1. SARASOTA MAGAZINE | MAY 2014 57
AS SEEN IN SARASOTA MAGAZINE
LOREN MAYO SPENDS A NIGHT IN THE RAINBOW ROOM.
PARTY GIRL
ALL DAY LONG I’D BEEN A CAR-SHOW COORDINATOR, clad
in a purple T-shirt, jeans and sweaty side ponytail.
But that night I stepped into a sultry charcoal evening
gown, three strands of pearls and a few glamorous
curls for the Asolo Repertory Theatre’s 2014 Annual
Gala: A Night at the Rainbow Room. It really was
quite the Saturday.
During my six years attending Sarasota events,
I’ve learned that if the invitation states “Black Tie
Optional,” you should almost always stick with
black tie—especially if you’re spending an evening
at the Ritz, especially if you’re attending the Asolo
Clockwise from top left: me
with Asolo Rep producing
artistic director Michael
Donald Edwards and Aimee
Cogan; the Rainbow Room
backdrop; Wendy and Jerry
Feinstein; headliner Michael
Andrew and the Atomic Big
Band; that Margaret Wise
kickline; co-chairs Nikki
Taylor and Nikki Sedacca.
Follow Loren
on your social
network of
choice, including
Instagram.
gala, and especially if you’re
Nikki Taylor, Carol Phillips
or Nikki Sedacca. All three
co-chairwomen (co-chair
Chris Cogan was ill and
couldn’t make the event)
looked absolutely stunning
in their floor-length gowns. But had I not texted
Nikki Taylor asking her what she was wearing, after
my exhausting (but fun!) day under the sunshine,
it’s entirely possible that I might have taken the
“option” and gone with a short, lacy cocktail getup.
#glamour
#partygirl
#headliner
#rainbowroom
#lovebirds
#newyorknewyork

2. 58 SARASOTA MAGAZINE | MAY 2014
The cocktail reception, held just outside
the ballroom doors, was madness as per
usual, with 400 Asolo supporters milling
about the auction tables, using their Bid
Pals for items ranging from jewelry to
wine and waiting in line for cocktails.
First, I caught up with Asolo’s special-
events manager, Laura Wood, just back
from a stint working for an event
company in New York City. I almost
didn’t recognize her, as her dark pixie
cut has grown out into a pretty near-
shoulder-length do. She and Sasha Fields,
Asolo Rep’s public relations manager,
gave me a sneak peek at the ballroom. As
soon as they opened the doors, my eyes
froze on the mesmerizing display of the
New York City skyline that filled almost
an entire wall.
“It replicates the original Rainbow
Room on top of Rockefeller Center, which
had windows that surrounded the entire
room, so you had multiple views of the
city,” Laura told me. “The LED projections
we used were north views of Central Park
and south views showing the Empire
State Building. We changed the images as
the sun went down outside, so as guests
entered the ballroom at 7 p.m., it was
sunset. By the time Marissa [McGowan]
performed, it was nighttime in ‘the city.’”
As Jane Thompson was introducing me
to her friends from the Roskamp Institute,
photographer Gary Sweetman—married
to Asolo Rep’s managing director Linda
DiGabriele—made his way through the
crowd, conjuring up a childhood memory.
My sister was 5 and I was 8, and my mother
forced us into matching white lace dresses
with peach ribbons, drove us to the Ringling
Museum, and there was Gary, standing by
the banyan trees with his camera. Instead
of posing properly, I proceeded to disobey
my mother and swing from the tree, and
I’m pretty sure I am the main reason signs
warning guests not to swing from the
trees now exist. I definitely ate lunch in my
bedroom that day.
Next I bumped into friends Mandy and
Thomas Arthur, who tied the knot last
August and shared that they are expecting
their first child, along with Wendy and Jerry
Feinstein, who just returned from a trip to
New Orleans to purchase masks for the
Jewish Federation’s Purim Masquerade
Ball. Then I settled down at Table 7 with
its divine long-stemmed red roses, satin
napkins and ruched tablecloths. Nothing
spells glamour like roses and satin, and
nothing gives me goose bumps like
Marissa McGowan.
It was her spellbinding performance
of Almost Like Being in Love as well as
Make Believe (the latter from Asolo’s
season-opening musical Show Boat)
that captivated the audience and left
me breathless. Marissa explained that
following the Show Boat cast’s recent
student performance, artistic director
Michael Donald Edwards overheard one
male student say to another, “This makes
me believe in love again.”
As I fed myself spoonful after spoonful
of heavenly salted chocolate ice cream,
I was definitely beginning to feel a little
lovey-dovey myself. When the paddle
raise started and in less than 10 minutes
raised $66,000—$25,000 of it matching
funds from Carole Crosby and Larry
Wickless and Chuck and Margie Barancik in
partnership with Gulf Coast Community
Foundation—to benefit Asolo’s season
and its education and outreach programs,
I suspected the Asolo guests were feeling
the love, too.
Margaret Wise must have been feeling
it, because as former real-life Rainbow
Room headliner Michael Andrew & The
Atomic Big Band began New York, New
York, she grabbed three of her girlfriends
and headed to the dance floor to perform
one heck of a Rockettes-style kick line.
(Yes, I got it on video—go to this story at
sarasotamagazine.com to view.)
As I stood in the Rainbow Room
watching evening gowns sweep the dance
floor while snowflakes fell over New York
City, I smiled. I may have experienced an
evening of enchantment, elegance and
allure, but what I really remember most
is the loving generosity of the Asolo’s
many fans.
PARTY GIRL