Fanfare: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Rock 'n' Soul gala
Throw a party that pays homage to heart racing, turn-it-up-another-notch rock and roll gods including Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Kansas, Kiss, and Chicago and you get 450 people who arrive in… black ties and tails?
“You know, earlier, I did take a look at my staff and said, ‘We're going to a rock and roll party and we're all in tuxes. Are you kidding me?'” joked Pittsburgh Cultural Trust president Kevin McMahon.
Not to say that there weren't efforts made to break the mold.
“I searched on Amazon for a really long time to find something, but there's nothing for guys,” said Bob Krizner with his wife, Jane. “Although I did think about guyliner!”
The Cultural Trust's “Rock ‘n' Soul: Remembering the Stanley Theatre” Gala got underway on September 8 with curious onlookers stopping in their tracks to peer into the white tents set up across from what we now know as the Benedum Center. Back in the 1970s, Pat DiCesare and Rich Engler joined forces to turn the venue into what Billboard Magazine would dub the “Number One Auditorium in the U.S.”
“The fact that we saved a dying movie house and turned it into the number one music hall in the country is unbelievable,” Engler said with his wife, Cindy. “I consider that theater like the sister I never had.”
Following a dinner held on the stage, Vintage Trouble unleashed their high energy rhythm and blues before a dessert reception and dance party with DJ Selecta ran well into the night.
The evening raised $458K.
On the list: co-chairs Todd and Miriam Moules, Vivian and Bill Benter, Bonnie and Tom VanKirk, Richard Rauh, Aradhna and Grant Oliphant, Evan Frazier, Jill and Chuck Brodbeck, Diane and Jerry Holder, Jane Arkus, Esther Bush, Edith Fisher, Ken and Pam McCrory, Jennifer and Brian Fetterolf, Sandy and Bill Lambert.
