CULTURE & COCKTAILS At The Ben Returns With A Dramatic Conversation On January 8

Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, today touted the 2024 kick-off of CULTURE & COCKTAILS. The theme of the 19th annual season of the popular series is Looking Back, Looking Forward.

The informative and fun chat fest will again be held in the beautiful rooftop ballroom of The Ben, located at 251 N. Narcissus Avenue in West Palm Beach. Free valet parking is provided. For tickets, please visit https://www.palmbeachculture.com/event/culture-cocktails-sages/.

January 8

SAGES

A Dramatic Conversation Between William Hayes & Michael McKeever

+ William Hayes is the producing artistic director and a founding member of Palm Beach Dramaworks, where he has directed some 50 productions for the company, before returning to the stage as an actor last season in its highly acclaimed production of Twelve Angry Men. Hayes has won numerous awards and served two terms as president of the Florida Professional Theatres Association.

+ Michael McKeever is an award-winning playwright, actor, and designer, whose plays (Daniel's Husband, Mr. Parker, The Code, Suite Surrender, 37 Postcards, Stuff, Melt, etc.) have been produced around the world. He has been honored with numerous Carbonell and Silver Palm Awards, is the recipient of the prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and is the co-founder of Zoetic Stage.

The other two C&C conversations next year will be:

February 5 

PAGES

A Revealing Conversation with Best Selling Author James Patterson

In the last live CULTURE & COCKTAILS before the pandemic shutdown, literary legend James Patterson interviewed Palm Beach Post columnist Leslie Gray Streeter about her first book Black Widow. Four years later, they are both back in reversed roles.

+ James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women's Murder Club, Jane Effing Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Princess Diana, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, told the story of his own life in James Patterson by James Patterson, and received an Edgar Award, nine Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

+ Leslie Gray Streeter is the former pop culture columnist for The Palm Beach Post, where she covered music, movies, celebrities,  staycations and more. Currently, she writes for The Baltimore Banner and appears regularly on WJZ-TV/CBS. Her memoir, Black Widow, was published by Little, Brown & Company, and her first novel is coming out soon. She is also a podcaster, a public speaker, and describes herself as “a writer, a mommy, a widow, a daughter, a darned good friend, and the person who'll eat fries with you after we run a marathon. Because fries are delicious.”

April 1 

STAGES

A Hopeful Conversation about the Future of the Royal Poinciana Playhouse & the Sunset Lounge

+ Cheryl Mendelson is the executive director of the Palm Beach Cultural Innovation Center at The INNOVATE, which is currently redeveloping the historic landmark theater in the Royal Poinciana Plaza with the goal of transforming the long-shuttered facility into a cultural arts venue with up to 400 seats, plus a stage with a retractable backdrop wall to create an alfresco waterfront performance space. Previously, she served as CEO of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, and Executive Vice President of External Affairs & COO at Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

+ Alisha R. Winn, Ph.D., is an applied cultural anthropologist, historian, and consultant for community and heritage education projects who lives in the neighborhood around the Sunset Lounge, the Historic Northwest. An adjunct professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University's School of Ministry, she is the founder of Consider the Culture, was director for the Palm Beach County African American Virtual Oral History Project and served as a board member for the City of West Palm Beach Mayor's Taskforce for Racial and Ethnic Equality.

Moderator: Barbara Cheives, is the President and CEO of Converge & Associates Consulting, specializing in race and ethnic relations consulting, employee relations, and community engagement.

The 2024 season of CULTURE & COCKTAILS is generously sponsored so far by The Roe Green Foundation, Roe Green, Founder; Donald M. Ephraim Family Foundation; Milton and Tamar Maltz; Jean Sharf; Bonnie Lautenberg; Lesser Lesser Landy & Smith, PLLC; Scott Teich, Senior Vice President, Teich Wealth Management of Raymond James; The Gardens Mall; CIBC Private Wealth; Palm Beach Media Group; Palm Beach Daily News; Legends Radio; and PR-BS, a Boca-based public relations firm. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available by calling Debbie Calabria, the Cultural Council's Senior Director of Stewardship, at 561.471.2901.

Admission to each one of next season's CULTURE & COCKTAILS At The Ben is $125 per person, and $165 for VIP Seating. For tickets, please visit https://www.palmbeachculture.com/event/culture-cocktails-sages/.

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