Celebrating Gables' Actors' Playhouse 10 'Miraculous' Years
By: Beau Higgins Nov. 17, 2005
Coral Gables' Was Rockin' & Rollin at the Biltmore Hotel Celebrating Actors' Playhouse
10 Perfect Years at the Miracle Theatre
Actors' Playhouse celebrated ten perfect years in the Miracle Theatre on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Celebrators enjoyed an all out 50's style party extravaganza, complete with a three course gourmet diner meal, open Bacardi bar, dance-a-thon, a ten year theatre history slide show, a performance of the cast of Actors' Playhouse's 2005 production of Grease. Event hosts were NBC6's anchor team Bob Mayer, Kelly Craig, and Lonnie Quinn.
Actors' Playhouse delighted 250 guests with great food, entertainment, prizes and surprises and successfully raised more than $70,000 for Actors' Playhouse endowment fund.Ladies showed up in poodle skirts and pink jackets, prom dresses, and 50's attire, and gents slicked back their hair and wore their leather jackets. The evening began with a 50's style cocktail hour among a variety of vintage cars in the Biltmore Courtyard. Majic 102.7 played 50's tunes while Bob Mayer welcomed guests and also showed off his vintage T-Bird. Guests were led into the main Country Club Ballroom by chants and cheers from the Coral Gables High School Cheerleaders. Guests dined in the Ballroom while enjoying music from The Grease Band, Roxy Productions, and CAPELLAPOP, a Doo-Wop Quartet.
After dinner the party continued with a Hand-Jive contest judged by the Cast of Grease. Roy Gonas took first place along with his wife Rosalyn Smith Gonas, who dressed up as a bellhop girl. Next was the highly anticipated 50's style costume contest judged by Kelly Craig. Jason Neil of Waste Management, who was dressed as the Good Humor Man, won the first place. Prizes for the contests were carnation centerpieces made of delicious cup cakes by Edda's Cake Designs.
The evening also featured a silent auction of an original Artwork by Carlos A. Navarro of Pop Suave Art Gallery; all of the guests received a commemorative poster of the art signed by the artist. Goodie bags were provided by The Village of Merrick Park, Studebaker molded chocolates by Le Chocolatier, cup cake carnation centerpieces by Edda's Cake Designs, ice cream sundaes from Cold Stone Creamery, and cookies shaped as ice cream cones from Chocolate Fashion were given to guests. Bacardi U.S.A provided miniature 50's coke bottles and splits of rum.
Gala was hosted by Board Chairman Dr. Lawrence Stein, and Barbara Stein, Executive Producing Director and Artistic Director David Arisco, the party was celebrated by Mayor Donald and Jeannett Slesnick, Former Mayor Dorothy and Jack Thomson, City Manager David Brown, Phyllis Oeters, Doug Jolly and fiancé Helen Ortega, Roy & Roselyn Gonas, Karl & Carmen Bishopric, Sio and Henry Lindner Anna Marie Divide and Royal Webster, John & Lizette Fullerton, Bernie and Jessie Wolfson, Jay Jensen, Joe and Jessica Lancaster, Francine and Ronald Sevcik, among other theatre supporters. Honorary Chairpersons Karl & Carmen Bishopric and Chairpersons Jeannett Slesnick and Neil Stebbing gathered a community of supporters including The Biltmore Hotel, Bacardi, Ocean Bank, Hampton Inn Coconut Grove & Suites Miami Airport, Davide Realty, and Home Equity Mortgage Corporation, Baptist Health South Florida, Coldwell Banker, University of Miami, and Waste Management.
"We are indebted to the City of Coral Gables and a wonderful community of supporters who helped us renovate and restore the beautiful historic Miracle Theatre into a performing arts Center. Actors' Playhouse is proud of our accomplishments and of the artistic excellence achieved by our team bringing to the community the highest professional theatre for adults and children," says Barbara Stein, Executive Producing Director.
The story is so BIG that Actors' Playhouse has contracted Connie Crowther of Crowther Communications and an Actors' Playhouse board member to author a 100-page glossy commemorative book archiving the role model private public partnership between Actors' Playhouse and the City of Coral Gables and its great community of supporters. The book, The Miracle on the Mile will be unveiled very soon. The partnership will also be featured in the November Issue of the new International Publication, VIS. A. VIS.
For more information, visit the theatre's website at www.actorsplayhouse.org
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