Nile Rodgers and Dionne Warwick

hat the world needs now is love, and peace, and family, and charity and Dionne Warwick!  It was a celebration of great music, fabulous philanthropy, and friends, tons of friends.

Nile Rodgers, music man to the stars (Madonna, Whitney among them), created We Are Family Foundation right after 9/11. It has enormous support within the music industry where Nile is a legendary figure.

Celebrities, socialites and regular folk showed up at Studio 54 to raise money to help children around the world.  Books For Buildings and three-time nominated Nobel Peace Prize activist Gregory Smith were among the honorees.

The jamming, jumping, jiving and heart-thumping music from top celebrities, headlined by the one and only Dionne Warwick, made it a night to remember – until next year, that is.

Glenn Close and David Shaw

Peter Jennings and Casey Freed

Birthday Party

APPY BIRTHDAY to you…all 80 of them, said George Lang’s friends.  They included Bryant and Hilary Gumbel, Peter Jennings and Kayce Freed, Rick and Kathy Hilton, Leonard and Evelyn Lauder, Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder, Amb. Nancy Brinker, Howard Stern and the beautiful Beth Ostrosky, Glenn Close, Helen Gurley Brown, Dr. Ruth and so many more.

George, wife Jenifer and children Simon and Gigi, welcomed the 300 guests for cocktails, dinner and 80 birthday cakes at the legendary Café Des Artistes, one of New York’s most famous and favorite dining spots.

Because of George’s largesse, Citymeals on Wheels benefited by feeding the frail elderly instead of birthday gifts.  And with some 40 cakes not cut in this lovefest, 40 children had fabulous birthday cakes thanks to City Harvest.

Jane Rosenthal and John Whitehead

Nikki Haskell and Sugar Rautbord

New Yorkers Honored

HE Guggenheim Museum was the elegant setting for another New York love-in to its outstanding citizens, and a fundraiser for AIDS and the homeless.  Four of New York ’s most prominent philanthropists were recognized for their work in this field, and each one extolled the other’s virtues.

They are John Whitehead, who is leading the reconstruction efforts in Lower Manhattan around the WTC area; Jane Rosenthal, who with partner Robert DeNiro has helped revive Tribeca with their Film Festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the area with all their positive effects on the economy; Steve Forbes, leader of the Forbes Dynasty and one of New York’s most generous souls, and the always gracious Henry Buhl, who by creating his ARC program has created ways of helping able-bodied men to find their place in life through work and discipline. 

Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky

Romance On And Off Stage

RINA DVOROVENKO, a talented and beautiful principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, captivated audiences with performances in Swan Lake , Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and Coppelia in June.

There is both an onstage and offstage romance in Romeo and Juliet, as Irina dances opposite her husband Maxim Belotserkovsky.

Irina has become one of the most talented principal dancers in the world, and uses her graceful style and charisma to advance her modeling career.

Catherine Saxton has been a part of the New York social and celebrity scene for
the past 25 years. She has worked with Presidents, Kings and Princes,
plus celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly,
Donald & Ivana Trump, Madonna, and on, and on.

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