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A chill in air for hotel’s party preview possibilities
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The asphalt may have been radiating 90-degree heat after work on Wednesday, but on the Altitude penthouse level of the W Midtown hotel, the 27th floor had been transformed into a holiday wonderland.
Heavy drapes blocked out views of the humidity hanging over Piedmont Park. Icy blasts of air conditioning, flutes of Veuve Clicquot champagne and the scent of roasted turkey greeted the hotel’s elite business clients invited to the private event.
The W’s Winter Wonderlust cocktail party was designed to tempt attendees into booking the brand-new hotel’s lavish meeting spaces and its other amenities for holiday parties this season.
“We wanted to create a whimsical experience tonight in order to showcase a little of what we can do here at the W,” sales and marketing director George Fleck told us as executive chef Mauro Gomez plated a fall risotto with peas, acorn squash, mushrooms and asparagus for guests.
“Atlanta is a very competitive hotel town, but this city will be our second-largest market behind New York City with our four planned properties here,” Fleck explained. “Tonight, we wanted our corporate clients, tastemakers and friends from the neighborhood to have their sensories refreshed.”
We asked Gomez how easy it was to find acorn squash in the middle of August.
“Actually, that was one of the easiest ingredients to locate,” he said. “And it’s always fun to see people react to roasted turkey. It’s something that people just equate with the holidays.”
DJ Tim DeGroot provided some Latin-infused techno glam to the party as attractive Elite models coolly sipped champagne in holiday party frocks while perched beside crates of Veuve (yes, apparently, that is an occupation…).
As for our obvious follow-up question, Fleck laughed and replied, “Yes, they are allowed to drink on the job tonight. We wanted them to be relaxed and to have fun.”
Alas, we couldn’t pry loose the closely guarded details about the W Midtown’s big New Year’s Eve party. Fleck promises to spill all this fall.
HERZZONER’S COUGH
It’s been a few weeks since Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin met the press. On Thursday, at a news conference to talk about the city’s reading program, Franklin explained why.
Franklin said she’s had a severe case of bronchitis. After weeks of ignoring a pesky cough that was getting worse, the mayor’s staff took action last week.
“They kidnapped me and took me to the doctor,” Franklin said.
The mayor, whose voice was still hoarse Thursday, said she couldn’t remember the medicine prescribed to her. Franklin fielded questions about the program Atlanta Reads and the city’s shaky finances before ending the news conference.
Next week, Franklin will really need her voice. The mayor is off to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, where she is a convention co-chair.
TRIBUTE TO THEATER’S MOORE ON MONDAY
A memorial service for Gene-Gabriel Moore has been scheduled for Monday at the Alliance Theatre’s Hertz Stage. The program begins at 6:30, but folks are invited to begin gathering at 6 p.m.
Moore, founder of the Suzi Bass Awards and one of the most admired men in Atlanta theater, died peacefully at his Lutheran Towers apartment on July 26. He was 72.
Originally, a service was set for 7 Stages Theatre in Little Five Points (Moore had an office there for years, where he served as artistic director of Not Merely Players, the professional ensemble he founded for disabled artists).
“Even though it was Gene-Gabriel’s theater home, 7 Stages is in production, so the good folks at the Alliance have offered the Hertz Stage for our gathering,” said Deadra Moore, a local stage manager who worked with Moore on the Suzi Bass Awards from the very beginning (the two were not related).
“We plan on a simple informal event, and anyone who would like to say a few words or share a memory will be welcome,” the Suzi Bass Awards chair said in an e-mail. Alicia Quirk, who looked after Moore in his final years and considered herself his “adopted granddaughter,” is planning the event with Moore.
The two have requested photos and memories to be shared at the celebration. Anyone who would like to share but can’t attend can send e-mail to Suziawards@comcast.net.
Meanwhile, the Suzi Bass Awards is seeking contributions in Moore’s honor and plans to use the funds to endow its playwriting award, already named for Moore. Anyone wanting to make a donation in his memory can contact the Suzis at the above e-mail address.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Author Ray Bradbury is 88. Correspondent Steve Kroft (“60 Minutes”) is 63. Actress Regina Taylor (“The Unit,” “I’ll Fly Away”) is 48. Singer Tori Amos is 45. Singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys is 35.
OVERSCENE
Country singer Taylor Swift dancing and singing along in the control booth in the 200 section of Lakewood Amphitheatre as the Jonas Brothers entertained a screaming, sold-out crowd Wednesday. When recognized, Swift, 18, wearing a dark blue tank dress and ballet flats, waved and blew kisses to fans. We’re told that during the concert, recent grad Joe Jonas donned a cap and gown to receive his high school diploma live onstage. It took patient parents upward of an hour to brave the brothers’ T-shirt merch tables.
Contributing: Eric Strigus, Wendell Brock and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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