WHO: Miami City Ballet (MCB)
WHAT: Miami City Ballet (MCB) celebrates 25 years of artistic excellence with the Company premiere of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and the city’s most inspired black-tie gala and season finale.
Hosted by Gala Grand Honorary Chairmen Gerri and Bennett LeBow, along with MCB Founding Artistic Director and CEO Edward Villella and the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, the enchanted evening will bring “star crossed lovers” together with the most devoted supporters, whose ongoing adoration for MCB has vaulted the Company to extraordinary heights for over two shining decades. The gala dinner is dedicated in honor of one of the very first supporters of MCB, the late Charlotte Breyer Rodgers.
Festivities will include an exclusive pre-performance VIP cocktail reception sponsored by GRAFF, renowned for the most beautiful diamonds in the world. All patrons will enjoy sparkling wine graciously underwritten by Bacardi, the official liquor sponsor of the 25th Anniversary Season. After the pre-performance reception, guests will be captivated by John Cranko’s full-length production of Romeo and Juliet, followed by dinner, featuring culinary creations by Barton G.
WHEN: Friday, March 25, 2011
5:30pm – 6:00pm – Pre-reception at lobby of Ziff Ballet Opera House
*5:30pm – 7:00 pm – Pre-performance VIP cocktail reception sponsored by GRAFF in the Peacock Room
7:00 pm – Romeo and Juliet performance at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House
*10:00pm – VIP gala dinner in the Knight Concert Hall
WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida
Gala Committee:
International Honorary Chairmen, Ophelia and Juan Js. Roca; Honorary Gala Chairmen, Audre Mendel Carlin and MCB Founder Toby Lerner Ansin; Gala Chairmen, Bobi and Jim Eroncig; Gala Co-Chairmen, Nancy Jean Davis, Swanee and Paul DiMare, Lora and Fred Drasner, Michele and Larry Herbert, Roni and Sam Jacobson, Renée Delaplaine and Thomas Edwards Rodgers, Diane and Irving Siegel; and host committee members Ana-Marie and Robert Barlick, Ella Fontanals Cisneros, Mariela and Victor Cisneros-Mestre, Margarita and Armando Codina, Susan and James Dubin, Margaret and Mike Eidson, Charlene and Ron Esserman, Kira and Neil Flanzraich, Adrienne Fleur bon Haes and Marvin Ross Friedman, Pamela Garrison and R. Kirk Landon, Martaligia and Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Darla and John Karlton, Jacqueline and Irwin Kott, Susan D. Kronick and Edward Manno Shumsky, and Diane S.C. Zeydel, Greenberg Traurig.
Gala Sponsors:
Bacardi, official liquor sponsor; Esserman Automotive Group, Gala valet sponsor; Fauchon, Paris, gift sponsor; GRAFF, cocktail hour and VIP reception sponsor; Jenny’s Flowers, floral sponsor; Neiman Marcus, Coral Gables, gift sponsor; Selecta Magazine, the official media sponsor of the 25th Anniversary Gala; Steinway Piano Gallery, grand piano sponsor; Music for the gala dinner made possible by Frances and Eugenio Sevilla-Sacasa; Wine for the gala dinner donated by Bobi and Jim Eroncig; Gala dinner underwritten by Renée Delaplaine Rodgers and Thomas Edward Rodgers, Jr.; and décor provided by Godfrey Del Rio Event Desig