Champagne Fashion Brunch: Each Time a Pleasant Surprise in New York City

NEW YORK (PRWEB) November 16, 2005

Fashion show producer Andres Aquino steps before the audience wearing a Chinese inspired jacket by Venezuelan fashion designer Carlos Benguigui and in a resonating voice, without the benefit of a microphone, says, I have a special announcement to make An expectant air settles over the audience.

At todays Champagne Fashion Brunch we are pleased to welcome a special guest. You have seen her in musical films such as Oklahoma, The Music Man and Carousel. She won an Academy Award for her role in Elmer Gantry and has her own start on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, She is loved by millions for her role as the mother on TVs The Partridge Family and in real life she is mom to actor and entertainer David Cassidy and writer, producer, and actor Shaun Cassidy, and actor and singer Patrick Cassidy Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome actress Shirley Jones and her daughter-in-law Melissa Cassidy. The audience breaks into thunderous applause and Ms. Jones stands to take a bow.

The audience is delighted to be able to enjoy a couture fashion show and delicious brunch in the company of an entertainment industry legend.

When Second Wind Dreams, a Canadian organization, contacted Mr. Aquino about granting a dream to octogenarian Mary Witt, Mr. Aquino responded with an enthusiastic yes and set to work. He contacted Russian-born designer Lilia Berzon and asked her if she would be interested in making a special couture gown to be modeled on the runway for a special lady. Today, we are happy to welcome a very special model to our runway at the Champagne Fashion Brunch, so began the producer of the event soon after appeared a model who had been waiting over 71 years from her last casting call to parade down the catwalk.

Mary Witt, 86, had always dreamed of being in a New York fashion show. She wore a beautiful blue-green gown designed by Lilia Berzon. Escorted in her wheelchair by a dashing male model, Ms. Witt waved at everyone as she came down the runway making her long-awaited yet triumphant debut. Mary Witt came to New York at age the age 16 and was turned down for runway modeling because at only 59, she was an inch too short of the agency standard at the time. But in August of 2005, during a whirlwind 24 hours, Ms. Witt was featured on the CBS Sunday Morning show, UPN 9 News, in the New York Daily News and most importantly, she was the darling of the catwalk. She returned to her excited co-residents at a home for seniors in Alabama with a suitcase filled with unforgettable memories along with that spectacular couture gown.

Each time the Champagne Fashion Brunch takes place is a special event. Whether it is a lucky teenager arriving for her Sweet 16 party in a stretch limousine with her 12 best girlfriends and being surprised by photographers snapping away like paparazzi at the giggling teens; or a group of catwalk models pausing to sing a chorus of Happy Birthday to a guest; or even some pre-show entertainment by a Puerto Rican singer who sounds just like Frank Sinatra, this unique event has become a gathering ground for fashionistas from California to Montreal, from Michigan to Dallas and a must-see for many travelers from England, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada, Argentina and other countries.

The Champagne Fashion Brunch continues to gain in popularity with the showing of exceptional fashion collections on the runway and a discerning audience who are

Champagne Fashion Brunch: Each Time a Pleasant Surprise in New York City

96% Of Audience At Off-Broadway"s My First Time Has Sex After Seeing The Show!

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 9, 2008

MY FIRST TIME (http://www.MyFirstTimeThePlay.com), the Off-Broadway play featuring true stories about first sexual experiences, is an aphrodisiac!

The most talked about new show in New York, previously seen on CNN, “The Tonight Show” and in an iPhone commercial, released the results of a survey today that showed that 96% of its audience members had sex immediately after seeing the show.

However, only 78% of the audience had sex with another person. The remaining 18% were alone.

Producer/Creator, Ken Davenport, said, “I was pretty shocked when I saw the survey results that said almost 100% of our audience was having sex after the show. I’m getting tickets for all my married friends!”

MY FIRST TIME released the results today, on its “first” anniversary, and in celebration of the upcoming productions of the show in Mexico, Spain, France, Korea, Israel, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, and more.

MY FIRST TIME also released the results of the survey completed by audience members during each performance over the past year. This survey asks questions like, ‘How old were you when you lost your virginity?’, ‘What was your partner’s name?’, and more. The responses are compiled and revealed to the audience during the show.

The aggregated results of a year’s worth of audiences were as follows:

The average age of loss of virginity was 17.6
31.5% of the audience planned their first time.
39.5% of the audience used contraception.
37.9% of the audience still keeps in touch with their first time partners.
12% rated their first time as “excellent”.
46% rated their first time as “good”.
32% rated their first time as “not good”.
10% rated their first time as “awful”.
Each night, MY FIRST TIME also asks its audience members, ‘What would you say to your first time partner if he or she were here right now?’

The favorite audience comments from the past year of performances were:

‘It took me longer to fill out this survey than it did to lose my virginity.’
‘Where are my Depeche Mode CD’s?’
‘Size does matter, not just the motion of the ocean, cause it takes a hell of a long time to get to England in a row boat.’
‘I wish you were bigger. Like your cousin!’
‘Surprise, surprise, I’m gay.’
(More favorites are available at http://www.MyFirstTimeThePlay.com.)

Ken Davenport continued, “First sexual experiences are one of the few things that almost every single person on this planet has in common. It doesn’t matter if you live in Cincinnati or Sri Lanka. It doesn’t matter if you’re George Clooney or George Washington. Almost everyone is going to have sex for the first time, yet we rarely talk about it. That’s why I created the show… so we can share these experiences, and move on to the ‘next time’. And obviously my audience has no problem with that. Now, I have to go. My girlfriend and I are seeing the show tonight, and I don’t want it to start without me!”

More About MY FIRST TIME:

MY FIRST TIME is a new Off-Broadway play featuring four actors in hysterical and heartbreaking stories about first sexual experiences written by real people, just like you.

In 1998, a website was created that allowed people to share their own stories about their First Times. The website became an instant phenomenon as over 40,000 true stories poured in from around the globe that were silly, sweet, absurd, funny, heterosexual, homosexual, shy, sexy and everything in between.

And now, in the first-ever example of Theater 2.0, these stories and all of the unique characters in them are brought to life in MY FIRST TIME, which critics have called: ‘Screamingly Funny!’ ’80 minutes of titillation’, and ‘Terrific for date night!’

Performances are Fridays and Saturday evenings at New World Stages/Stage 5 (340 West 50th Street, New York City, New York) at 7 PM. For tickets from as low as $ 25, visit Telecharge.com or call (212)239-6200.

For more information call 1-888-MY-1-TIME or visit http://www.MyFirstTimeThePlay.com.

More About Ken Davenport:

Recently hailed as the ‘P.T. Barnum of Off-Broadway’ in the New York Times, featured on a national commercial for the iPhone, and named one of Crain’s Forty Under 40, Ken is the only independent producer to have three shows running simultaneously Off-Broadway: ALTAR BOYZ, THE AWESOME 80S PROM, and MY FIRST TIME. He is currently adapting the novel and film SOMEWHERE IN TIME into a Broadway musical as well as filming a documentary on one of the top unsigned rock bands in the country, Red Wanting Blue.

Ken runs a number of theatrical websites including the new social networking site, http://www.BroadwaySpace.com and http://www.BestOfOffBroadway.com. For more information, visit http://www.DavenportTheatrical.com or Ken’s blog at http://www.TheProducersPerspective.com.

Contact:

David Gersten, Press Representative

David Gersten Associates

212-575-0263

http://www.davidgersten.com

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Related Argentina Music Press Releases

96% Of Audience At Off-Broadway"s My First Time Has Sex After Seeing The Show!

Easton, PA (PRWEB) September 24, 2012 A veritable institution in their homeland, Chilean music ensemble Inti-Illimani will perform the first installment of the U.S. tour La Maquina del Tiempo (Time Machine) 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College (http://www.lafayette.edu). The concert is preceded by a 7 p.m. conversation with members of Inti-Illimani about their four decades of music, of which 15 were spent in exile in Italy during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. Tickets are $ 18 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (610) 330-5009 weekdays from noon to 2 p.m. and 4-5 p.m. Now in their 45th year, the groups Latin-infused music is a whirlwind of Andean folk tunes, tangos from Argentina, Brazilian sambas and love songs from Mexico performed on more than 30 instruments. The Los Angeles Times writes: Few Latin American acts can rival this Chilean group in terms of the sheer beauty of sound. Much like a Zen affirmation, Inti-Illimanis music floats within your soul, filling it with calmness and hope. During its October U.S. tour, Inti-Illimani revisits earlier bodies of work, while also introducing American audiences to new compositions, fresh arrangements of established repertory and several new songs more recently created by Chilean poets and lyricists and guest composers. The group was started in 1967 by students at Santiagos Technical University who began performing traditional folk music, something few did back then. When Pinochet came to power in 1973 during a military coup, the group was forced into exile for using its music to express the need for social change. They continued to record in Italy and tour and their outspoken opposition to the Pinochet regime earned them a powerful reputation around the globe as unofficial ambassadors of Chilean music. In addition to performing with a number of famous political figures like Pete Seeger and Mikis Theodorakis, they were included on the famous 1988 Amnesty International Tour, along with Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen. They returned to their homeland in 1988. The tour is made possible by a Southern Exposure Grant through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. During their time at Lafayette, Inti-Illimani will meet with students and faculty about the role of music and the arts in political activism in South America and around the globe. In addition, related public events with Inti-Illimani include: Monday, Oct. 1 Chilean Ensemble Inti-Illimanis U.S. Tour "Time Machine" Comes to Lafayette College

Easton, PA (PRWEB) September 24, 2012

A veritable institution in their homeland, Chilean music ensemble Inti-Illimani will perform the first installment of the U.S. tour La Maquina del Tiempo (Time Machine) 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College (http://www.lafayette.edu).

The concert is preceded by a 7 p.m. conversation with members of Inti-Illimani about their four decades of music, of which 15 were spent in exile in Italy during the regime of Augusto Pinochet.

Tickets are $ 18 and can be purchased by calling the box office at (610) 330-5009 weekdays from noon to 2 p.m. and 4-5 p.m.

Now in their 45th year, the groups Latin-infused music is a whirlwind of Andean folk tunes, tangos from Argentina, Brazilian sambas and love songs from Mexico performed on more than 30 instruments. The Los Angeles Times writes: Few Latin American acts can rival this Chilean group in terms of the sheer beauty of sound. Much like a Zen affirmation, Inti-Illimanis music floats within your soul, filling it with calmness and hope.

During its October U.S. tour, Inti-Illimani revisits earlier bodies of work, while also introducing American audiences to new compositions, fresh arrangements of established repertory and several new songs more recently created by Chilean poets and lyricists and guest composers.

The group was started in 1967 by students at Santiagos Technical University who began performing traditional folk music, something few did back then. When Pinochet came to power in 1973 during a military coup, the group was forced into exile for using its music to express the need for social change. They continued to record in Italy and tour and their outspoken opposition to the Pinochet regime earned them a powerful reputation around the globe as unofficial ambassadors of Chilean music. In addition to performing with a number of famous political figures like Pete Seeger and Mikis Theodorakis, they were included on the famous 1988 Amnesty International Tour, along with Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen. They returned to their homeland in 1988.

The tour is made possible by a Southern Exposure Grant through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.

During their time at Lafayette, Inti-Illimani will meet with students and faculty about the role of music and the arts in political activism in South America and around the globe. In addition, related public events with Inti-Illimani include:

Monday, Oct. 1

Chilean Ensemble Inti-Illimanis U.S. Tour "Time Machine" Comes to Lafayette College