Sharon StoneRobert WilsonThe Watermill Annual Summer Benefit is one of the most exciting events of the summer season on the East end bringing together the worlds of theater, art, fashion, design and society.  On Saturday July 19, 2010 artists and residents from over 25 different countries interpreted this year’s theme PARADISO, with art installations and performances on six acres of Robert Wilson’s renowned Watermill Center. The evening began with a silent auction and cocktails before the dinner with live auctioneer Simon de Pury, who performed his duties in collaboration with the international film star Sharon Stone.

Cyndi Lauper: Photo: Barry GordinGrammy Award winning artist Cyndi Lauper wowed a packed house at The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Friday night July 23rd with the Memphis blues and stirring renditions of her classic standards “True Colors,” ”Who Let in the Rain,” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” The Long Island native with more then 25 million in international record sales held a captive audience in the palm of her hand with her candid tales of growing up and starting out in the business before she burst on the scene winning a Grammy award for Best New Artist with her first album “She’s So Sensual”. Her two night gig at WHBPAC follows a concert at NYC’s The Town Hall, which is the launch of a tour to promote her new CD "Memphis Blues."  PC

Bruce Vilanch, Florence HendersonGuild Hall presented an extraordinary evening with two multi talented performers Florence Henderson and Bruce Vilanch. The renowned stars combined their gifts for  a unique experience called "A Bipolar Evening With Friends: Florence Henderson and Bruce Vilanch," a riotous musical evening of candid story telling. PC

Mario Cantone, Richard KindMurphy Davis, Sybil Christopher
The Bay Street Theatre Summer Gala, ROCK THE DOCK, sizzled on the Long Wharf in Sag Harbor Saturday night July 17. The festive Benefit Bash hosted by Mario Contone featured  dinner and dancing to DJ Tom Finn along with a live auction by guest Richard Kind.

 Photography: Barry Gordin

Lanford WilsonCakeworks StudioA smart revival of Fifth of July by Sag Harbor’s own Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson opened on the Bay Street Stage Saturday July 3. Terry Kinney, a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, directed a top notch ensemble in Wilson’s poignantly witty drama that takes place at the Talley Farm over the course of a 4th of July weekend. The tale reunites a group of friends, former activists, who make terms with the disillusionment of what has become of their lives in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. PC

Ah what treasures Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre does hold! The renowned actor Al Pacino is starring in the Public Theater’s staging of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice as Shylock, a viscous vindictive Jew in the Bard’s tricky tragicomedy tale. Directed by the predictably safe Daniel Sullivan the production features a top notch cast that includes an often radiant Lily Rabe, Bryon Jennings and Hamish Linklater along with a sturdy ensemble of accomplished actors. If Sullivan’s production offers little more than a literal interpretation of the text short on nuance and devoid of emotional layers, the actors nonetheless display a commanding flair for Shakespeare’s lush language and the stark revolving black metal staging with the sumptuous park backdrop is a visual delight.

Bruce T. Sloane, Sabrina Shulman, Leo Preziosi Jr., Hector RojasLive Out Loud hosted its second annual Pride in the Hamptons Fundraiser on Saturday, June 19th at the waterfront home of Bruce T. Sloane in East Hampton's Grace Estate. The festive gathering included a cocktail reception, dancing to the sounds of DJ Watts, and a silent auction. Live Out Loud is dedicated to empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, and is a non-profit organization that connects LGBT youth with role models and leaders in the LGBT community.

Julie Andrews, Courtney Sale RossThe Ross School 2010 Annual Benefit Gala kicked off their summer season on Saturday June 19, 2010. The evening billed as Motown Live at the Starlight Club honored the renowned stage and film legend Julie Andrews with a festive dinner and dancing extravaganza, which featured the cool sounds of musicians from the early Motown era including The Miracles, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Jr Walker’s Allstar Band. Harry Winston Jewelers donated at diamond and pear studded lady’s quartz watch valued at nearly $30,000 for the live auction that was a huge success for the Ross School scholarship funds.  Guests rocked the night away at the school’s major benefit. For more Ross School news, please visit www.ross.org/news where you will find all sorts of programs for children of all ages and adults.
...Christiano

Cleota Reed, Dr. David Tatham, Ruth AppelhofOn Saturday June 19 The Board of Trustees and Ruth Appelhof, Executive Director of Guild Hall, hosted a members  preview of the new exhibition in the museum, which will be on view through July 25, 2010:  WINDSLOW HOMER, The Pleasures of Summer, and MERCEDES MATTER, A Retrospective. Also on display are the Sculptures of Gloria Kisch in the Roy & Frieda Sculpture Garden. A reception followed at the lavish gardens of Mickey and Paola Schulhof home in East Hampton.

NYC theater scene sizzles in summer...
                    By: Isa Goldberg
During the summer, the theater scene in New York City is a swarm of theater festivals all of them promising Dionysian abandon and many conjuring classical themes as conceived by emerging artists. Audiences will have their choice of everything from the “Clubbed Thumb”(Clubbed Thumb.org) to “Planet Connections” (planetconnectionsfestivity.com), both of which return this year along with the “Ice Factory” turning up the heat while SPF (Short Play Festival) takes a hiatus.