Arden Theatre Company's Granfalloon 2010 To Be Held at Comcast Center 6/11

Arden Theatre Company's Granfalloon is slated for Friday, June 11, 2010 at the Comcast Center, 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The biannual fundraising gala will honor N. Peter Hamilton, a longtime Arden Board Member and devoted supporter of Arden Children's Theatre and Education programming.

The evening will begin at 7pm with a dinner Ralph's Café, on the 43rd floor of the Comcast Center, for event sponsors and the host committee. The party then moves downstairs from 8:30pm-12am to the Winter Garden Lobby for dancing under the 25 foot high Comcast Experience Video Wall to the rocking sounds of Leroy Hawkes and the Hipnotics, cocktail buffet and open bar, special guest appearances and a silent auction. The dinner portion of the evening is sold out, but tickets are available to the reception in the Winter Garden for $150. Information and tickets are available online at ardentheatre.org/granfalloon.

Honorary co-chairs Rhonda and David Cohen, along with event co-chairs Lee and Chris van de Velde lead the Granfalloon Committee which includes Ronna F. Hall, Chair; Michael A. Donato and Peter Sonzogni, Auction Co-Chairs; as well as thirteen other committee members and over 100 Host Committee members. A full list of Host Committee members is available online at ardentheatre.org/granfalloon/committee.html. Event sponsors include Aloe Investment Corporation, Comcast, Independence Foundation and Hamilton Family Foundation. A complete list can be found online at ardentheatre.org/granfalloon/sponsors.html.

Granfalloon Honoree N. Peter Hamilton has been a member of the Arden's board for 10 years and a tremendous Arden supporter for many years. In 1998, support from Peter Hamilton as well as the Hamilton Family Foundation was instrumental in launching Arden Children's Theatre. Arden Children's Theatre is now in its 12th season, and has been seen by more than 325,000 patrons. Hamilton continues to be a key supporter of the Arden's work with children, including their education outreach program, Arden for All, serving over 5,000 kids in the Greater Philadelphia region each year.

The Granfalloon auction has already begun online at ardentheatre.org/auction. Packages include vacation homes, elite dining experiences, theatre tickets, high-end jewelry and much more. The auction winners will be announced at the Granfalloon, along with the winner of a weeklong getaway to a Tuscan wine estate which Arden audience members have had a chance to win by purchasing raffle tickets at the theatre and online at ardentheatre.org/support/raffle.html.

Arden Theatre Company named the Granfalloon, the company's biannual fundraising gala, after a term coined by Kurt Vonnegut meaning a gathering of like-minded people. The Arden's first production in 1988 was Who Am I This Time? by Kurt Vonnegut. The Granfalloon in 2008 raised over $120,000 for the Arden's artistic and educational programming.

To post a comment, you must register and login.