours of labor — not to mention a $46.5 million price tag, an additional $10 million for artistic enhancement and $16.5 million sought for the endowment. (To date, the extended engagement campaign led by Meredith Long and Roger Plank as co- chairs has raised $53.6 million and counting.) A esthetic and functional transformations encompass beautiful new public spaces including the third-floor Skyline Lobby Bar with a city-view vista, enhanced dressing rooms for the Tony-winning resident company, ladies' restrooms at double the size, and light and sound barriers allowing audience members to enter or leave seamlessly without disturbing a performance. Read more in our November issue about the parties that inaugurated the revived Alley, which has the honor of being the busiest arts organization in the Theater District, producing 400 performances a year including world premieres. Now this celebrated company and its resident actors — headed by artistic director Gregory Boyd and managing director Dean Gladden — is ready for the next 50 years and future playwrights, following the stagecraft of trailblazers such as Edward Albee, Ken Ludwig, Horton Foote, Elizabeth Egloff, Theresa Rebeck, Paul Zindel and Alan Ayckbourn. Tickets and season subscriptions, alleytheatre.org. THE CURTAIN RISES INDEED Ulrich Franzen, Nina Vance, 1968 COURTESY ALLEY THEATRE Alley Theatre, 1968 EZRA STOLLER Alley Theatre Grand Reopening Celebration, September 19, 2015 JACOB POWER