The Alliance Francaise of San Francisco was the happening place last Thursday night for a reception and talk in celebration of the publication of "In the Spirit of Monte Carlo" by Pamela Fiori, full of vintage photos of the storied capital. The event was attended by Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle, Ambassador of Monaco to the United States; Mr. Thomas Horn, Honorary Consul of Monaco in San Francisco; various other swells and dignitaries; and Out There and Pepi. We're pretty sure this is the only time you will ever read "Her Excellency" and "Out There" in the same sentence.
The affair was glamorous and got us to thinking about Monte Carlo and its royal family, their Serene Highnesses. It reminded us of a (likely) apocryphal story told about thespian immortals Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton when they were chosen to be Prince Rainier's and Princess Grace's guests of honor at the luxurious Red Cross Charity Ball held in "Monte."
Elizabeth wore the famous 69-carat Burton diamond, set as a ring. Princess Grace reportedly said, "You know, Elizabeth, diamonds that size are really rather vulgar." Elizabeth smiled, removed the ring, slipped it onto Princess Grace's finger, and said, "Now it's not so vulgar, is it, dear?"
Another glamorous event OT attended recently, "Fashion Forward: An Evening with Erdem," showcased the Erdem Fall/Winter 2015 Collection by designer Erdem Moralioglu, presented by Saks Fifth Avenue and San Francisco Opera Guild at Pier 27, the San Francisco Cruise Terminal, late last month. The new terminal is spectacular and vast, and it was full to the brim with a gregarious society crowd decked out in their best cocktail attire. We sure do mix with a lot of well-dressed people.
On yet another night out that week, OT and Pepsodent personified Pepi (glamorous and talented in his own right) found ourselves chilling in style at the NEMA Casino Night, high up on a 23rd-floor roof terrace, and partying all around the gleaming new skyscraper residence found at 8 10th St. On the rooftop, we grooved to a live Latin band, swilled wine, and marveled at all the examples on the skyline of SF's new civic bird, the whoopee crane.
The most unexpected pleasure in our recent theatre-going lives was attending a performance of "The Last Five Years," a musical in concert with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, brilliantly sung by Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe, presented at ACT two weekends past. Kantor and Wolfe both performed in the critically acclaimed 2013 off-Broadway revival at New York's Second Stage Theatre. Brown's musical tells the story of Cathy and Jamie, two 20-something New Yorkers who dive into a marriage fueled by optimism and mutual attraction. It's a sad but human story, told simultaneously backwards and forward. As philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once pointed out, life can only be lived forward, but can only be understood backwards. This makes knowing what to pack for lunch extremely difficult. (Hat tip: L.A.)
In "Stereotypo: Rants and Rumblings at the DMV," hugely talented comic actor Don Reed portrays nine characters of varying races and classes, and gives them each a distinct voice as they try to negotiate "America's ultimate melting pot," the good old DMV. OT attended the "Stereotypo" opening night at the Marsh SF last Friday night, and we're here to tell you that Reed is the real thing. He comes dangerously close to stereotyping in his impersonations of characters such as a blind Latino man, a fierce transgender woman and an old Jew, but he invests each role with heart and empathy, and finds the commonality in all of us. Plus, he's a real hoot. (Fri. & Sat. through April 25 at the Marsh, 1062 Valencia St., SF. Tickets ($20-$100): (415) 282-3055 or themarsh.org.)