Hooray for Holiday Hoopla

Sharon Dunn
National Post, January 3,2004

The holiday period is always chockablock with galas, gatherings and gadding about. Herewith, a threefer from the season just past.

I

A star-studded lineup of Canadian personalities gathered recently on the stage of the Princess of Wales Theatre for the Creative Trust Celebration Gala. The event, titled All Together Now, was presented by John McKellar in partnership with David and Ed Mirvish.
The gala, a fundraiser for the Creative Trust, doubled as a launch for the trust’s Working Capital for the Arts program, designed to help 25 of the city’s mid-sized performing arts companies. It included a dinner and a post-show party.
Talent on hand included Brent Carver, Sean Cullen, Cynthia Dale, Ted Dykstra, Marc Jordan and Amy Sky. The host was Bob Martin.
Among the guests were Hal Jackman, honorary patron of the Creative Trust, Brendan Calder, board member of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, Robert Power and Robin Cardozo, chair and CEO respectively of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Rita Davies, executive director of the city’s Culture Department, and Yvonne Chiu, president of the Toronto Arts Council Foundation.
Spotted during the evening were Paul Gross (Due South), Sonja Smits (The Eleventh Hour), Kate Trotter (Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye), Daniel Franzese (Party Monster), Jonathan Bennett (Law & Order), Lizzy Caplan (Smallville) and Vanessa Harwood Scully, a former principal dancer with the National Ballet.

II

The second annual ideaCity Holiday Hoopla at the Bravo! Rehearsal Hall served two functions: first, it brought together everyone who has supported the eclectic speakers’ conference in the past (it’s entering its fifth year) as well as those who will be participating in this year’s event, June 16-18; second, it was an occasion to announce some of the thinkers at ideaCity04, including lawyer, author and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., actor Woody Harrelson and former UN peacekeeper Major-General Lewis MacKenzie. Prominent guests included illustrator Anita Kunz, who has worked for virtually every leading magazine in North America and was recently honoured by the Library of Congress, Reform Party founder Preston Manning, who is now teaching public policy at the University of Toronto, and, of course, Moses Znaimer, host and executive producer of ideaCity.

III

Finally, Sam Feldman’s Christmas party, held in the Distillery District, featured an impressive roster of musical talent, S.L. Feld-man & Associates represents more than 160 touring acts, so his client list does make for fun parties.