May 17, 2007
Opening on a Crescendo
There comes a time in every party girl's life when getting all dolled up for restaurant and bar openings, charity fundraisers, and B-list-celeb-studded parties gets a little, well, stale. Some nights I'd rather watch the Grey's Anatomy finale (tonight!) than attend another overcrowded, over-Botoxed event, where the weightiest conversation topic is Paris Hilton's jail time. (The horror!)
And other nights, it's just a matter of choosing wisely. Last Friday, instead of going to Madhatter's Ball for the sixth year in a row - and pretending not to be annoyed with David Schwimmer for his self-importance - I attended the opening of Crescendo (222 W. Ontario St.), the new bar in the old L8 space from the people who brought us Reserve (one of whom, Tony Demasi, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently accused of fraud). Despite the fact that the bar was barely ready to open when the party started - quite literally, we watched the paint dry - the guys managed to pull off the most creative opening I've seen in the 11 years I've been covering this crazy business. That's right; I said it: The most creative opening I've seen yet.
OK, so the execution was clunky: the sound system broke down a couple of times, leaving a roomful of party-goers perplexed; the strobe lights kept shining directly into our eyes, practically blinding us; getting a drink proved challenging; and we could have blinked and missed the passed apps courtesy of Chef David Blonsky.
But, suddenly, four fanfare trumpeters from the Chicago Brass Quintet appeared, as if out of a dream (I'm told the trumpets were the same ones used to herald the L.A. Olympics). A troupe from the Joffrey Ballet danced, decked out in costumes a la Marie Antoinette. And Lyric Opera's Christine Steyer, currently singing the title role in Madama Butterfly at Oak Park's Village Players Theatre performed operetta selections to a crowd of 500 or so onlookers, including Forrest Whittaker; actor Geoff Stults, from one of my favorite new shows, October Road; party boy Ozzie Guillen Jr., with some Sox players in tow; and my new pal Michael Laungani, from season five of The Apprentice. Think media darlings; fashion industry types; hangers-on; and men in suits, smoking cigars and looking shady. Oh, and a handful of big bodyguards surrounding Demasi.
It was a spectacle, all right, though the formality of the operetta seemed a bit out of context compared with what came next: lots of hooting and hollering, as models - including CariDee English, winner of last season's America's Next Top Model - strutted down an awkward makeshift catwalk in as highfalutin a fashion showcase as Chicago sees. Clothes from the likes of Giambattista Valli, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de le Renta, Jil Sander, Nina Ricci, and Dolce & Gabbana turned heads, but what got the most chuckles was the stick-thin models in sky-high heels treating the crowd to a dramatized game of tag - or something like it.
The evening's crescendo, if you will, came around midnight, when DJ AM took the turntables. Look for a full review of Crescendo in my Nightspotting column in the August issue of Chicago magazine.
While my Crescendo companions and I didn't attend Madhatter's, we did meet up with friends for the afterparty at The Underground. When we arrived, I caught a glimpse of Schwimmer, dancing in the middle of the club with hordes of overtanned, underclothed women begging to brush up against him. Too bad for them, he seemed smitten with the same young lady with whom he's been spotted canoodling at The Underground lately.
Joey Slotnick - Schwimmer's co-host, along with Billy Dec (natch), and one of the founders of the Lookingglass Theatre, which Madhatter's benefits - is an old friend of mine. But while we were catching up amid the chaos (he was complimenting me on my new haircut - thanks, Joey), Schwim kept yanking on Slotnick's blazer, trying to get his attention. He must have had something so important to say at 3 a.m. that it just couldn't wait.
Photography by Tyler Curtis
Posted at 04:36 PM in Nightlife | Permalink
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Reader Comments:
Way to capture what sounds like a killer opening. Too bad I missed it. I never miss a blog. I'm addicted.
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Great post . . . I hear you on the "same old, same old," but what caught my attention was: FORREST WHITTAKER was in the effing house?!
I was at Crescendo. How in the hell did I miss him? You would've thought someone would've blasted that on the speaker. Oh, well, maybe he wanted a super chill night. But that's good info to know. . . .
And as far as "Madhatters Ball" at Underground: I would've gone as I too go every year, but I just wasn't feeling the party being at a spot that people frequent all the time.
The intrigue of going to "Madhatters" was that they had it in a unique location every year. Either someone got lazy this year, or they were just trying to save some money and have it at Underground. I wonder how it was.
Anyway, I'll CU out soon!
I'd like to go out on the town with you to see some of these overtanned, underdressed babes. Where do I sign up?
I like your blog but I really am more interested in reading about you or your cool friends personal lives. U should model urself after Carrie from Sex and The City. Ur first blogs were amazing but now some steam is being lost when all u talk about is events.
Is your problem with Schwimmer that he doesn't pay attention to you? He doesn't want to hang with you like Dec & Slotnik? Did he embarass you in front of your friends when you were trying to be cool in the VIP area by acting like you were BFF w/him? Refuse to give you an interview? Did you have a little crush on him and wonder why he didn't return your feelings?
More columns about being the last girl standing - isn't that why this blog was started? We want to hear about your dating life and the troubles or pleasures it brings.
For club openings and parties, we'll read your Nightspotting column. This shouldn't be a rehash of that column but should be something fresh.
Thanks.
Re: Schwimmer...Please. No crush there, and no interest in being his BFF; I've got plenty of real friends! However, I have interviewed him a number of times and he's notoriously not so pleasant to press, but it's nothing of a personal nature.
Re: the blog. This gives me a forum to cover events in a more timely manner than my monthly Nightspotting column allows, which is more about places than parties. But I do plan to continue dishing on the dating scene...god knows there's plenty of material there, so stay tuned! And if you have any dating/relationship stories you'd like to share in a private forum, feel free to e-mail me directly at nightspotting@hotmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
I was excited to go to Crescendo this past Saturday, have never been. After having a couple drinks and the party I was with ordered a couple bottles from bottle service,everything was going well; The whole group of us was having a good time.
Then I noticed one of my married Friends had one of the patrons stick his hand in her dress and grab her butt and would not stop. So I decided to step in and help her get away from the guy and pushed him away from her. The next thing I know I was being dragged out of the place by my hands and feet. I was thrown out into the street like a bag of trash and the police were called on me. After spending an hour or so in the cop car I was let go. The Police officer told me never to come back and stated that the manager had something against me because he wanted me to be charged. For what I have no idea. What kind of world do we live in when you try to help someone and this outrageous thing happens? No good deed goes unpunished. I'm extremely disappointed in the way this situation was handled and I recommend people not to go to this establishment. The management and security staff does not know how to handle situations. There are some many better places in the city where you can be safe and actually treated with respect for being a customer who spends money in the economic state this country is in. Please avoid the establishments Soundbar,Ybar and Cresendo