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Like a white diamond catching light, the
White Party at
Vizcaya never ceases to impress
with its multi-faceted beauty—and this year, the crown jewel of the
circuit seemed to shine with extraordinary clarity. From the moment
the car drops you in front of the massive stone columns and as you
wander down the dimly lit hammock (that hardwood-forested drive)
toward the Italian renaissance palazzo, you enter the domain of
doges and princes, inhabited by figures such as D’Annunzio and
Gatsby (if not Trump).
Given this year’s theme, Heaven on Earth, the ten acres of
lushly-landscaped gardens were punctuated with angels: on high
(pedestals), as well as nearly-naked ones behind the cocktail bars.
Angel wings fluttered beneath the full moon. Up atop the Casino,
the sultry chanteuse,
Nicole Henry, as lovely as Helen of
Troy in a sleek white gown, sang jazz standards while croupiers
manned gaming tables. White leather daddies mingled with white-Afro’ed
streetwalkers in white lace and white boas. A tribe of
white-feathered Indians in white fur boots passed a pair of white
tigers. White lights and white candles shimmered in the moonlit
night.
Playing his first
White Party at
Vizcaya in his long and illustrious
career,
Warren Gluck provided the perfect
aural complement to such an idyllic setting—and even with ten acres
of temptations (think white chocolate mousse cones and Snow Queen
vodka), his dance floor remained packed with the likes of
Randy Bettis,
Hilton Wolman and Mel,
Tracy Young, Michael Gongora,
Wendy Hunt—as well as the
statuesque
Elaine Lancaster looking more glam
than a brand-new Barbie Doll. And upon plating his version of
Bonnie Pointer’s “Heaven Must’ve Sent You,”
Warren Gluck rendered the night’s
theme even more palpable.
Late in the night, there appeared the platinum-haired
Cyndi Lauper, a vision in white
satin, ethereal and angelic, as she bopped around a giant bed
onstage, delivering “She-Bop” with an almost elegiac quality. Few
performers have done as much publicly to fight AIDS and
intolerance—and it was a joy to be enthralled by one who understands
so well the LGBT community.
Every year, on the last Saturday in November, the treasures of
Vizcaya—its gardens and colonnades,
the statuary and fountains—seem to shimmer more brightly, thanks to
CareResource and its volunteers,
and to the thousands of White Party guests who don their elegant and
gay apparel to party with the spirits of those who have walked these
grounds before. If ever there was any doubt, this year’s
White Party at
Vizcaya proved that angels do
indeed walk amongst us.
Best always,
Mark and Robert
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