| Step Into Time: The White City honors
Sheldon Harnick and raises nearly $60,000
in net proceeds to benefit the company
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You can download a PDF of the event program book to read more about Step Into Time: The White City.
TimeLine Theatre Company celebrated the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the career
of legendary Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick with “Step Into Time: The White City” on Saturday evening, March 29, 2008, in the process raising nearly $60,000 to benefit the company. The event, held at Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street, was attended by nearly 300 supporters and friends of TimeLine.
“We celebrated in style with a truly memorable night,” said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. “This was the largest event we’ve ever undertaken, and it was breathtaking to see it all come together. We were honored and humbled to have Sheldon Harnick there and to see and feel the enthusiasm in the room from our supporters.”
With the impressive Beaux-arts styled Preston Bradley Hall as inspiration, guests were invited to “step back in time” as TimeLine recreated a night out at the Chicago World’s Fair.
TimeLine's Step Into Time: The White City event at the Chicago Cultural Center.
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Sheldon Harnick (center) received TimeLine's first-ever History Makers Award, presented by TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers (left) and Fiorello! director and TimeLine Company member Nick Bowling.
Rebecca Finnegan performs "Will He Like Me" from She Loves Me during the tribute to Harnick's career.
TimeLine Board member Marti DeGraaf with Toby Mack.
Fiorello! cast member Donica Lynn performs the song "Gorgeous" from The Apple Tree during the Harnick tribute.
TimeLine Board member and Step Into Time chair John M. Sirek with his wife Colleen Loughlin.
TimeLine's name appeared in lights on the 150 N. Michigan Avenue building, across the street from the Cultural Center, over the weekend.
(From left to right) TimeLine Board president Gloria Friedman with supporters Hank Browne, Bernard Holicky and Judy Johanson.
TimeLine Board member Debra Siegel with her husband Bob Altman.
 (From left to right) TimeLine Associate Artist Louis Contey, former Chicago Tribune chief critic Richard Christiansen, Artistic Director PJ Powers and Paula Stevens.
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The evening featured artists elaborately costumed by designers Lindsey Pate and Alex Wren Meadows as luminaries who attended the Fair: Jane Addams, Daniel Burnham, Mary Cassatt, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Thomas Edison, George Ferris, Harry Houdini, Little Egypt, Annie Oakley, Bertha Palmer, Potter Palmer, Louis Sullivan, Swami Vivekananda and Ida B. Wells.
Jewell Events Catering prepared the era-inspired hors d’oeuvres, buffet dinner and dessert buffet, which featured many items that premiered at the Fair, such as hamburgers, Aunt Jemima pancakes and Cracker Jacks.
Entertainment included Matt Krause and Brandon Magid playing ragtime music on piano as guests arrived.
The evening’s centerpiece was the presentation of TimeLine’s first-ever History Makers Award to Sheldon Harnick, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist of Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof.
Guests were entertained by a retrospective of Harnick’s career, including songs from Fiddler on the Roof, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, Rex, The Littlest Revue and Fiorello!, performed by members of the cast of TimeLine’s upcoming production of Fiorello! The presentation was music directed and accompanied on piano by Doug Peck and directed by TimeLine Company member Nick Bowling.
The evening’s live auction raised approximately $5,500 through four prizes:
- A package of tickets to TimeLine’s upcoming production of Trumbo paired with a dinner party at Marché with the stars of the show, Tony Award nominee Howard Witt and TimeLine Company member David Parkes
- A collection of opening night tickets to the most anticipated productions of the 2008-09 theater season, including Dirty Dancing presented by Broadway in Chicago, The Seafarer with John Mahoney at Steppenwolf Theatre, Desire Under the Elms with Brian Dennehy at the Goodman Theatre and the Chicago premiere of The History Boys at TimeLine, plus openings at Northlight and Victory Gardens theaters
- A dinner party for six cooked and hosted by Artistic Director PJ Powers
- A wine/dinner package featuring a dinner party and wine pairings at the exclusive International Club of the Drake Hotel.
The live auction also supported TimeLine’s Living History Education Program, raising an additional $4,000 to fund the company’s work with history and English classes at Chicago’s Carl Schurz High School.
A silent auction raised an additional $2,000 through five prizes
- A White City-inspired package featuring tours and items related to the architecture and archives of the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893, donated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago History Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and Frame Warehouse Evanston
- A gourmet picnic dinner from Food for Thought and VIP tickets to the Grant Park Music Festival
- A golf outing at the world-class course The Glen Club in Glenview
- Clothing items donated by Spare Parts boutique in Lakeview East
- A family portrait package from Stuart-Rodgers Photography.
The raffle, which boasted a week-long vacation trip to Maui as the grand prize plus more than 20 additional prize packages, raised nearly $7,000.
Major sponsors of Step Into Time: The White City included the McCormick Tribune Foundation; Hudson and Humana, Inc.; and The Boeing Company. In-kind supporters included Mionetto USA, A-1 Limousine and FXWB Reprographics.
Step Into Time was chaired by TimeLine Board member John M. Sirek and supported by a volunteer committee: Meredith Banta, Nancy Bradt, Jill Hurwitz, Nancy Knapp, Laurie Savin and Bobbie Schultz.
TimeLine extends our profound thanks to everyone who attended, donated to, volunteered for and helped organize this extraordinary celebration.
Photo Credits: All photos by Jennifer Girard Photography, except Chicago skyline, which are by Lara Goetsch. |
