06 May 2008

The Actors Fund at Cipriani - 42nd Street, New York






Last night, The Actors Fund held their 2008 Gala at Cipriani on 42nd Street in New York City. The star-studded event included Alec Baldwin who received The Actors Fund Nedda Harrigan Logan Award. Renée Fleming who received the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award. Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley who both received The Actors Fund Medal of Honor. Gala tickets ran from $1,000.00 per plate to $50,000.00 for a table of twelve.

The Actors Fund is a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals - both performers and those behind the scenes - in performing arts and entertainment. Founded in 1882, The Fund serves those in film, theatre, television, music, opera, and dance with a broad spectrum of programs including comprehensive social services, health services, supportive and affordable housing, emergency financial assistance, employment and training services, and skilled nursing and assisted living care. Administered from offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, The Actors Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis, or transition. Please visit The Actors Fund website at www.actorsfund.org.

The Gala was held at Cipriani, an absolutely beautiful event space located on 42nd Street in Manhattan. Cipriani 42nd street, formerly known as the Bowery savings bank, is a national landmark conveniently located adjacent to grand central station. Built in 1921 in the spirit of the Italian renaissance, Louis Aires, of the distinguished architectural firm York & Sawyer, created "easily the most sumptuous of its kind in the country, departing sharply from the old architectural idea of a modified Greek temple as the proper model for a savings bank."

Cipriani 42nd street is the perfect setting in which to reproduce the glamour of Harry's Bar in Venice. Arrigo Cipriani's son, Giuseppe, at the age of 20, crossed the Atlantic and found that New York was waiting for a replica of the bar and restaurant in Venice. Arrigo and Giuseppe founded Harry Cipriani on Fifth avenue, Downtown Cipriani in Soho, Cipriani Wall Street and, most recently, Rainbow by Cipriani.

Below are some event photographs in the historic landmark building. It is nothing less than exquisite. Above is the floor plan of the space.