Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Gala Honors Sharon Casdin
Whoopi Goldberg performed at fundraiser honoring Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center founding board member Sharon Casdin.
Honoree Sharon Casdin with Donna Annunziata
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center held its annual gala on Sunday, July 29 with founding board member Sharon Casdin as honoree. The Center's founder, Lola Jaffe, presented Casdin with an original illustration of the restored theater exterior and marquee by artist and Berkshire resident Carl Sprague. In her remarks, Casdin recalled that when Jaffe first approached her with plans to develop the historic Mahaiwe theater as a performing arts center, she immediately supported the idea and said, “I’m in!” A noted patron of the arts in both the Berkshires and in New York City, Casdin referred to the Mahaiwe as a cultural gem. Gala guests were seated under party tents on the lawn across from the theater for a dinner by chef Peter Platt of The Old Inn on the Green in New Marlborough. During the meal, actress Jayne Atkinson introduced auctioneer Louis Caropreso, who led a rousing paddle raise auction that generated more than $70,000 earmarked for replacing the Mahaiwe’s outdated sound system. After dinner, guests filled the theater for a performance by special guest star Whoopi Goldberg. An exclusive meet-the-artist reception on the Mahaiwe stage followed the show.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
