SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017
desertsun.com
SECTION G
DESERT SCENE
KATE FRANCO, EDITOR, (760) 778-4688 OR [email protected]
PHOTOS BY DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
Performers give a dazzling grand finale at “One Night Only – Hello Jerry.”
Jewish Family Service of the Desert
‘One Night Only – Hello Jerry’
son”, it was invitation-only. The
party was packed with entertainment including performances by cast members, the
Palm Springs marching band, a
drone flying overhead capturing the fun, abundant food and
beverages.
The next evening following
the show, Barbara and Jerry
Keller sponsored a beautiful
mingle-and-dine dinner buffet.
Guests made the short drive to
The River in Rancho Mirage
where festivities were held
next to what will be the Keller’s new restaurant, Acqua
California Bistro, opening in
about a month. This event was
open to all purchasers of VIP
tickets.
CHRIS FOSTER
SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
“One Night Only – Hello
Jerry,” a musical tribute to
Jerry Herman, was a 90-minute show and fundraiser at the
McCallum that managed to be
breathless, dazzling, humorous
and emotional all at the same
time. If you missed it this year,
don’t next year. It’s perhaps
the “show of the year” at the
McCallum and raises funds for
one of the greatest social service non-profits in the Valley,
Jewish Family Service of the
Desert (JFS).
Produced by local celebrity
Michael Childers, “One Night
Only” is now in its tenth year
and is the premier fundraiser
for JFS. In Childers’ words,
“One Night Only is one of the
joys of my life. Not only to
work with so many gifted singers, but also support an organization which does incredible
work throughout the Valley
helping many people.”
Performer and star Lucie
Arnaz, invoking her late mother’s humor (Lucille Ball) and
perfect timing, summed up
JFS best to laughter in the
audience, “Jewish people taking care of people, not necessarily Jewish people.” She
went on to say, “JFS is a nonsectarian non-profit and they
provide counseling and social
services to people in need.
About the show
Michael Childers thanked both platinum sponsors and event co-chairs Harold Matzner, Terri Ketover, Michael
Childers, Helene Galen, Barbara Fromm, Barbara Keller and Barbara Fremont.
Period.”
Arnaz thanked the event
co-chairs JFS President Barbara Fromm and Terri Ketover
who “worked tirelessly for
countless hours raising thousands of dollars to make this
happen.” Arnaz said, “It would
not be possible to present an
evening in support of JFS like
this without the tremendous
support of our $25,000 platinum sponsors and honorary
co-chairs Helene Galen, Barbara Fremont, Barbara Keller,
and Harold Matzner.”
The major sponsors were
the Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla Indians, Union Bank
and Nina and Robert Wernick.
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Before and after
There were “before and
after” the show events too.
Helene Galen and Jamie Kabler hosted a spectacular “One
Night Only” Cast Party the
evening before the show. Described as one of “the highlights of the desert social sea-
This year’s show theme
featured the music of Jerry
Herman, a former 12-year
Palm Springs resident and
friend to many locals, who
wrote both the lyrics and music to such Broadway shows as
Hello, Dolly!, Mame and La
Cage Aux Folles. The show
starred well over 20 award
winning Broadway stars who
Childers and Director Jason
Graae convinced to travel to
the desert and perform for
free. According to Graae, “It’s
really not that difficult. They
Please see JFS, 2G
2G
THE DESERT SUN | DESERTSUN.COM |
SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2017
Olive Crest hosts ‘Hot Cars & Haute Fashions’
MADELINE ZUCKERMAN
SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
It was a sell out crowd
of 250 elegantly-attired
guests at the Olive Crest
Desert Communities
”HOT CARS & HAUTE
FASHIONS” event at
Bighorn Golf Club’s exclusive VAULT in Palm
Desert. Considered to be
the world’s most expensive parking garage, the
Vault encompasses 24,000
square feet of designated
space on the Bighorn
campus housing 50 mint
condition collectors’ cars
and eight jaw-dropping
motorcyles.
Co-chaired by the
dynamic duo of Nancy
DeVries and Georgialee
Lang, guests paid $ 200
per person to enjoy the
elegant cocktail reception while meandering
among the exquisite vintage and new high-end
cars. GRAYSE models
strolled throughout the
space showcasing their
spring and summer fashions, all adorned with
jewelry from EL PASEO
JEWELERS.
“It was a classy and
over-the-top event, with
Olive Crest hitting it out
of the park,” Co-chairs
DeVries and Lang commented. “Jesus was
there, a terrific turnout
PHOTOS BY MARK CIESLIKOWSKI/SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
From left: Olive Crest board member George DeVries, actor Jim
Caviezel and event co-chair Nancy DeVries.
was realized to benefit
Olive Crest, and our
guests were able to enjoy
gorgeous cars, fabulous
fashions, and terrific
food.”
The “Jesus” referred
to by the chairs was actor
Jim Caviezel, best known
for his role portraying
Jesus Christ in the 2004
film “The Passion of
Christ” and, more recently, as ex-CIA special operations agent, John Reese
in CBS’s “Person of Interest” series. Caviezel, a
long-time family friend
of George and Nancy
DeVries, quickly agreed
to support the event and
was warm and generous
with his time, talking to
guests and posing with
them for photos.
Caviezel said, “I have
three children of my own
who were unwanted from
another land. My children are Chinese and
each had their own disabilities…but all of us are
worthy of being loved.
Olive Crest is a lifeline
for at-risk kids and their
families. Child abuse is
rising, and we have to
stop this abuse of the
innocent. May God appeal to your generosity
and allow you to touch
many lives.”
Olive Crest event
sponsors included Rapport International Furniture, El Paseo Jewelers,
Grayse, Jessup Auto
Plaza, Coachella Valley
Buick GMC, The Shop in
Palm Desert, Agape Sa-
From left: Olive Crest board member Doug Lang, Executive Director of Inland & Desert
Communities for Olive Crest Tracy Fitzsimmons, event co-chair Nancy DeVries, CEO of Olive
Crest Donald Verleur.
lon, Dell’Acqua Dental,
and Madeline Zuckerman
Marketing & Public Relations, Inc.
“The event exceeded
our expectations,” stated
Tracy Fitzsimmons, Executive Director of Inland & Desert Communities for Olive Crest. “The
cars and fashions were
amazing! But for Olive
Crest, it was even better
as we made new friends
and highlighted three
ways that we fight child
abuse here locally. We’re
grateful to all of our
guests who attended and
gave their support.”
Seen in the crowd
were Donald Verleur,
James & Lorraine Brinton, Tracy Fitzsimmons,
Nancy & George DeVries, Ron DeVries, Doug
Lang, Rob Zwemmer,
Peter and Bonea Skaaning, Michael and Peggy
Berk, Denise DuBarry
Hay and Bill Hay, Dennis
Healey, Nancy Miller,
Norma and Phil Jones,
David Harper, Andy and
MaryLynn Gladstein,
Jan and Roger Johnson,
Nicole and Jacob Rixon,
Ally Santucci, Jaishri
and Raju Mehta, Dick
Shalhoub Emily and
Susan Stauber, Karynne
Tencer, Teresa Tarleton,
and Paula and Carl
Karcher.
For more information,
please call 800-550CHILD (2445) or visit
olivecrest.org.
JFS
Continued from 1G
love coming to Palm
Springs, supporting a
great organization and all
the camaraderie. They
have a blast.
For the performance
Graae did double duty as
an on-stage host and
performer. Arranging
the music and assembling the orchestra was
Christopher Marlowe.
Each performer sang a
Herman song beautifully
accompanied by an 11member orchestra. Following applause for the
first performer, the next
was quickly and often
humorously introduced
by Gary Shaw off stage.
Repeat 21 more times! To
call the show “fastpaced” doesn’t begin to
capture the speed at
which the evening proceeded. With no intermission there were 23 performances, many of
which had elaborate
staging, choreography
and lighting. All were
flawlessly timed, performed and executed.
Not one glitch.
It wasn’t just a show;
it was an experience that
took the audience
through a full range of
emotions. The opening
number was surprisingly
a quiet and tender piece
“Shalom”, beautifully
sung by Julie Garnyé.
Lucie Arnaz sang and
danced her way through
“Wherever He Ain’t”.
Gary Beach singing what
has become an LGBT
DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
Show director Jason Graae (center) with performer Scott
Coulter (left) and David Zippel (right).
GREGG FELSEN/SPECIAL
TO THE DESERT SUN
Co-Chair and McCallum
Theatre Chairman Harold
Matzner and television and
Broadway star Kaye Ballard.
anthem “I Am What I
Am”, gave a standout
performance.
Other pieces that had
the audience laughing,
crying or both included
Ruta Lee reading a personal message from Jerry Herman who said,
“How I wish I could be
with you, but I’m sending
you decades of love”. A
video recording of Herman personally singing
the lead song from
“Mame” was projected
on the screen followed by
a big Broadway-style
on-stage performance
number.
The evening’s touching moments hit a crescendo with the blockbuster song “Hello
Dolly”, featuring a staggering seven former
Broadway “Dolly’s”,
professional dancers, the
Palm Springs Gay Men’s
Chorus, the Palm Springs
High School marching
band, and a touching
tribute to the original
“Dolly” and beloved local
resident, Carol Channing.
Not a dry eye in the
crowd could be seen.
According to Childers,
the same was true back
stage.
For the final number,
Carole Cook, Broadway’s
second “Dolly” and frequent Valley visitor,
touched everyone’s heart
with her inspiring version of “Before the Parade Passes By”.
Following the show,
the cast gathered on
DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
Hard-working event co-chairs Terri Ketover and JFS Board President Barbara Fromm with
producer Michael Childers and Platinum sponsor Barbara Keller.
stage and recorded a
touching video thank
you to Jerry Herman
saying, “We love you”.
Childers was thrilled
with the evening. “This
production represents
seven months of hard
work. It was all thanks
to a great team and of
course the wonderful
performers, who each
one gave a brilliant and
in many cases emotionally moving performance.”
There are a couple of
“guarantees” if you’re
considering attending
next year, which you
should. The first is that
you will absolutely love
the show. The second is
that you will be supporting an important, wellrun local non-profit.
Under the steady leadership of executive direc-
DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
Cast Party hosts Helene Galen and Jamie Kabler.
tor Maureen Forman,
JFS helps more than
3,000 Coachella Valley
residents with low cost
mental health counseling,
senior care and transportation, emergency
financial assistance,
DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
The Cast Party is “one of the highlights of the desert social season.”
DAVID A. LEE/ SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
Jason Graae and Faith Prince kick off the show.
DESERT SCENE CONTRIBUTORS
BETTY
FRANCIS
TRUDY
TEDDER
Director of
Desert Scene,
[email protected]
(760) 341-4080
Associate
Director of
Desert Scene,
desertsun
desertscene@
outlook.com
(760) 861-4231
Chris
Foster
in-school counseling,
among many other services. It serves all people
regardless of religious
affiliation.
learn more about JFS
and other events: (760)
325-4088 or jfsdesert.org.
CONTACT US
Madeline
Zuckerman
Carole
Stephen
Smith
Marc
Byrd
Marge
Dodge
Joanne
Hardy
Shirley
Brenon
Dr. Mona
Khanna
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