WAG February 2019

Lady & Lord Carnarvon Enterprising, romantic royals

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MAGAZINE

IN NEW YORK STATE

Romantic fascination GEORGE WASHINGTON LOVED HERE And Mary Calvi’s got the story

LINA ABDO

A doctor’s sweet discovery

CHLOE FLOWER In harmony with life’s music

DESTINATIONS DIVINE

From a Tuscan spa to sexy boudoirs

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DR. SRIHARI S. NAIDU

Healer of hearts

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CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2019

72

COVER STORY

Lady & Lord Carnarvon Rich in romance

10

Closing a chapter on two glorious careers

14

Queen to pawn in a game of love and death

18

Votary of love THIS PAGE:

Cliveden. Berkshire, UK. Style: Neoclassical ‘n’ Naughty. Setting: Bucolic Berkshire. From “Mr & Mrs Smith Presents: The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms,” published by Thames & Hudson. © 2018 Polly Brown.

Courtesy Thames & Hudson.

22

Drawn together

26

Keys to success

30

44

One sweet afternoon

Floral fantasy

32

48

A doctor’s sweet gifts to the world

34

Tried and true

50

All about ‘Hymn’

Mending broken hearts

38

54

Cher, ma chère

42

Bed, bath and definitely beyond

Going micro on the big day

58

Food for mind and body

62

The funny DeCicco

68

'Downton' spinoffs

76

They will rock you

80

Moonstruck

82

Labors of love

E VERY OBJ ECT HAS A STORY

worth telling, worth finding.

For buyers, consignors, and the passionately curious F I N D W O R T H AT S K I N N E R I N C .C O M

FEATURES H I G H LI G HTS

64

WAY A nature lover’s retreat

84

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Shoulder to shoulder through women’s history

86

WEAR Golden kiss

88

WEAR 50 years of style

90

WHAT’S COLLECTIBLE? Posthumous honor for ‘mad’ potter

92

WARES From bath to spa-ahh

94

WARES Spring for the covers

96

WHAT’S NEW AGAIN? Skin in the game

98

WHAT’S NEW? PORCH – A new home for style

102

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Ya gotta have heart

106

WANDERS The ultimate vacation club

108

WANDERS A haven under the Tuscan sun

112

WANDERS First-class style

114

WONDERFUL DINING Passion for hospitality

118

WINE & DINE What’s for dessert? Wine, of course

120

WELL Restoring body and soul

124

WELL How not to look your age

126

PET OF THE MONTH This Brutus is no brute

128

WHEN & WHERE Upcoming events

132

WATCH We’re out and about

144

WIT What romantic movie characterizes your life?

Lady & Lord Carnarvon Enterprising, romantic royals

JUDGED A

TOP

MAGAZINE

IN NEW YORK STATE

Romantic fascination GEORGE WASHINGTON LOVED HERE And Mary Calvi’s got the story

LINA ABDO

A doctor’s sweet discovery

CHLOE FLOWER In harmony with life’s music

DESTINATIONS DIVINE

From a Tuscan spa to sexy boudoirs

2014, 2015, 2016

DR. SRIHARI S. NAIDU

Healer of hearts

‘CHER’ ON BROADWAY

WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD LIFE

FEBRUARY 2019 | WAGMAG.COM

COVER: Lady & Lord Carnarvon.

Photograph by John Rizzo.

See story on page 72.

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88

22

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WHAT IS WAG?

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Some readers think WAG stands for “Westchester and Greenwich.”

We certainly cover both. But mostly, a WAG is a wit and that’s how we think of ourselves, serving up piquant stories and photos to set your own tongues wagging.

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All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff. No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $24 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call 914-694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Anne Jordan at 914694-3600, ext. 3032 or email anne@westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO, dee@westfairinc.com

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ROBIN COSTELLO

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ALEESIA FORNI

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MARY SHUSTACK

COVER STORY: GEORGETTE GOUVEIA, PAGE 72

OOPS! In our story on Ted Yang that appeared on Page 16 of January’s Fascinating Men issue, we misspelled Pete Kowalczyk’s name.

Apologies to him.

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Closing a chapter on two glorious careers

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

“It is time to fold our tent and silently steal away,” Audrey Ronning Topping wrote me recently, paraphrasing the lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Day is Done.” And with that, she gracefully informed me that she and her beloved husband, Seymour Topping, affectionately known as Top, were resigning from their writing duties at WAG. Theirs has been an almost 70-year love affair — with journalism, including these past five years, WAG — but mostly with each other.

The Toppings, who have lived in Scarsdale for five decades, are best-known for their many editorial, photojournalistic and documentary filmmaking accomplishments — she as a photojournalist working for National Geographic and The New York Times, among other publications; he as managing editor of The Times, among other titles. They have worked as a team on many different, often dangerous assignments in China, Southeast Asia and Europe, including Russia. Through it all, they raised five daughters born in four countries. (The Toppings also have seven grandchildren ranging in age from 7 to 40, the oldest of whom is Jason Topping Cone, executive director of Doctors Without Borders; and four great-grandchildren.)

“But it all really did start with those roses,” Audrey told late Wagger Jane Dove in an interview that appeared in this magazine two years ago.

“I was a Canadian girl living in China with my family, where my father, Ambassador Chester Ronning, was a senior Canadian diplomat. Top, as I was to discover, was working for the Associated Press, covering the Chinese Civil War as a foreign correspondent based in Nanking. We met one night at an elegant dinner party at the American Officers Club in 1947.”

As fate would have it, Audrey and her sister, Meme, were seated at the same table as Top. “We danced several times that evening and that was the beginning of my deep infatuation with Top,” Audrey said. “The next morning, I woke to open the front door and see a rickshaw full to overflowing with beautiful roses and an invitation from Top to a double date with his colleague Bob Clurman, also a journalist. But my sister and I weren’t sure which one

Seymour and Audrey Topping at home.

Photograph by Sebastian Flores.

of us Top wanted to be his date. The note did not say.

So, my sister said she would take the tallest one when they arrived.”

Top, who was a bit shorter than his friend, told Audrey later that was exactly what he wanted.

The four young people climbed into a green Jeep and went out to dine and dance the night away, with Audrey on Top’s arm. “And we have been dancing together ever since,” Audrey says.

It has not always been an easy pas de deux. Early on, the relationship survived the Chinese Revolution and the French Indochina War, both of which Top covered. Their first daughter, Susan, was born in a French military hospital in Saigon in 1950.

“Saigon was under direct attack not far from the hospital,” Top told Jane. “When Audrey was wheeled into the delivery room, you could hear the artillery fire and feel the hospital shake. The doctor who delivered Susan was also caring for the wounded and his scrubs were stained with their blood. Audrey carried through in her usual courageous manner. After Susan was settled, (Audrey) insisted I go back to the AP office to report on the battle, which was a critical turning point in the war.”

John F. Kennedy, then a congressman, asked to see Top and congratulated him as a long-serving foreign correspondent, Audrey said. “He saw Susan and told me I had the calm look of a Modigliani portrait. I will never forget that.”

After leaving Southeast Asia, Top was assigned to London to cover the diplomatic beat for AP. The couple lived in Hampstead and attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Second daughter Karen was born in Queen Mary’s Nursing Home during the infamous 1952 smog. Queen Mary herself visited baby Karen and gave her a teddy bear.

In 1953, third daughter Lesley was born in the same hospital.

“This was a difficult period because of food rationing,” Audrey recalled. “I was constantly worried about getting enough food for the children. Even though the war was over, rationing was still in place.

During this period, I studied sculpture and used the children as models.”

From l955 through ’58, Top was assigned to cover a divided Germany. “We were given one week to move the entire family and lived in West Berlin,” Audrey said. “We spent time exploring East Germany, helping friends escape. The kids became fluent in German and daughter number four, Rebecca, was born in the American Military Hospital.”

Their time in Germany drew to a close when Top joined The Times in 1960. His assignment was to cover the Cold War in the Soviet Union. The couple lived in Moscow during the heady days of the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev, the first Russians in space and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The children attended Russian schools and made great friends with Russian children, becoming fluent in the language.

During this time, Audrey was a photojournalist and writer working with NBC. She produced a film on the Kremlin along with 16 articles for The New York Times Magazine.

In 1963, Top was assigned to Hong Kong to cover the Vietnam War as The Times’ chief correspondent in Southeast Asia. Audrey got a rare visa from the Chinese to cover the Cultural Revolution for The Times.

Top’s career at The Times continued to flourish and he was appointed foreign editor in l966, followed by managing editor. The couple’s fifth daughter, Joanna, was born in l967 after the couple moved to Scarsdale where they have remained ever since.

The ensuing years saw more personal and professional twists and turns. The couple continued to work separately and in tandem on a variety of projects, including several books as well as articles on global affairs for WAG, particularly Sino-American relations, that were by turns playful and sober but always insightful. (Audrey’s latest book is the photographic memoir “The Old Silk Road and Me.”) Their work has been underpinned by their marriage.

“I am a fortunate man to be married to Audrey,” Top told Jane. “Not only did she take wonderful care of our children and me in some very difficult circumstances but was a tremendous asset who made all the difference in my professional life.”

When asked how she did it, Audrey said, “I don’t know. I just did. Our thinking and view of life has always been the same. We have, of course, had our frictions, but the solution was never to ‘fix it’ with divorce. Five kids makes you think about that as a nonsolution. We never went to bed mad but would talk things out with a drink in front of the fireplace.

Talking is key to a successful marriage.”

“She was, and is, beautiful and I have always been deeply in love with her,” Top said, adding it is as true now as it was when they met.

We at WAG feel no less passionately about them as writers, colleagues and friends. And so, we refuse to say “goodbye” but rather will say with the French à bientôt or “see you soon.”

EDITOR’S LETTER

W

G EO RG E T TE GO U VEIA

Chic Sketch of the editor in Max Mara’s double wool reversible cherry blossom and chocolate coat at “The Make Up Date,” Bloomingdale’s White Plains, Nov. 11. (See story on Page 22.)

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WAGMAG.COM

FEBRUARY 2019

With the roaring success of our Fascinating Men issue last month, we nonetheless are delighted to rebalance ourselves with a little — OK, a lot — of traditional feminine energy in our annual romance issue. It’s filled with queens and Queen, heart and the heart; sprinkled with chocolate; spiced with sex; and set to piano music.

Few series have been more romantic than “Downton Abbey.” The only thing more romantic than the series was its setting — Highclere Castle, home of the eighth Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. WAG had the pleasure of interviewing them at the launch of their Highclere Castle Gin last November at the SoHo Grand Hotel in Manhattan and found them to be as delightful as they are entrepreneurial. (See not only our cover story but Phil’s piece on Highclere Castle Cigars.)

We continue our salute to Great Britain with a look at two queens — one who chose her heart over her head (quite literally, as it turned out), Mary Queen of Scots; and the other, her English cousin, Elizabeth I, who chose her head over her heart — but kept them both. It was their contemporary William Shakespeare, who wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.” We do, Will. Gina’s on the aisle for “The Cher Show” with two of its backers, Croton-on-Hudson residents Liz Bracken-Thompson and Jean Marie Connolly.

Gregg does double duty with another divine diva, Sarah Brightman, then talks with a trio of actors — including Dutchess County’s Joseph Mazzello — from “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the biopic about the rock band Queen that’s been scoring upsets this awards season.

And we discuss romantic compositions with pianist, composer, arranger Chloe Flower, whose performance charmed us at The Saks Shops at Greenwich’s “Masquerade Fête” in October.

Love is also in the air as Robin talks with journalist — and first lady of Yonkers — Mary Calvi about her debut book, “Dear George, Dear Mary: A Novel of George Washington’s First Love”; Jena profiles Purchase novelist Nancy DeRosa about her “Food for Thought” series and comedian Regina DeCicco; and we bid adieu to beloved Waggers Audrey and Seymour Topping as these international journalists call it a career with us.

Elsewhere, we’re all heart as Laura interviews Srihari S. Naidu, MD, a pioneer in noninvasive techniques for treating heart disease; and Mary revisits interior designer-artist Kerri Rosenthal of “Drippy Heart” fame, now on her own in a new Westport studio. And Mary

checks in with Greenwich Historical Society for its Chocolate Sunday. The confection is also key to the work of Lina Abdo, the Lebanese-born Stamford doctor whose battle with tendinitis arthritis ended one career and opened up another as gift designer extraordinaire (Christine’s story).

Part of what makes our February issue such fun is our segue to the body and s-e-x. The human form figures prominently in the work of controversial multimedia artist Nan Goldin (Katie’s What’s New Again column). It’s always the frame on which the Museum at FIT hangs its clothing exhibits.

Meghan takes one for the team and tones up at Belly and Body in Greenwich before recovering at ReCOVER, a Manhattan wellness studio, and rewarding herself with a visit to Norwalk jeweler Évocateur, whose fab map cuffs caught our eye.

After all that exercise, you’ll need to unwind.

Wanderer Jeremy whisks you off to Tuscany’s Borgo Santo Pietro, the revamped glam inn famed for its heavenly spa, among other things.

Or you can turn your own bathroom into a spa with Wares columnist Cami’s suggestions. (Don’t forget the trending tub, always good for a sensuous soak.)

Things get really steamy with “Mr and Mrs Smith Presents The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms,” featuring gorgeous rumpled sheets and equally gorgeous bare body parts in some of the world’s greatest houses and hotels.

Or create your own sexy bedroom with floral offerings from Ted Baker London. If you’re a reader of WAG — or have seen us at an event — then you know how much we love Ted Baker’s home and clothing designs. The latest again feature blossoms, so beloved by us.

For it can never be winter in the heart as long as there are blossoms — in print and in the imagination.

A 2018 Folio Women in Media Award Winner, Georgette Gouveia is the author of the “The Penalty for Holding” (Less Than Three Press), a 2018 Lambda Literary Award finalist, and “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group).

They’re part of her series of novels, “The Games Men Play,” also the name of the sports/ culture blog she writes at thegamesmenplay. com. Readers may find her novel “Seamless Sky” and “Daimon: A Novel of Alexander the Great” on wattpad.com.

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Download a heart health assessment at exceptionaleveryday.org/cardiac or to find a cardiologist call (914) 849-MyMD. A M E M B E R O F T H E M O N T E F I O R E H E A LT H S Y S T E M

Q

Queen to pawn in a game of love and death

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

THESE DAYS IT’S

good to be queen. The diabolically dotty Oscar contender “The Favourite,” PBS’ “Victoria” and Netflix’s “The Crown” — which consider England’s Queens Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II respectively — have made admiring subjects of critics and fans alike. But it’s not just well-crafted storytelling to which viewers are responding. To be a monarch and a woman is also to be a queen of hearts, an irresistible drama for audiences as it must be a challenge for the sovereigns themselves.

“To be a queen, I must rule,” Victoria tells her beloved “Lord M” — her mentor, William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne — summing up the paradox in “Victoria.” “Yet to be a wife, it seems I must submit.” And she at least found in Prince Albert a first-class husband and father for their children. Make the right choice and, like Victoria, you position yourself to enjoy a long life and reign.

Make one that fails to marry passion to reason, however, and you may wind up like Cleopatra, forced to forfeit both.

But what if you change the rules of the game, reversing the gender roles? The latest film iteration of “Mary Queen of Scots” offers a splendid example of a women who sought to triumph in the game of love — England’s Elizabeth I — along with the cautionary tale of Mary, for whom passion went to her head.

The story of “Mary Queen of Scots” belongs to what we like to call the Sylvia Plath school of narrative. That is, in telling the life of the suicidal poet, her husband Ted Hughes will always be the villain.

(That he had two wives who committed suicide in exactly the same way does not inspire confidence in him as a husband.) Similarly, any film titled “Mary Queen of Scots” has got to feature Elizabeth as the heavy, or at least the less romantic counterpoint.

And, indeed, trailers for “Mary” contain such historical howlers as an arid, pockmarked, spinsterish Elizabeth telling Mary how young, beautiful and vital she is. Like this encounter (they never met) and Mary’s Scottish accent (she was raised in France), nothing could be further from the truth.

Not that they weren’t real rivals for the English throne, albeit mighty opposites bound by blood.

Elizabeth (1533-1603) and Mary (1542-87) were first cousins once removed, Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, and Mary’s grandmother — Margaret, Queen of Scotland — having been brother and sister.

Blood will out, but it will take you only so far. In her absorbing dual biography “Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), Jane Dunn explores how their different paths shaped vastly different views of queenship. Elizabeth saw firsthand at an early age what can befall a woman who must rely on a man. Often, she was thrown back on her own devices, her princess status a sometime thing, thanks to the cruel caprices of her father, who eliminated wife after wife — including her own mother, Anne Boleyn, wife number two — in a quest for a legitimate male heir.

Elizabeth also had the example of her older half-sister Mary’s disastrous marriage to Philip II of Spain, who was more interested in adding England to the portfolio of the Spanish Empire

“The Rainbow Portrait” (1600-02), attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, captures Elizabeth I’s shrewd branding of herself as Gloriana, queen goddess of a nation.

FEBRUARY 2019

WAGMAG.COM

15

than in being an attentive husband — so much so that he came courting the kid sister while the wife was barely cold in the grave. (That Elizabeth would one day best Philip’s Armada and become England’s greatest ruler to date — and a woman at that — remains a richly ironic rebuke to both her monstrous father and opportunistic brother-in-law.)

So, it’s understandable that when Elizabeth succeeded her sister Mary, her priorities were to keep England and herself independent — indeed they were to her one and the same. This despite a hot-blooded nature that was naturally attracted to bad boys like Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who would become her beloved master of horse yet never master of her heart. “Better beggar woman and single,” she reportedly once said, “than married and queen.”

The latter was Mary’s fate. From childhood, she was raised alongside the brotherly future Francis II of France to be his queen consort — a 180-degree turn from being queen in your own right. And happily beside him would she have stayed had it not been for his untimely death and French dynastic ambitions.

So back she went to Scotland, a country she hardly knew, whose throne belonged to her but to which she did not really belong. (It’s telling that she is called Mary, Queen of Scots, not Mary, Queen of Scotland.) There to the chagrin of Elizabeth — who was always concerned about her cousin becoming the Roman Catholic usurper of her Protestant throne — Mary married her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a violent drunk by whom she had a son, James. Not long after, however, Darnley was killed, probably by James Hepburn, the fourth Earl of Bothwell, who in turn kidnapped, raped and married Mary — or perhaps pretended to ravish her as a way of saving the reputation of the woman with whom he was having an affair. It was a succession of events that shocked and distressed Elizabeth. Whatever their rivalry, they were still, as their correspondence shows, cousins and queens.

But no country can have two queens. When Mary was forced to abdicate, leaving behind James as she fled to England for asylum, she became a thorn in Elizabeth’s side that had to be removed.

Mary was beheaded in Fotheringhay Castle on Feb. 8, 1587. Elizabeth did so reluctantly, Dunn writes.

That Mary would’ve been as reluctant had the situations been reversed is not as apparent.

In life, Elizabeth — vain, glamorous and possessive of what we would call her “brand” — unquestionably had seen the tall, attractive Mary as a personal as well as professional rival, always peppering hapless ambassadors with questions designed to make herself seem more favorable by comparison. But it is a total romantic conceit — one that suggests we’re still not comfortable with powerful single women -- to think she would’ve changed places with her imprudent 16

WAGMAG.COM

FEBRUARY 2019

BETTER BEGGAR WOMAN AND SINGLE,” (ELIZABETH I) REPORTEDLY ONCE SAID, “THAN MARRIED AND QUEEN.

cousin sexually. She had her bad-boy flirtations — with Dudley, who was perhaps her greatest single love, and with François, the duke of Alençon, who was in the way of these things the youngest brother of Francis II. And though she could write of her feelings for Alençon in the sonnet “On Monsieur’s Departure,” “Or let me live with some more sweet content or die, and so forget what love e’er meant,” England remained her greatest love.

Was her country also the excuse of a woman who feared marriage? It’s as dangerous to psychoanalyze historical figures as it is to read history backward. Perhaps Elizabeth’s singular state was as much a result of temperament as of

Fedot Shubin’s marble statue of Catherine the Great in the guise of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom (1789-90).

circumstances. Two centuries later in the Age of Enlightenment, another princess who was not necessarily bound to reign — the future Catherine the Great of Russia (1729-96), subject of an upcoming HBO miniseries — would have both a crown and many lovers, whom she pensioned off when they were no longer useful politically and personally.

Catherine was the subject, however, of the most salacious rumors. In succeeding centuries, Victoria and her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II would be held up as model wives as well as queens.

It seems that we still want our queens to be wives and, if not, professional virgins, something Elizabeth seems to have intuited. Her cousin, a professional consort always in search of a husband, had a talent for the wrong men. (Her motto speaks for itself: “In my end is my beginning,” meaning not only that death is not the final chapter but that what you sow you reap.)

Whereas Elizabeth never let her heart rule her head.

Which is why in the end she kept both.

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V

Votary of love

BY ROBIN COSTELLO

“LOVE IS SAID TO BE AN INVOLUNTARY PASSION AND IT IS THEREFORE CONTENDED THAT IT CANNOT BE RESISTED.” “’TIS TRUE I PROFESS MYSELF A VOTARY OF LOVE….”

— George Washington

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Ah, February — when our thoughts turn to the Founding Fathers and Valentine’s Day. We celebrate Presidents’ Day in part to honor our first leader, George Washington, born Feb. 22, 1732 in Wakefield, Virginia.

One of the most revered men in our country’s history, Washington led the Continental Army to victory over the British, ensuring independence for a young nation. His firm, flexible hand at the till during two terms as our first president — then willingness to relinquish power — secured his place as a hero and legend who was “First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” But what about first in love? Who was Washington’s first Valentine?

Mary Calvi may have found the answer. An Emmy Award-winning WCBS-TV anchorwoman and reporter, Calvi is also the first lady of Yonkers (as wife of Mayor Mike Spano) — a city that is home to historic Philipse Manor Hall, whose spirited heiress, Mary Eliza Philipse, would be courted by a dashing Col. Washington.

Though the story has been the stuff of local legend to history buffs, the missing details piqued Calvi’s curiosity enough for her to pore over thousands of letters, witness accounts, journal entries and Washington-related publications. The result is her debut book, “Dear George, Dear Mary: A Novel of George Washington’s First Love” (Feb. 19, St. Martin’s Press; 322 pages), in which she offers a tale of real-life star-crossed romance.

In February 1756, Washington received an invitation, sent by childhood friend Maj. Beverley Robinson, to visit New York for the first time. Arousing his

interest was the presence there of Mrs. Robinson’s unmarried sister, Mary Eliza Philipse, a well-known beauty. The 24-year-old, newly appointed colonel set out on a 500-mile journey that would change both their lives.

Elegant, cultured and sophisticated, Philipse was one of the richest woman in the colonies, one who could ride from one end of the family property at Philipse Manor Hall to the other at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow.

The “belle of the North” was instantly taken with the handsome and gallant Washington. “He stood tall and strong, a striking figure in his azure waistcoat with its golden accents at the shoulders,” Calvi writes.

“For her entire life, Mary had waited not for someone like him, but him.”

As for Washington, he was enchanted by the erudite Philipse. “He decided right then and there he had never met a lady like her before. He wondered if men lost portions of their heart to her before. Each day spent with her he relished. Her ease in conversation. Her intelligence. For that and so many other reasons, he was succumbing to love’s passion.”

But as we all know the path of true love never did run smooth. A short time later, Washington is called away for duty. Their relationship must endure separation and diabolical forces outside themselves that do not approve of a union between the revolutionary-minded Washington and a daughter of the Loyalist Philipse family. On the eve of the American Revolution, their lives take unexpected turns. And the rest is history.

Throughout the novel, we are transported back

Mary Calvi.

Photograph by Joe Panella.

19 FEBRUARY 2019 WAGMAG.COM

Charles Wilson Peale’s “Portrait of George Washington” as a colonel of the Virginia Regiment (1772), oil on canvas. On loan from Washington and Lee University to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Virginia, estate – now a state-of-the-art museum complex that has been open during the government shutdown.

John Wollaston’s “Mary Philipse” (circa 1750), oil on canvas. Gift of Mary Baird Rockefeller. Courtesy Historic Hudson Valley.

Courtesy St. Martin's Press.

in time as Calvi sweeps from 18th-century drawing rooms to bloody battlefields. As much of the story is set in the lower Hudson Valley, WAG readers will see local history illuminated with new dimensions. Calvi has resurrected these men and women from the pages of history and revealed they were real flesh and blood with passions and pursuits that history has left largely untold.

Recently, she took time to share her thoughts: How did your roles as a reporter and first lady of Yonkers inform your research?

“If not for my husband’s inauguration as mayor of Yonkers, this story may never have been found. You see, when Mike was having the inaugural ceremony at Philipse Manor, I mentioned to him that we may want to further research local lore that George Washington once courted one of the Philipses’ daughters.

When I couldn’t find the information initially, I decid20

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ed to dig deeper. Using my journalism skills, I intensively researched the records for years, digitally and physically, until I found the stunning details.”

wanted to use the full letters, journal entries and publications, I also needed to keep tuned to the fact that this was a novelistic look at their relationship.”

What surprised you most about George and Mary’s Story?

“That a courtship even existed was my first surprise. That she was part of the discussion of biographers in the 1700s and 1800s amazed me. Authors like Washington Irving, Jared Sparks and Woodrow Wilson spoke of Washington’s admiration for the heiress as historic fact. Certainly, her name has disappeared, but as Washington once wrote, ‘Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.’”

What do you hope readers take away from this novel?

“In the end, I hope readers take a closer look at Mary Eliza Philipse’s life. Here was a woman whom I believe was terribly wronged by history. I found her true story devastating. What happened to the entire Philipse family should be revisited and reviewed. It may have taken centuries, but my hope is that the details of deception and vengeance in 1700s New York will finally be revealed.”

The story is so rich and layered, was there much to edit?

“Much of the documentation throughout the book was trimmed to make the storyline move. While I

Can we look forward to a second novel?

“With certainty. Researching history and weaving a novel around historic documentations thrilled me.”

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D

Drawn together

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

EMILY BRICKEL EDELSON and Jordan Edelson mar-

ried fashion to technology.

And then they married each other.

The pair — she from Long Island, he from Chappaqua — met on Jdate, the Jewish dating site.

Technology would prove just as felicitous professionally. In February 2015, the two co-founded Chic Sketch, which has helped bring the venerable tradition of fashion illustration into the digital age. We experienced Chic Sketch firsthand at Bloomingdale’s White Plains in November when we posed for a sketch in a reversible cherry blossom and chocolate wool Max Mara coat as part of the store’s “Make Up Date.” The whole thing took about 10 minutes. The glamorous results — created on a tablet computer and immediately produced as a color postcard and an email image — speak for themselves.

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But Chic Sketch also has an app you can download. It enables you to send the company a photograph that is then produced as a fashion illustration that is returned to you as an Instagram-ready image.

“I’m a fashion illustrator and I would get hired to do sketches,” says Emily, who has more recently captured such fashion icons as Greenwich’s Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Nicole Miller and Rachel Zoe. Jordan — who created Appetizer Mobile LLC, a mobile application development, consultation and marketing company, Chic Sketch’s parent company, and has been one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 rising entrepreneurs — would come along on Emily’s gigs and think, yep, there’s an app in this.

The sketches cost $10, $15 and $20 — a fraction of what pen and paper fashion illustrations can cost. About 90 percent of the clients, Emily says,

Emily Brickel Edelson, co-founder of Chic Sketch.

Images courtesy Chic Sketch.

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Samples of Chic Sketch’s work.

are women — like those at the Bloomie’s event, who oohed and aahed over their flattering instant portraits.

“We want to make sure everyone looks good, and who doesn’t love that?”

Emily always loved clothes and art. “My dad taught me to draw as a child.” It didn’t occur to her immediately, however, that she could have a career in fashion illustration. Once she realized it was a viable profession, she says, “it was a light-bulb moment.”

Yet the idea of her own company also intrigued her. Emily studied fashion merchandising at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. At Gucci, now part of the luxury umbrella group Ker24

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FEBRUARY 2019

ing, Emily assisted Caden Stobart, then president of Sergio Rossi, who took her under her wing and taught her everything about the fashion business.

Today, Chic Sketch has about 25 employees who are based at an office in Times Square. But their work can take them anywhere and has included such retailers and brands as Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, J. Crew, Kate Spade, Maybelline, Dior on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive and Michael Kors in Orlando.

Recently, Emily and her team had six events in six days in five states.

“It was pretty crazy,” she says.

But in a good way.

To book an event, email events@chicsketch. com.

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K

Keys to success

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

WHAT MIGHT THE

classical composers of yesteryear be like if they were in the music business today?

They might be like Chloe Flower — pianist, composer and arranger whose work spans Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff on one end of the spectrum and the rappers Swae Lee and 2 Chainz on the other with some Johnny Mathis and Celine Dion in the middle.

“I have some 200 songs in my playlist,” she says, “from classical to contemporary to covers.” Such versatility “is one of my strengths,” she adds.

We met the New York-based musician at the black-and-white Masquerade Fête for the opening of the revamped Saks Shops at Greenwich in October and found her to be a charmer in every way. She looked elegant in a Gucci headdress. (You could imagine her playing duo piano with the equally stylish Franz Liszt at a Paris soirée.) And, judging from the applause and comments from listeners, we could only concur that her 20-minute performance at the keyboard was too short. She left us wanting more.

Performing at parties is different from concerts, she says. “The repertoire is very different.

In a party situation, I do more covers, up-tempo stuff, pop, Top 40, hip-hop.”

But should you be in a romantic mood, Flower is happy to oblige you with some of her favorites, everything from Chopin to her own arrangements of iconic love songs like Henry Mancini’s

“Moon River.” Not surprisingly for a pianist-composer, Flower gravitates to great composers who were themselves also great pianists like Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

“I love Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor,” she says. “I play that a lot. It’s so beautiful.”

No doubt his music will find its way onto her upcoming album. Recently, she signed with Sony Masterworks to create a CD of serene solo piano music.

It was, however, another composer who revved her engine in childhood. Growing up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, west of Harrisburg, where she was born the daughter of a painter and a real estate investor, Flower would sway in her crib to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, her mother told her. She started playing the piano at age 2 and gave her first concert at 4 or 5 at a nursing home, sitting on a telephone book placed on the piano bench so she could reach the keyboard in the manner of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was propped up on cushions. At 12, Flower was studying at the Manhattan School of Music then went on to The Juilliard School, where she studied with the beloved but unstinting Herbert Stessin, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Returning to New York, she might’ve gone on to a conventional career in classical music. But the pop world and then Los Angeles came calling. In L.A., she signed with singer-songwriter and record producer Babyface, with whom she still

Chloe Flower wearing Michael Lungu with Liberace’s touring piano, on loan to her by The Liberace Foundation for the Creative Arts. Photographs courtesy Chloe Flower.

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works, creating arrangements for Mathis and Dion.

Along the way, Flower says she learned every aspect of the business, particularly the technical side.

“I learned early on to use all of the (engineering) software. I couldn’t rely on other people.”

Indeed, the crew would be gone and Flower would be gearing up “in the wee small hours of the morning,” as the song goes, for another take.

Such knowledge has stood her in good stead as a film composer. Soundtracks are the last component of filmmaking. Often the composer gets a rough cut, which she watches in the comfort of her home while composing on a keyboard hooked up to the computer. (Flower also composes at the piano and just on paper as well.) Writing for film is a passion. She has scored “A Ballerina’s Tale,” the documentary about American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland, and “Kevin Hart: What Now? All Access,” a TBS documentary on the comedian.

Perhaps, though, there will be a horror flick in her future. Her favorite thing, she says, is to stay in, order from a food delivery service and watch horror movies such as the 2003 French film “High Tension.”

Clearly, it’s a complement to a life of “peaceful piano music.”

For more, visit chloeflower.com.

Chloe Flower, wearing Marc Jacobs Collection, performing in New York City.

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One sweet afternoon

I

In celebration of February’s fabled association with romance — and chocolate — Greenwich Historical Society has announced an afternoon of themed programming expected to draw visitors of all ages to its reimagined Cos Cob campus.

“Chocolate Sunday!” is set for Feb. 17, with the society gathering a group of local chocolatiers, chefs and bakers who are expected to provide samplings of their treats to, organizers say, “indulge the most discriminating chocoholics.”

The afternoon will also feature creative craft projects for children in the Vanderbilt Education Center, while the day will also offer all visitors the chance to tour the bold new campus, including the Bush-Holley House. The historic house offers a dual interpretation, representing two significant chapters in the house’s history — the days of the mercantile Bush family from 1790-1825 and the Cost Cob art colony’s 1890-1925 years.

The expansive “History Is…” exhibition continues as a highlight in the society’s revamped gallery space, while visitors can also sample the curated wares of the new Museum Store and Café. (WAG took a quick trip up during the holiday season and was quite impressed by the selection).

The ambitious renovation project, Debra Mecky, the society’s executive director and CEO, said at the time of its October grand opening, signaled “an exciting new phase in our 87-year history and the proud 378-year history of Greenwich. Our larger, more accessible campus enables us to showcase a much broader collection of art, archival materials and digital collections to give visitors a better understanding of how Greenwich was, and continues to be, intertwined with the nation’s larger narrative.”

Those who haven’t yet been might consider “Chocolate Sunday!” as an ideal excuse — as if one were needed — to check out all that’s going on at the society.

“Chocolate Sunday!” is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 17 at Greenwich Historical Society, 47 Strickland Road, Cos Cob. For further details, including admission prices, or to make reservations, visit greenwichhistory.org.

— Mary Shustack

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A historic Valentine from the collection of the Greenwich Historical Society. Courtesy the Greenwich Historical Society.

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A doctor’s sweet gifts to the world

W

BY CHRISTINE NEGRONI PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

When Lina Abdo was a child in Beirut, she used to draw dolls on card stock, decorating them with scraps of fabric, discarded buttons and pieces of her mother’s broken costume jewelry. Abdo would give the cheery messages to her friends, who were delighted. Word spread and soon she was selling her customized cards and invitations — a welcome source of revenue for a girl of her age that lasted until the mid-1980s when Abdo entered medical school at American University of Beirut.

How the Stamford-based pediatrician returned to her childhood roots to become one of the area’s go-to providers of beautiful and personalized gifts is rooted in an unexpected illness. In 2002, Abdo, then at Stamford Hospital, was stricken with nonspecific tendinitis arthritis. It left her unable to practice medicine. For years, she could barely leave the house.

Knowing her tremendous gift for design, her daughter, Lara, at the time a high school student at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, asked for help preparing goodie bags for a party. And like that Abdo found her new calling: She could go back to making the world a prettier and more hospitable place. She would start by creating bags, boxes and baskets of the finest edible treats — punctuating them with unique and carefully selected ornaments from around the world, this time with the needs of the giver and the recipient in mind.

For example, each year, Salim Asrawi, president of the restaurant chain Texas de Brazil, has business associates, friends and relatives he wants to touch with memorable gifts. He knows what he doesn’t want, anything conventional or boring, but he’s at a loss to find the right thing. With a phone call, Abdo takes over.

“What she put together is just unique and the presentation, it’s amazing,” he says in a phone call from his office in Dallas. Each year he orders about 300 gifts from Abdo.

Her business launched in October 2007. Abdo’s mother and father flew in from Beirut to prepare 32

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Lina Abdo – physician turned gift designer – at her home in Stamford, where the magic happens.

I REALLY SIT WITH MY CUSTOMERS. I UNDERSTAND WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY WANT,” ABDO SAYS. A NOT-SOINSPIRED GIFT-GIVER MYSELF, IT ALL SEEMED LIKE MAGIC TO ME UNTIL ABDO EXPLAINS, “A GIFT IS A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO PARTIES. THERE IS A MISSION AND THERE IS AN ART IN MAKING SURE THE MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED. — Lina Abdo

for the first sample show and joined Abdo’s daughter Lara and her two younger sons, Fawzi and Philip, around the kitchen table. They worked with bags of colorful Jordan almonds, boxes of chocolates, dragées (hard-shell confections), containers, fabric and ribbons. Three generations assembled the first products of the company, dubbed Les Cinq Amandes, or The Five Almonds. They had one month because an open house was scheduled for Nov. 11.

“We were tying bows and cutting ribbons and I have pictures,” Abdo says, explaining she was unable to do much of the physical work herself. She was the conductor of the frenetic family orchestra.

The Sunday of the event, inventory walked out of the house under the arms of guests who were delighted by the unique compositions.

As a travel and aviation writer, I was smitten by the suitcase filled with chocolates wrapped like Louis Vuitton bags, which were snuggled into a Burberry lap blanket and topped with a vintage

wooden airplane. Oenophiles might be giddy for the tailored box containing a bottle of Champagne surrounded by a selection of fruit, nut and liqueur-filled dragées.

A willow baby cradle filled with candies and topped with a musical mobile was sold right off its stand to a guest with an expectant friend. Like everything else, it was a one-of-a-kind sample and Abdo had priced it at $300.

Abdo questioned the buyer. “I said, ‘Are you sure you want to buy her such an expensive gift? But she said, ‘Yes, yes, I want this one.’”

The day after the open house, Les Cinq Amandes had its first order and it was a doozy for a kitchen table startup; 2,500 jars of mixed chocolates and dragées, at $10 each. Before Christmas, Abdo had repaid the seed money advanced by her husband, Farid. Les Cinq Almandes has been in the black ever since.

Still a home-based business, the company now commands the entire basement of the family’s capacious house. It is still run entirely by the Abdo family. Fawzi handles marketing, accounting and sales and whatever else needs doing. Lara, who started it all, pitches in with marketing and social media as needed, though she has a full-time job as a pharmaceutical brand manager.

For a small business, the orders can be jaw-dropping. A United Nations mission ordered three separate waves of gift boxes, more than 1,000 in total this past August. But the one-off orders can also be memorable.

A special gift for Valentine's Day or a sweetheart.

There was the customer who asked for a basket the size of a big screen television. Lined with embroidered cloth, it went out of the house with 7 pounds of chocolates. On the other end of the scale, parents sending holiday treats were delighted with the small candy boxes Abdo had personalized with caricatures of their daughters on bikes.

Gifts can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but the little cardboard boxes were just a few dollars each.

Her most anxiety-producing — and now proudest project — was a thank you basket for former President George W. Bush. Planning it kept Abdo up at night until she decided the theme would be the 43rd president’s interest in oil portrait painting.

Each chocolate was wrapped in special paper she created to reflect a painter’s palette.

“I really sit with my customers. I understand who they are and what they want,” Abdo says. A not-so-inspired gift-giver myself, it all seemed like magic to me until Abdo explains, “a gift is a bridge between two parties. There is a mission and there is an art in making sure the mission is accomplished.”

That skill has brought Blanca and Cedric Prouvé to Abdo’s atelier for the past seven years. In 2018, she produced a lacquer box with a colorful view of Provence, the region where Cedric Prouvé, Estée Lauder group president, grew up. The picturesque scene was a way to share something he loved with people he cares about, Blanca Prouvé says. The gift is a bridge, she says, confirming Abdo’s assessment after the Prouvé holiday gifts had all been happily received. “It’s connecting with this person. It’s saying ‘We care for you in a beautiful way.’”

Over the years, Abdo has acquired quite a collection of elements. Her mother describes the downstairs workshop as looking like the den of treasures Ali Baba finds in the “Arabian Nights” story. It is a riot of visual stimulation.

Brightly colored boxes sit beside brilliant blue Hamsa hand trays. Vintage porcelain dogs made in the former U.S.S.R. stay obediently atop decorative cake stands. And forming the backdrop for the desk where Abdo sketches her ideas is a wall composed of thousands of bolts of ribbon in every shade and texture.

“These are my tools to make things that are different and beautiful,” she says. “I put this bead and add this feather and I put this ribbon and I put it all together over this box, which you don’t recognize anymore because it is so unique,” she adds.

With Les Cinq Amandes, Abdo is back to her early days, turning bits of this and that into something wonderful. Only now, she’s sharing her gift with the world.

For more, visit the5almonds.com.

Christine Negroni writes about aviation and travel for The New York Times, ABC News and other publications. Find her at christinenegroni. com and follow her on twitter @cnegroni.

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H

All about ‘Hymn’

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

IN THE REALM

of divas, few can compare to British crossover artist Sarah Brightman. Claiming the title of the world’s best-selling soprano, Brightman has been singing and performing from an early age. Her theatrical career began in the early 1980s when she was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” which led her to become his muse (1986’s “The Phantom of the Opera”) and, for six years, his wife. Known for an otherworldly stage presence that is as ethereal as her crystalline soprano, Brightman, 58, has also had a successful recording career — releasing more than a dozen albums, including 1997’s “Timeless (Time to Say Goodbye),” which contained her biggest hit, the Andrea Bocelli duet “Time To Say Goodbye.”

Her new album, “Hymn” (Decca), continues in the musical tradition she has established over the years, with a few twists, including “Miracle,” composed by Yoshiki, front man for the hard-rock band X Japan.

She spoke to WAG prior to her Feb. 6 appearance at Radio City Musical Hall in Manhattan: Your new album “Hymn” finds you reuniting with Frank Peterson, with whom you worked on albums in the 1990s and early 2000s. Why do you think that you and Frank work so well together?

“We argue continually, which is a good sign.

Good art and good ideas often come from two people pulling and tugging and pushing against each other. I’m probably the more intricate one.

He’s probably the more practical one. He has a huge knowledge and really good instincts. I probably don’t have either of those things, but I’m full of ideas and wonderment and fantasy.

“I don’t conform to anything particularly and sometimes I need bringing in a little bit, which is good, because that’s being artistic. I think the mixture of those two things — and also Frank being a very good engineer for recordings and understanding whether what is in my head can be fulfilled — those elements coming together make what is a

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Sarah Brightman piece. That’s all I can explain at this moment, but it’s much more complex than that.”

One of the most fascinating songs on the album is “Miracle,” written by Yoshiki of the heavy metal band X Japan. What was it about “Miracle” that made you want to record it?

“I’ve known Yoshiki for a while. I did an opera movie called ‘Repo!,’ directed by Darren Bousman, who did some of the ‘Saw’ movies. He asked me to do the movie and he said we’ve got a great artist called Yoshiki who’s producing the music. He’s a famous rock artist. I said I know all about him with X Japan. He’s kind of like the Freddie Mercury of Japan, very inventive. I got to know Yoshiki at that time and we got on very well. We met a few times during the years since that movie to talk about different things and ideas. Finally, Frank and I went to him and asked if he had any ideas for this (new album).

He said he’d been working on some contemporary classical pieces. He was playing piano beautifully and composing on piano. He said he had this piece called ‘Miracle,’ which he thought would be great for me because it’s very quiet with orchestra. He had a female singing the lead on the song when he performed at Carnegie Hall.

“I listened to it and I told Frank I thought it was a great piece and that I would really like to try it out.

It was quite a tricky one for me, because the song either requires a powerful, strong voice or it could go the other way and require one of those small, reedy voices. I’m kind of in between with my voice.

I worked very carefully, crafting out of my voice what I felt complements this piece in both ways.

Sometimes my voice is very rich and very full and sometimes it’s softer, like a siren. That was the result — a song full of hope about horizons. I’m very happy with it and I know Yoshiki is as well.”

Another stunning selection is your rendition of Ennio Morricone’s “Follow Me” from the 1962 version of “Mutiny on the Bounty,”

Sarah Brightman.

35 WAGMAG.COM Photograph

by Simon Fowler.

FEBRUARY 2019

starring Marlon Brando. Why was that song selected for the album?

“The ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ piece was something that Frank and I really loved when we first started working together. It was a piece that we’d often discussed. Those beautiful, cinematic pieces that people always (have) within their hearts or subliminally know them because of the movies.

This is a choir-oriented album. ‘Follow Me’ has that tropical choir sound that you hear in the movie (when) the islanders are singing together.”

You cover Paul Kalkbrenner’s “Sky and Sand,” a song that is popular with fans of electronic dance music. Do you know if there are plans for extended club remixes of your version in the works?

“There have been some made. I went and sang for a huge dance music festival in Germany. It’s one of the biggest. I went and opened it with that song. We did about three different versions that were more dance oriented. The version I have on the album is probably the more generic one of all the versions that I’ve done. I felt that for this album that would be the right one to include so that it would fit with everything else.”

Here in the U.S., country music is more popular than ever before. As an artist who has performed music from a variety of genres, do you think you might have a Nashville-style album in you?

“It’s interesting that you say that. I’ve sometimes thought about that. It’s a great idea, that one. Artistically and creatively, you can talk about something for years and not do it and then suddenly it’s the right time to do it as an artist. I’ve definitely thought about this kind of album.”

Put on some cowboy boots and a 10-gallon hat and you’re all set.

(Big laugh).

You are embarking on a multicity U.S. concert tour, including the performance at Radio City Music Hall this month. What can your fans expect from the “Hymn” tour?

“I’ve been filming a cinematic start-off, if you will, of these pieces. I learned a lot from doing this. We filmed it in Bavaria in a beautiful theater. What I learned is that if I’m to do the retrospective side of my work that people know and love me for years, I’ve decided to put them into one particular act and create scenes for them, almost like they’re on an operatic stage. I put a story behind them and threaded them all together. That will be the first half. The second half will be more like the usual type of concert you see with the choir behind me and the orchestra in front and me in the middle singing. With all of those voices behind me, it will be a wonderful outpouring of the album ‘Hymn.’ I’ve bathed the whole show in beautiful light design, because the album is about light and hope. I wanted people to get an extraordinary feeling from the light in it as well.”

How do you maintain your equilibrium over the course of performing more than 100 concerts, as you did in support of 2013’s “Dreamchaser” album?

“I never think about the amount of dates. I take everything day by day. Between albums and tours that I do, I do take a lot of time to work vocally with different singing coaches around the world, from opera and pop. I work with them so that my voice is strong and secure so I can take on, with energy, these kinds of tours that I do. I love traveling. For me, to travel from city to city with a group of wonderful creative people who are performing as well is actually a pleasure. I feel very privileged to do what I do. Yes, of course, it’s hard and you come back exhausted. But that doesn’t really happen until it’s all ended.”

Because so many people, especially those here in the states, first became aware of you through your work on the Broadway stage, do you think there might come a time when you would return to New York City in a new musical or revival production?

“Never say never. I can’t see it immediately now, but if something came up that felt right and I could fit into that glove, of course I would do it. I love film.

I love theater. Any involvement in those areas is always a wonderful thing.”

Sarah Brightman performs Feb. 6 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. For more, visit musichall-ny.org.

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Cher, ma chère

BY GINA GOUVEIA

IT’S EASY TO FIND THE LOVE IN CHER and, not

surprising then, that a musical, “The Cher Show,” opened on Broadway in December, depicting her remarkable career. One of the promotional ads for the show claims, “Superstars come and go. Cher is forever.” Hard to argue there. With a career spanning six decades — she has had a number-one selling single on the Billboard charts in each of them — Cher has given us anthems and songs full of hope, love and empowerment for all.

Her messages of inclusion particularly resonate with a broad fan base. We’ve danced to her hits, shared her trials and tribulations through three marriages and reveled in an icon with a singular voice that’s easy to identify. Her talents as a singer, together with her accomplishments as an actress and producer, have earned Cher a Grammy, an Oscar and three Golden Globes, the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and, most recently, acclaim as a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honoree.

“The Cher Show” came to life, with much input and involvement from Cher herself, who serves as one of the producers and has been hands-on in all aspects of the production. She elicited the help of the talented Rick Elice, who wrote the script for “Jersey Boys,” to tell her story, and three “Chers” were cast to play the legend at various points of her life — with Stephanie J. Block, the eldest and standout of the three, expected to receive a Tony Award nomination for her performance. The gowns, all by her ever-constant friend and design talent, Bob Mackie, are a show in themselves — with more than 30 created to reproduce some of her well-known showstoppers and many original ones for this production.

Even the most devoted fans will learn some-

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thing they didn’t know about this legend. From her early days as a backup singer to becoming one half of Sonny & Cher, her journey was, however, not always an easy one. Going out on her own after a painfully emotional and financially crippling break-up with Sonny Bono, she put in the work and took the risks to propel herself into a career as a successful solo artist.

How the show generated interest and support is a story that brought us to a local connection — two longtime Westchester County friends, Liz Bracken-Thompson of the public relations firm Thompson & Bender and Jean Marie Connolly of Altium Wealth, who committed to join a group of investors backing the production. Both Croton-on-Hudson residents, the two met years ago through The Business Council of Westchester, an organization each serves as a member of its executive committee.

They quickly established a strong friendship over common interests, both being passionate about philanthropy and the arts, especially Broadway shows.

Over lunch with them at the charming Russian Samovar Restaurant alongside the Neil Simon Theatre before a matinee performance of “The Cher Show” in mid-December, I learned more about these two interesting and dynamic ladies. Bracken-Thompson told me about meeting Cher back in 1982, when she was with Westchester Rockland Newspapers and interviewed her for an article in their TV Week publication. “I found her to be so authentic and down to earth and willing to engage. I remember that in talking about her child, Chastity, she told me, ‘I don’t care what she becomes, I just want her to be happy.’”

Both Liz and Jean Marie are happily married now and socialize frequently together with their

The cast of "The Cher Show."

Photograph by Joan Marcus.

39 FEBRUARY 2019 WAGMAG.COM

husbands, but each had been in prior marriages.

Getting back on their feet and building their careers required determination and strength, but as Liz said, “We’re survivors!” No wonder, then, that each was attracted to the show — the story of a powerful female with a voice that tells us to “believe.”

Jean Marie spoke about how each of them loves the Broadway experience and the great respect and admiration they have for the star, “so, we are just thrilled to be a part of it.” She instilled a love of the theater in her now 15-year old niece, Emma, taking her to shows annually in July for her birthday since she was a young girl. This year, to celebrate her Sweet 16, they have planned a special trip to attend a show in London’s West End. Both believe that Cher’s incredible involvement and personal investment of time with the show, the cast and many other aspects of the production will lead to a long and successful run on Broadway. Cher’s story, of someone who had strength and courage to blaze the trail, is like that of other strong females in her life. Her mother, Georgina Holt, is played skillfully by Emily Skinner, another standout who also does a brief turn as Lucille Ball, someone we learn provided Cher with much needed encouragement during her darker days.

And Jarrod Spector, in the role of the complicated Sonny, has had prior successes on Broadway

Liz Bracken-Thompson and Jean Marie Connolly. Photograph by Gina Gouveia.

— Tony-nominated for his performance as Barry Mann in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” Most notably, he played the role of Frank Valli in “Jersey Boys,” for a record-setting 1,500 performances.

With some of Cher’s biggest hits aptly woven into the unfolding narrative, the talented ensemble de-

livers energetic choreography throughout and is pretty easy on the eyes, too. As Liz and Jean Marie said, they were easily attracted to the “fun” aspect of the show. Go see it, learn a few new facts about your friend, Cher, and tell me you didn’t have a blast.

For more, visit thechershowbroadway.com.

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Soneva Jani, Medhufaru, Maldives. Style: Overwater World. Setting: Island Quintet. Photographs from “Mr & Mrs Smith Presents The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms (Thames & Hudson). © 2018 Polly Brown.

Courtesy Thames & Hudson.

Bed, bath and definitely beyond

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

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Hang out your “Do Not Disturb” sign and get set to curl up with 35 of the most seductive suites, courtesy of “Mr and Mrs Smith Presents The World’s Sexiest Bedrooms” (Thames & Hudson, $40, 296 pages). With snappy text by Sarah Jappy and peek-a-boo images by art photographer Polly Brown, the travel club Mr & Mrs Smith — no periods, please — takes hotel lovers on a tour of beds and baths where they can commune with their significant others or just themselves.

The settings are luxe and fabled. At the Aman Venice on the Grand Canal Perch, the white linens are crisp, the chandeliers gilded, the ceiling reliefs rococo. You half expect Casanova to

saunter in, or George and Amal, who had their wedding there.

At Keemala in Phuket, Thailand, a bed swathed in gauze curtains spills out through open floor-toceiling panels and gathered drapes unto a deck and then a pool that seems to alight on nature’s leafy canopy. Talk about your tree houses.

At Cliveden in bucolic Berkshire, England — once the home of the Duke of Buckingham’s married mistress, the Countess of Shrewsbury, and the place where politician John Profumo fell in lust with model Christine Keeler — the red and green tapestried living room off the Prince of Wales suite will make you feel as if you’re about to encounter

Singita Lebombo Lodge, Kruger National Park, South Africa. Style: Animal Attraction. Setting: By the N’wanetsi River.

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Lady Mary or her dishy hubby, Matthew Crawley.

Two pair of feet peek out from under the covers.

Bare arms mimic the nymph who sits atop a table clock — and shields the imitator’s bare bosom.

Clearly, there’s plenty of time for nooky here as light dapples a breakfast tray in Monteverdi in Tuscany, Italy; or twin claw-foot tubs brim with azure bathwater at Coqui Coqui Mérida Residence & Spa in Yucatán, Mexico; or a rumpled bed meets the water’s edge at Soneva Jani in Medhufaru, Maldives.

But all play and no sightseeing makes Jack and Jill dull boys and girls, so each selection contains a “Worth Getting Out of Bed for” entry, along with those on “Bedtime,” “Food and Drink” and, for fashionistos, “Dress Code.” (We love the “Dress Code” entry for Palazzo Margherita in Basilicata, Italy — “Don Corleone gone a-courting: crisp white shirts, cashmere and Italian shoes for the Mr; siren-sexy frocks and arched Italianate eyebrows for the Mrs.) Not all of the selections are to our liking. Some of the hotels — modern, brick, rectangular — resemble desert motels or prison camps. But as with love, to each his own.

For more, visit thamesandhudsonusa.com.

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Floral fantasy

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Something magical happens when you’re on the expressway to or from Singapore’s Changi Airport: You notice that not only is the highway pristine, but it is lined with orchids. Orchids dominate the island city-state at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula to such an extent that the Singapore Botanic Gardens — the only botanical garden to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is off a main artery, Orchard Street. (Think Broadway meets Fifth Avenue).

So, it’s no wonder that when the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in the Bronx was casting about for an idea for its 17th annual Orchid Show, it reached out to its Singapore counterparts, which include the immersive Gardens by the Bay. The show (Feb. 23 to April 28), always a hugely popular respite from winter, will include a roundup of the usual dazzling suspects in myriad varieties, ready to steal your heart away. But what will make this truly an unusual presentation is the way it will replicate architectural and environmental features of Singapore’s orchid displays.

The main attraction within the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the National Orchid Garden has more than 1,000 species and more than 2,000 hybrids, which join with other tropical species to festoon its archways.

The Bronx landmark will offer its interpretation of the celebrated archways in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

The artful supertrees — vertical gardens — in its Gardens by the Bay, from which orchids cascade, also contain photovoltaic cells that harness solar energy. The NYBG will salute the supertrees with dancing lady, rainbow, cane and Asian corsage orchids among those featured.

There will also be examples from NYBG’s own collection, demonstrating its commitment to orchid cultivation and conservation, as well as a series of Orchid Evenings for adults. As usual there will be a variety of related books and products in the NYBG Shop and, no doubt, some orchid- and Singapore-inspired fare at the Hudson Garden Grill.

All of which will bring a touch of Singapore to another island city that is a world unto itself.

For more, visit nybg.org.

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The New York Botanical Garden’s 17th annual “Orchid Show” will recreate the Arches of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

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Birdstone Farm

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nspired by the warmth of an English Country House, this lovely 4BR, 4.2 Bath home displays architectural integrity & old world craftsmanship. Built in 2004, the house abounds w/understated elegance & custom appointments. The details of this home includes 10’ ceilings, oak flooring, custom cabinetry, 5 fplcs, picture windows & French doors. Among the refined spaces is the pine paneled entrance hall, & the classically proportioned LR & DR, each offering sweeping views of the hunt country beyond. This unique property includes a turnkey Equestrian complex adjacent to the NS Open Land. The house presides over 12 acres, contiguous to 150 acres of conservation land.

Miles of riding & walking trails. Creekside Farm has a 6 stall barn & a 2 stall shed barn. 2 storage and tractor sheds. Chicken coop. The facility includes 3 large fields, 4 paddocks, 2 medical paddocks, & a 100’ x 180’ outdoor ring. MLS#4901371 Price: $3,750,000

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Tried and true

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

The redesigned Tiffany & Co. at The Westchester in White Plains is a narrative of love — a love affair with its customers.

It begins with 360-degree cases that allow you to try on baubles, bangles and beads — so to speak — yourself. It sweeps you into the Wheat Leaf Pavilion where the 182-year-old company’s iconic diamond engagement rings are joined by the new Tiffany True design. It envelopes you in curated spaces for color-block home and garden offerings, fragrances, children’s treasures and a personalization counter for engraving while you wait in intimate sitting areas. Finally, it enables you to have your selections and experience all wrapped up and ready to go at the Blue Box

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Tiffany True engagement rings in platinum with a white diamond and 18-karat gold with a fancy yellow diamond. Courtesy Tiffany & Co.

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FEBRUARY 2019

Wrapping Station.

Everything about and in the reimagined 4,500-square-foot space has a fresh, modern feel, from the wheat leaf glazed glass detailing to the whimsical robots at play in side vitrines to chief artistic officer Reed Krakoff’s sparely elegant takes on the company’s Atlas collection and key-shaped creations.

His Tiffany True diamond ring — Tiffany’s first new engagement ring in 10 years — offers the same crisp, clean lines. The square, mixed-cut diamond, unique to Tiffany, has a T-shaped detail in the setting and a platinum band and sits low on the finger, a fitting metaphor for a luxe jewelry and silver emporium that is in the words

of Richard Moore, divisional vice president of global store design and creative visual merchandising, moving away from “a permissions-based shopping experience.”

And yet, in refreshing its looks, Tiffany has gone back to the future. Elsa Peretti — she of the open hearts — and Paloma Picasso, with her irresistible olive leaf climber earrings, continue to be mainstays, as do Jean Schlumberger’s organic, enameled creations. The wheat leaf turns out to be a traditional motif. And the company’s commitment to service is as it ever was.

In other words, in modernizing, Tiffany has stayed true to itself.

For more, visit tiffany.com.

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M Mending broken hearts

BY LAURA JOSEPH MOGIL

SRIHARI S. NAIDU knew he wanted to become a

doctor from an early age, following in the footsteps of his father, who was an esteemed cardiologist.

“I loved the fact that he had great relationships with his patients and had a tremendous work ethic. I really wanted to emulate him,” says Naidu, a native of Scarsdale who lives in Manhattan.

Naidu is now director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories and of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy program at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. He is a world-renowned interventional cardiology expert in minimally invasive treatments of heart disease.

His path leading to his field of expertise started at Brown University, where he attended college and medical school.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I soon discovered that cardiology was a field where you could use your brain to diagnose problems and your hands to be technically astute to try to fix things.”

Naidu then went to NewYork-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center for his residency and attended the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania for a cardiology fellowship. While at the University of Pennsylvania, Naidu first thought that he wanted to become a heart transplant doctor, but changed his mind after doing his rotation in interventional cardiology.

“Interventional cardiology is a field where doctors use catheters to reach different areas of the heart, from blockages of the arteries to holes

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in the heart to valves that have gotten rusty or tight over time. As opposed to open-heart surgery, interventional methods imply that you are using minimally invasive methods to intervene on the heart.”

Naidu is recognized as one of the leading interventional cardiology experts in treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.

“The disease is basically genetic, but it doesn’t usually trigger a problem until at least your teenage years, if not, during your 20s to 40s. Some parts of the heart wall get so thick that they bulge in and block the aortic valve and that causes an obstruction.”

Patients who have this disease tend to experience shortness of breath, often pass out or have arrhythmias, where the heart goes very fast. This is a major reason why some young athletes die suddenly because their hearts beat too fast to sustain life, typically when overexercising.

Later in life the muscle problem causes more heart failure, with patients not being able to circulate enough blood. This makes them tired, dizzy and likely to experience shortness of breath.

“This is a condition where there was not much you could do to treat it without open heart surgery until 20 years ago when they came up with a procedure called alcohol septal ablasion,” Naidu says.

Alcohol septal ablasion uses a catheter to get into the arteries of the heart and find the small artery that is going to the affected muscle. “We

Srihari S. Naidu.

Courtesy Westchester Medical Center.

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are using 100 percent alcohol, which is directly toxic to heart muscle, to infuse the area that’s too thick and basically shrink it down.

“The University of Pennsylvania was one of the few places in the country where they were doing this procedure, so I learned it back in 2004. When I took my first job at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, they had never done one, so I started getting patients and it evolved from there because I was ahead of the curve.”

Naidu developed the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment center at Cornell, performing their first series of alcohol septal ablations. He then grew it to more than 800 patients and more than 130 alcohol ablations at NYU Winthrop Hospital on Long Island.

According to Naidu, it wasn’t until he brought the program to Westchester Medical Center in 2016 that it truly blossomed. Working with Julio Panza, the chief of cardiology, Naidu now oversees a center where they perform some 25 to 30 alcohol septal ablations a year.

Both Naidu and Panza shared the vision that the medical center could become a mecca for treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. “Patients come not only from the tristate area but from as far away as Oklahoma, Idaho and Seattle,” Naidu says. In addition to the alcohol septal ablations, the center is able to offer other options to correct

I WASN’T SURE WHAT I WANTED TO DO, BUT I SOON DISCOVERED THAT CARDIOLOGY WAS A FIELD WHERE YOU COULD USE YOUR BRAIN TO DIAGNOSE PROBLEMS AND YOUR HANDS TO BE TECHNICALLY ASTUTE TO TRY TO FIX THINGS. — Srihari S. Naidu

the condition, depending on what is best for the patient. Other treatments include medical therapy, device placement, open-heart surgery and heart transplantation.

Among the many other reasons patients come to see Naidu is because he is one of the leading experts in treating young stroke patients with a condition called patent foramen ovale (PFO), a

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hole in the heart that people are born with. “Everyone is born with that hole, which allows blood and food to get from mother to child before the baby is born. When babies are born, 80 percent of the holes close up and 20 percent stay open.”

Those people in whom the hole does not close are at higher risk for a number of diseases, including stroke, migraines and other conditions such as high-altitude sickness.

“We’ve done a series of trials over the last 10 years and several have shown that if a young person, less than age 55, has a stroke and you close that hole, you reduce the risk of a second stroke by 75 to 80 percent,” Naidu says.

During the procedure patients are awake and catheters go through their legs and up into their heart. “One is a tiny ultrasound that sits in the heart and looks at the hole. Through the other leg, we thread up wire and put in a disc-like device with wire mesh that closes the hole,” he explains.

Naidu has been doing this procedure for strokes since 2004, but it wasn’t formally approved in a large-scale way until two years ago.

“I’ve done about 200 PFO closures in the past 15 years, and I haven’t had a single patient who’s had a second stroke. That procedure has really revolutionized stroke management in young people.”

For more, visit naiducardiology.com.

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Going micro on the big day

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

MOVE OVER,

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” In the wedding-friendly Hudson Valley, along with the rest of the country, an increasing number of couples are thinking small when it comes to one of the most important moments in their lives.

While extravagant weddings in large ballrooms are still a staple of the region’s wedding scene, many couples are choosing more intimate gatherings, often in nontraditional venues such as barns, historic homes, farms and wineries. The industry has come up with a term for weddings with a tight circle of family and close friends — microweddings.

The wedding website The Knot talks to 13,000 brides and grooms in the U.S. each year for its Real Weddings study. The most recent survey found weddings had an average of 136 guests in 2017, down from 149 in 2009.

Angela Christoforo, owner and lead wedding planner for Elite Wedding and Event Planning in Saugerties, said she has noticed an increase in weddings with between five and 50 guests in the past couple years. Her firm specializes in planning weddings in nontraditional venues in the Hudson Valley including Westchester and other parts of New York.

“When I started my business seven years ago, I would say I probably never did a small wedding. The average was around 120,” Christoforo says. “Now it’s becoming a split. Either they want very large or they say, ‘I’ve been to so many weddings, I just don’t like the whole vibe of having to go around and say hello to 200 people and not get to enjoy the day as much.’”

For been-there, done-that couples, Christoforo says the smaller weddings offer a chance to skip wedding traditions they’re uninterested in and focus instead on a close-knit group of guests.

The term microwedding doesn’t yet have an offi-

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cial definition — is it 50 guests? 25? But the term is a clear enough part of wedding lexicon that it made its way into The New York Times last year with the headline: “What to Know About Having a Microwedding.”

Microweddings offer the opportunity for cost savings, as most weddings are paid for by the plate.

Brides and grooms in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley spent an average of $55,357 in 2017 on weddings, according to The Knot. That is fourth highest in the country, behind only the area’s neighbors in Manhattan, north and central New Jersey and Long Island.

Christoforo said couples planning smaller weddings typically pay in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, whereas a wedding for 100 often reaches at least $80,000. Couples who opt for microweddings often forgo extra costs such as additional flowers or a live band or DJ. But, as The Knot data show, there are other ways to spoil guests. While the average number of guests per wedding may have decreased in the past decade, The Knot noted the $268 couples spent on the average guest in 2017 is up from $194 in 2009.

One challenge for the microwedding, Christoforo says, is finding the right venue. Many venues have spaces that just aren’t quite right for the smaller group.

But venues have started to advertise themselves as microwedding destinations. Just outside of Beacon is Fishkill’s Lambs Hill, a mountainside estate that promotes microweddings through its website. The rustic farmhouse style venue, with 180-degree views of the Catskills, can accommodate a maximun of 50 people.

“We have horses and donkeys. It’s meant to have the charm of an old farm from 100 years ago,” says Charlotte Guernsey, owner of Lambs Hill.

“We have a French Normandy-inspired barn with

Lambs Hill, just outside Beacon and featured here and on following page, specializes in weddings of 50 guests or fewer. Photographs courtesy Lambs Hill.

reclaimed brick and stone to match themes from Beacon in the Industrial Age.” Guernsey, who is also principal broker for Gate House Realty in Beacon, started offering weddings at Lambs Hill in 2008, shortly after she was married there. “We really wanted to create a space for people who don’t want a lot of guests, who want just family and friends,” she says.

The space hosts several weddings each year, Guernsey adds, but has “kicked it up a notch” recently in advertising as a wedding space. She has also opened a successful spinoff bridal boutique in downtown Beacon. Guernsey saw the term microwedding in an article in 2017 and recognized it as a way to explain her venue to potential couples.

The idea of a microwedding “makes sense for me,” she says. “You’re spending less money and it’s more quality time with the people you really care about and you can give those people a really great experience.”

Also in Beacon, Roger Greenwald’s Inn and Spa at Beacon started promoting microweddings at his intimate 10-room hotel this year after being approached by several wedding planners inquiring about the space.

“We serve a community that has a difficult time finding establishments to host their events,” Greenwald says. “Big wedding houses are often not as interested in weddings with under a hundred guests.”

The Inn and Spa’s intimate confines make the

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space ideal for weddings between 20 and 30 guests, he says, with a maximum of 50. The inn features a rooftop garden with a dance floor that commands views of the Hudson River and Mount Beacon. Inside, there’s an all-season terrarium and, of course, spa treatments.

Greenwald, an architect, opened the Inn and Spa in 2017. He said the space offers “a quality of intimacy. People come in and they feel they are in a warm and human-scale environment.”

For more, visit lambshill.com; innspabeacon. com; or elitewedevents.com.

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Nancy DeRosa shares her favorite recipes in the "Food For Thought" web series that accompanies her novels . Photographs courtesy Nancy DeRosa.

Food for mind and body

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

A

A heart-shaped box of chocolates is always appreciated. But how about pairing that pleasure with a heartfelt confection of a book that’s rich in love, food and friendship? Westchester author Nancy DeRosa has cooked up something that promises to be tantalizingly sweet just in time for Valentine’s Day. DeRosa’s new novel, “Food for Thought: Just Desserts” (Black Opal Books), is the latest installment in the author’s “Food for Thought” series. In dinner terms, it’s the third course in the evolution of DeRosa’s main character, Emma Craven, as she chases her dreams in love and life. As Emma soon discovers, most grown-up dreams defy expectations. Life is messy but “Everything we do is shared around a meal,” she says.

DeRosa’s food-centric books chronicle her characters’ journeys toward acceptance and growth.

“And food is part of everything,” she adds. Wheth-

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er the story develops over a picnic, in a diner, at a restaurant or during an argument around the family table, “food becomes the prop while social interaction takes place,” DeRosa says. “If the family fights, the chicken loses its glisten. The spinach wilts.”

Described as a mix of “Sex and the City” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary” with a little Food Network sprinkled on top, Emma’s story began in the first installment of the series, “Food for Thought; First Course” (Black Opal Press, 2016).

“First Course” follows Emma and four single friends as they gather each Saturday evening to taste every menu in the tristate area. “Food becomes the thread,” DeRosa says. Her characters’ stories weave together over long meals and good conversation with all five women in various stages of personal development, each one embodying relatable character traits. “They’re a composite of everyone (I know), including myself,” she says. The women’s initial plan to sample the entirety of tristate food offerings is borne out of a need, not only to bond, but to expand the chance of flirtatious interactions and avoid the loneliness of date night without a date. “They’re not perfect heroines,” DeRosa says.

For Emma, the plan works. She finally meets love interest Gary, a chef, at a fictional location inspired

by Ruby’s Oyster Bar & Bistro in Rye. DeRosa, a Purchase resident, had fun creating the scenes that form the backdrop to her story lines by taking inspiration from area restaurants.

Emma’s saga continues in “Food for Thought: Second Course “(Black Opal Books, 2017). She has

become too caught up in Gary’s dream of restaurant ownership, placing her own dreams on the backburner. She struggles with prospective in-law relationships, feels threatened by Gary’s former love interest and squabbles over wedding and honeymoon plans. In order for her relationship to work, she must find a way to make things palatable. Ultimately, Emma learns to communicate her needs to Gary and determines it’s her own responsibility not to compromise who she really is at heart.

In the latest installment, “Just Desserts,” which hit shelves Jan. 26, Emma continues to navigate the bitter disappointments and dashed expectations that accompany success. She’s pregnant and “all she craves is desserts.” But she now grapples with the pitfalls of young marriage. “She’s resentful that nothing changes for (her husband) when she has to shelve her dream,” DeRosa says. “(This book) deals with how she’s losing her voice and how she regains it.” Emma is learning how to stomach imperfections and love herself first. But as she stumbles toward maturity, she has moments when she crumbles like the pear pies with cheddar rosemary crust she ruins in Chapter 38. “(The series) is fast paced, fun and funny but also poignant,” DeRosa adds.

A graduate of Purchase College, DeRosa began her literary career with the children’s book “Lazy Robert,” as well as two women’s novels, “There’s No Place like Home” and “A Penny’s Worth.” But her “Food for Thought” series has been the impetus for the project keeping her busy lately.

She’s been filming segments of “Food for Thought: The Series, A Slice of Life with Author Nancy DeRosa,” a web series loosely based on the books. Produced by Starbaby Enterprises, the food-centric show, which will be streaming soon on Footprint TV, among other sites, will feature DeRosa demonstrating favorite dishes. “I’ve always been comfortable in the kitchen. It’s a joy to me to share family recipes.” Her favorite recipe to share is her Portuguese grandmother’s chicken and rice, she says. Her grandmother passed it on from previous generations. “When I share that recipe and others make it a part of their lives, I feel like I’ve become part of their lives, too.”

DeRosa eventually plans to include local food establishments and products into her segments.

It’s a way for her to explore the culinary aspect of her books. As for the characters? “They would lend themselves so well to television,” she says, “It’s a very relationship-driven, dialogue-driven series.”

Because of that, she’s turned her attention to other areas of development. “How do we bring the series to life on multiplatforms?”

But fans who are hungry for more of Emma and her friends should take note that DeRosa is considering the fourth installment in the “Food for Thought” series, to be titled “After Dinner

The “Food for Thought” series at Barnes & Noble Eastchester.

Drinks.” “I feel like (the characters) are friends of mine,” she says. “I want to bring them into when they’re 40 and dealing with family and career.

What happens in that mid place of life? What are those challenges and losses?”

As for now, “Just Desserts” is fresh on the shelves of Barnes & Noble and readers can savor the continued story of Emma Craven as she learns how to have her cake — and eat it, too.

For more, visit derosabooks.com.

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The funny DeCicco

W

BY JENA A. BUTTERFIELD

When comic Regina DeCicco takes the stage, her exuberance and comic timing command the audience’s attention. After years of stand-up, she’s honed her performance. But it’s her vocal cords — genetically tuned to a lower register — that influence her shtick.

As soon as DeCicco opens her mouth, out comes a career-defining voice. She compares the sound of it to that of a geriatric smoker or the raspy actor Harvey Fierstein. “It’s a fun calling card,” she says before adding, “I have a 2-year-old niece who actually called me Uncle Regina.”

To up the funny, she doesn’t have to stretch much to capture the croak of cartoon legends like Marge Simpson, Roz (the slug lady) from Monster’s Inc. and — the one she gets most often — the bigoted rapscallion, Eric Cartman, from South Park.

“I wouldn’t notice how deep and raspy (my voice) is,” she says. Then other comics started to point it out.

It’s a voice just distinct enough that audiences immediately tune in to it. When DeCicco acknowledges the trait during her act, the crowd often explodes with laughter in confirmation that they noticed, too. She says even in casual conversation she’ll allude to it being unique and the response is often “That’s what I was thinking.”

“There’s a therapeutic element, too, for other women who have that voice,” she says. “It’s wild how comedy can connect you.”

Her ease and willingness to engage an audience has led DeCicco to her most recent day job.

Since the end of November, she can be found weekday mornings warming up the audience at ABC’s talk show “The View.”

“I’d officially never warmed up an audience before,” she says. But after she realized how natural it felt, her career trajectory seemed to become clearer. She realized “Oh, this is a perfect fit.”

DeCicco had already begun interacting with her crowds more by preference. “I was doing more and more crowd work in 2018,” she says, adding that a lot of work goes in to every joke. The jokes are per-

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Comedian Regina DeCicco on set at ABC’s morning talk show “The View.”

AT "THE VIEW," AUDIENCE MEMBERS HAVE APPROACHED HER TO ASK, “CAN YOU COME HOME WITH ME AND WAKE ME UP IN THE MORNING?”

fected through repetition so there winds up being a lot of acting to make the material sound fresh, she believes. “You’re acting like you just got off the subway,” she says. She started noticing that audience interaction came naturally to her. “(That way) every show is new to me so I can stay excited.”

“I like to have as much fun with the audience as I can,” she says. “I’m high energy by nature.” At “The View,” audience members have approached her to ask, “Can you come home with me and wake me up in the morning?”

In January, DeCicco put those rallying chops

to work again at The Bell House in Brooklyn for a stand-up special taped for television featuring Fran Drescher. She warmed up the audience for the show “Women of a Certain Age.” Hers is a name of a certain repute. “Especially in Westchester,” she says. She is indeed a member of the family that runs the eponymous supermarket chain. In fact, sometimes audience members approach her and say, “I’m gonna go in (to the market) and tell them I met a family member.”

DeCicco now lives on the Upper West Side but was born in the Bronx and moved to Rockland County at the age of 2. But with so many DeCicco store locations in Westchester, that’s where the family spent much of their time.

Being one of the few family members who veered in another direction “at first it was a little difficult,” she says. Her family moved from Italy in 1958 and has grown the higher-end food market business exponentially, keeping it in the family, since 1973. The business expanded from the Bronx into Westchester County in 1985. The family shares responsibility for six locations as well as the original Westchester store in Pelham. “It was an American dream story what they did,” she says.

Now DeCicco & Sons (the sons being her broth-

er and two cousins) is a business that involves the whole family. Well, almost the whole family. DeCicco jokes that the market should be called “DeCicco & Everybody But Regina.”

“I worked in the stores growing up,” she says. But after graduating from Barnard College in Manhattan, she was drawn to television work. In the early days of her career she worked behind the scenes for shows like “Saturday Night Live” and Whoopi Goldberg’s NBC sitcom, “Whoopi,” then went on to train at the Upright Citizens Brigade.

“I would always bring my parents to everything I did,” she says. So, they would have an understanding of an industry that was foreign to them.

“They could see how passionate I was and they were happy to support me.”

DeCicco’s Italian heritage has made its way into her act. She performs all over the country in a twohour, casino style variety show, The Italian Chicks.

“I talk a lot about my (late) nonna,” she said. “I get to very much keep her alive.”

Among other accolades, DeCicco was voted Lower Hudson Valley’s Funniest Person in 2011 and loves to perform this side of Manhattan.

“Westchester has a really big variety of performance spaces,” she says, noting bigger venues like

the Emelin Theatre, Lucy’s Lounge in Pleasantville and Yonkers Comedy Club in Ridge Hill. In November, she performed at “The Makeup Date” at Bloomingdale’s White Plains and, last month, at the Brewster Ice Arena and nearby Tilly’s Table.

On “The View,” she’s part of a show that’s been a platform for legendary comedic voices like Joy Behar and the woman she worked for when she was starting out 15 years ago, Whoopi Goldberg. “That was a coincidence,” she says. But it taught her an important life lesson.

“My best advice is just to be a good person and be nice,” she says. “You don’t know who is going to pop back into your life. Imagine if I’d been a terrible person.”

Always a DeCicco loyalist, she brings her family to “The View,” including her 100-year-old grandpa.

And she’s not afraid to give him an order to clap as loud as he can. “I’ll say, ‘Sell it, grandpa.’”

With her big Italian family behind her as her star rises, DeCicco is certain she’s right where she belongs.

“The crew today at ‘The View’ gave me a present,” she says. It was a Cartman bobble head. And the card read “Welcome to the team.”

For more, visit reginadecicco.com.

The Schoolhouse Theater & Art Center Friday, February 1ST

LoHud comedy is back with Charles McBee, Liz Barrett, Adam Oliensis

Saturday, February 16TH

Peter Calo & Anne Carpenter Valentines Concert Playing the music of Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon

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'Downton' spinoffs

BY PHIL HALL

GREAT BRITAIN’S MOST

celebrated residence, not counting Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street, may be Highclere Castle, the magnificent estate that stars in “Downton Abbey.” The emotional journeys of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants have inspired 110,000 visitors each year to seek out the historic residence in the county of Hampshire.

But “Downton Abbey” has also inspired someone in a most unusual way. Adam von Gootkin — a self-described serial entrepreneur in Connecticut who launched the award-winning Onyx Moonshine line in 2010 after successful forays into real estate and digital technology — was looking for an opportunity to expand his business portfolio. But the right idea eluded him until one evening while he was watching television.

“The show ‘Downton Abbey’ was on,” he recalls.

“After the show, there was a PBS special on the real Downton Abbey, so I watched it for an hour and learned all about Highclere Castle — a 5,000acre fully functioning English country home. And I learned about Lord and Lady Carnarvon and the great history of entertaining at Highclere Castle.”

While von Gootkin was impressed with the castle’s rich history, he was even more appreciative of the business focus that the Carnarvons brought to their estate. These were not the idle rich by any stretch, but rather a couple who run their estate with a professionalism that would put many executives to shame.

“They were very entrepreneurial and very hard working at maintaining the estate,” he says.

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Von Gootkin, working under his Julii Luxury Brands LLC corporate operation, reached out to the Carnarvons with several ideas that he believed would expand Highclere Castle into hitherto-untapped business channels. To his delight, the couple responded happily to his outreach.

“Lord and Lady Carnarvon invited my wife and I to be guests for the weekend,” he says, describing the aristocratic couple as “fantastic, humble, intelligent, insightful, caring people. That’s what made this a business partnership — and they are partners. This is not a licensing deal.”

The first outreach in von Gootkin’s partnership with the Carnarvons was Highclere Castle Cigars.

Lord Carnarvon is a cigar fan, and his celebrated great-grandfather, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, helped discover King Tut’s tomb in 1922 with a cigar in his hand. Von Gootkin connected Lord Carnarvon with Nick Melillo, owner of Foundation Cigar Co. in Windsor, Connecticut, to fashion a new cigar brand that tapped into Highclere Castle’s history and ambience.

“Nick had access to very rare and expensive tobaccos,” von Gootkin says. “We were able to model the aroma and flavor profile of the cigar after the style of cigars that were smoked at Highclere Castle around the 1900s. The result is a really creamy, super high-quality cigar that smokes like a cigar from 120 years ago.”

The Highclere Castle Cigars trace their tobacco to Nicaragua. Von Gootkin notes that it is still illegal to sell Cuban tobacco in the U.S., but he points out that many Cubans who fled the Castro regime settled in

Highclere Castle Cigars and Highclere Castle Gin, following page, are two of the many ventures of the eighth Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.

69 FEBRUARY 2019 WAGMAG.COM Photographs by Nick Caito.

Nicaragua and “spent their lives perfecting the art of growing tobacco.” He notes that the packaging of the Highclere Castle Cigars is also befitting its aristocratic brand.

“The box is hand-chiseled from sustainably grown red cedar on Nicaragua’s eastern coast,” he says.

Highclere Castle Cigars went on sale in the United States and the United Kingdom in October 2017, and reviews from professional cigar critics were as rich as the tobacco blend. Jordan Guttormson of Cigar Dojo wrote: “Moving into the meat of the cigar, it’s hard not to note the smooth texture and delicate flavors of butterscotch, butter and wheat. This is balanced by salted nuts and white pepper, helping to keep the profile from becoming dull. The profile is then joined by a rock candy sweetness, marking the ‘sweet spot’ (no pun intended) of the toro.”

Online cigar aficionado Phil “Katman” Kohn praised the “big smoky cigar,” adding that “plumes of it should set off my smoke detectors. Black pepper with a touch of red pepper makes a perfect combo. Nice … The burn is absolutely flawless.”

For an encore, von Gootkin and the Carnarvons have teamed for Highclere Castle Gin, the first product of its Highclere Castle Spirits brand. For this, the Highclere Castle grounds offered the ingredients.

“We have botanicals grown on the estate, including lavender planted by the Bishops of Winchester in the 1600s, juniper, oranges that have grown in the Victorian-era orangery — even the oats planted on the estate used to sell to very high-end thoroughbred racehorses, including the Queen’s racehorses,” von Gootkin says.

Working with Langley Distillery, Britain’s largest gin manufacturer, von Gootkin and the Carnarvons went through 24 recipes before hitting on a blend that they considered to be perfect.

“We wanted it to be a gin that was not too weird or strange or risky, but also new and fun,” von Gootkin says. “By having botanicals from estate, it is robust and floral. It is different from any gin that anyone’s ever had, but in a high-end, super-elegant way.

It’s benefitting of the name and destination.”

Highclere Castle Gin was previewed on this side of the Atlantic last November at an exclusive tasting held at Manhattan’s SoHo Grand Hotel. Von Gootkin is scheduling a wide retail release in the first quarter of this year, with sales planned across the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy and Australia, as well as in the duty-free shops in the Caribbean, Dubai and North Africa.

Of course, cigars and gin may not seem like staples in today’s health-obsessed routines, and von Gootkin advises any usage of tobacco and alcohol should be in moderation. But, at the same time, he believes that the Highclere Castle brands can help find the pause button in today’s digital age.

“People are taking the time to sit down in their busy lives, relax, enjoy quality products with a friend,” he says. “Through that process, you can find it is relaxing, therapeutic and meditative.”

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See Africa as only an insider can Bring your camera and learn how to capture some amazing moments.

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Rich in romance

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

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Lady and Lord Carnarvon.

Photographs by John Rizzo and courtesy Highclere Castle.

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WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE?

“It works when both sides love each other and help with each other’s concerns,” said George Reginald Oliver Molyneux Herbert, the eighth Earl of Carnarvon.

It might also help to live in one of the most felicitous places on the face of God’s green earth. With its crenellated Victorian manor house, sweeping park and farm lands, intimate gardens and neoclassical follies — not to mention an antiquities collection steeped in mystique — Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, is, Lord Carnarvon says, “a romantic place.”

It’s also a particularly well-known one. Lovers of the big and small screens will recognize it from “Jeeves and Wooster,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” Stanley Kubrick’s last film, to name but of few of its credits.

But it is undoubtedly best known to viewers as the setting for “Downton Abbey” (2010-15), one of the most popular and acclaimed series in TV history. Set between 1912 and 1926 as England weathered the sinking of the Titanic and World War I while encountering challenges to its class system and views of women, “Downton Abbey” told the upstairs-downstairs story of the Crawley family, led by the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and their servants. Highclere was used for the exteriors and most of the interiors, with the staff rooms recreated at Ealing Studios in London.

“We love (‘Downton’ creator) Julian Fellowes,” said Fiona, Countess of Carnarvon. The screenwriter-director had looked at Highclere Castle for “Gosford Park,” his 2001 mystery film set on a grand estate, Lady Carnarvon said. Though Wrotham Park and Syon House would both double as the titular home in “Gosford,” Fellowes remembered Highclere when he was casting about for a great country seat to play Downton, she added.

WAG had an opportunity to talk with the Carnarvons during a launch party at the SoHo Grand Hotel in Manhattan for Highclere Castle Gin, a smooth, creamy product made of botanicals from the estate that launches in early spring and represents one of the couple’s many ventures. (Another is the Connecticut-connected Highclere Castle Cigars. See related story.) With its red and green library-like Club Room and spectacular views of midtown from the Loft North terrace, the SoHo Grand proved a fitting setting for the event. A pianist, Héloïse Pieaud, offered a variety of romantic selections, including the “Downton” theme, written by John Lunn, “Did I Make the Most of Loving You?” If love and a regard for each other are the ingredients of a successful marriage, so, too, might be complementary natures. Dressed in pinstripes, Lord Carnarvon percolated. In leopard print, Lady 74

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Carnarvon bubbled. Both charmed with their down-to-earth graciousness.

Together, they are enthusiastic farmers, growing visibly excited as they talked about their farm and livestock. Highclere works more than 2,000 acres of arable land, producing oats for equine and human consumption, milling and feed wheat, barley, haylage, winter oilseed rape, linseed and winter beans. Other areas support stubble, maize, wildflowers and a variety of wildlife.

A large flock of sheep grazes 1,400 acres in Highclere Park. There’s another 1,000 acres of mixed woodlands that the family has cultivated, working with farm manager Simon Andrews.

Highclere Horse Feeds’ array of oats, hay and grain plays a key role in the racing community.

Highclere Superior Oats has fueled winners of more than 560 races that have earned $11.4 million in prize money.

“In fact, it was Lord Carnarvon's addition of oats that gives our gin its distinctive creaminess,” said Ted Yang, a co-founder of Highclere Castle Spirits, of which the gin is the first product. “It is a great pleasure to work with people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their heritage. They are truly stewards of Highclere and, I’m happy to say, are deeply involved in what we do, ensuring that the Highclere products are as authentic and elegant as they can be.”

Not surprisingly, then, for the proprietors of a place whose story stretches back to the Iron Age, the Carnarvons are also lovers of history. In medieval times, the site housed the palace of the bishops of Winchester. In the 17th century, it came into the possession of the Carnarvons’ Herbert ancestors, who set about transforming the estate. A century later, its brick and freestone house became a classical Georgian manor in a bucolic setting. It was in 1838, however, that the third Earl of Carnarvon, brought in architect Charles Barry to turn the house into the grand mansion that viewers know today, Lady Carnarvon said.

Yang was lucky enough to tour the house with her ladyship. “It was amazing listening to her tell the story of each room and we quickly drew a crowd. But what struck me most was a casual family photo, just like you would find in your own house — except this photo had the Queen (Elizabeth II, Lord Carnarvon’s godmother) in it.”

Lady Carnarvon is a historian by profession and has written two Highclere books — “Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey,” about her husband’s grandparents, and “Lady Amina and the Real Downton Abbey,” about his great-grandparents. “Lady Amina” is of particular interests to “Downton” fans and Egyptologists alike. “Downton” buffs will notice a similarity between Ami-

TOGETHER, THEY ARE ENTHUSIASTIC FARMERS, GROWING VISIBLY EXCITED AS THEY TALKED ABOUT THEIR FARM AND LIVESTOCK.

na and the fictional Countess of Grantham. Both came from money. (Amina was the natural daughter of banker Alfred de Rothschild.) And both turned their august homes into hospitals during World War I. Amina’s husband, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, was an amateur Egyptologist, who with archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb with all its splendors. When, however, this Earl of Carnarvon died of an infected razor cut on March 19, 1923 in Cairo, the curse of King Tut’s tomb was born. (Back at Highclere,

his faithful dog, Susie, is said to have howled at the precise moment that the earl died and then keeled over, adding to the mystique.)

Highclere contains a permanent exhibit of many artifacts the fifth earl collected. It’s one of the highlights you can enjoy on tours, including the special guided winter tours, which conclude March 16 and 17. Winter events also include a Valentine’s Day Tea Feb. 16 and 17 and a Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea March 31. Perhaps you’ll even run into the Carnarvons, who divide their time between the manor and a cottage on the property, particularly as tours

heat up during the soft seasons.

Highclere is not done with “Downton.” Recently, the cast returned to film a “Downton” movie, which will be released Sept. 20. In the meantime, there will be a “Downton Abbey” concert on June 22. “Music From ‘Downton Abbey’” features The Chamber Orchestra of London with composer Lunn on the piano and actor Jim Carter reprising his role as the beloved Carson.

The romance with Highclere continues.

Highclere Castle’s spring opening is set for April 7. For more, visit highclerecastle.co.uk.

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R

They will rock you

BY GREGG SHAPIRO

BORN IN RHINEBECK

and raised in Hyde Park, Joseph Mazzello has been acting in movies since childhood. In “Radio Flyer” (1992), he starred alongside Elijah Wood as the youngest of a pair of brothers living in fear of their abusive stepfather. The following year Mazzello appeared as Richard Attenborough’s grandson Tim in the box office blockbuster “Jurassic Park.” Acting steadily throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, Mazzello has worked with an impressive array of actors including Anthony Hopkins (“Shadowlands”), Meryl Streep (“The River Wild”), Ashley Judd (“Simon Birch”) and Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”).

In “Bohemian Rhapsody,” about the rock band Queen and its late lead singer, Freddie Mercury, Mazzello plays John Deacon, the band’s longtime bass player. The movie, which has been a box office sensation, scored an upset at the Golden Globes, taking home the awards for top drama and best actor in a drama (Rami Malek, who plays Mercury).

This despite concerns about the way Mercury’s homosexuality would be depicted and recent controversies over director Bryan Singer, who was reportedly fired from the film for ongoing conflicts and was not acknowledged in acceptance speeches at the Globes, although he does retain directing credit on the film. (For years Singer has been plagued by charges of sexual misconduct that he has dismissed as “false accusations and bogus lawsuits.)

Regardless of this, “Rhapsody” offers Malek’s brilliant turn as Mercury and insight into the band itself.

The backstory of the songs “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You” are worth the price of admission alone. I had the pleasure of speaking with Malek, Mazzello and Gwilym Lee (who plays Queen

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guitarist Brian May) while they were in Miami recently for a press event. (Ben Hardy — who plays the fourth member of the group, drummer Roger Taylor — was not present.)

I’d like to begin by getting the obvious questions out of the way first. Would you each please name your favorite Queen song and favorite Queen album?

Joseph Mazzello: “‘Somebody To Love’ is my alltime favorite, and this is a boring answer but ‘A Night at the Opera’ is such a masterpiece that, all told, I’d have to say it’s my favorite album.”

Gwilym Lee: “Yeah, probably the same. But I really like ‘Queen,’ the first album, just because you hear them working out who they really are. You hear them as a really young, slightly naïve band that sounds a lot like other bands of that time because they’re still trying to find their unique sound. There’s a lot of Led Zeppelin influence. But there’s something quite pure about it as a rock band.’”

Rami Malek: “As an album cover, maybe to flip this a little bit, I like ‘News of the World.’”

The robot!

RM: “Yes, the robot, which they’re currently touring with. We watched so much archival footage and to hear them talk about ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ (both from ‘News of the World’) as something they always thought about as a pair, and true audience participation songs that feature so heavily in the film, I’ve got to pay homage to that.”

Yes, there’s that great scene in the studio where we see the genesis of the songs. Prior to making “Bohemian Rhapsody,” where did Queen rank on each of your lists of favorite bands?

Rami Malek portraying Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." Photographs by Alex Bailey; TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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GL: “It’s pretty high up there. Their songs are so universal. You hear them everywhere growing up.

Sometimes you have to remind yourself that they wrote the songs that they did. I think people are going to watch this film and be shocked to learn, oh, they wrote that one, as well. What’s been lovely about doing this project is going back to the origins of their songs — seeing how they evolved and the imagination that it took to come up with such unique songs.”

JM: “I made a little student film when I was in high school and I put ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ at the end of it over the credits. It was like ‘final cut one’ or something. Then Queen just started popping up for me. I directed a film and every day before going to the set, to pump myself up I’d listen to ‘Somebody to Love.’ Then it was in college where I feel like I found a new level of appreciation for them and I became a ‘Greatest Hits’ fan. Every new song I heard by them was my new favorite song.

“Doing this movie changed everything. There were songs I didn’t think about too much or seemed like one of their mediocre songs. When you learn how to play it, the intent behind it, why they wrote it, how all four of them wrote hits — when you get all of that knowledge it takes on a whole new meaning to you. I literally walked in the room singing.”

Yes, I heard you singing “Somebody To Love”.

RM: “That doesn’t get old... No, no... We love it.

We got this question on set a lot. We’d be playing a song, take after take, by the end of the day… I was a production assistant on a music video once where I was like, ‘If I ever hear that song again, I’m going to do bad things.’ But that never happens with Queen.

Collectively, we’ve all said this without talking about it. We’ve been listening to Queen nonstop in a way that some might think is odd or some might think is totally understandable.”

That speaks to the power of the music.

RM: “It does. Hearing Bowie with Queen and Freddie doing those kinds of operatic warm-ups that he ended up incorporating into the music was revolutionary to me. Then you get involved in the story behind the making of ‘Under Pressure’ and how things come about with them. How inspired and spontaneous they were together is something I find so fascinating.

JM: “After I was done shooting, I was like ‘What songs didn’t we cover? What songs didn’t I get to know?’ That was the rabbit hole I went down.

You’re loving so much of it that you want to learn more and more and be able to take it in as a fan of the music rather than having the responsibility of performing it.”

You hope that that’s what a movie like this will do, to get people to go and do the research.

GL: “So many people that we’ve spoken to who have seen the film say that the first thing they do is go back home and watch the ‘Live Aid’ footage,

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Ben Hardy (Roger Taylor), from left, Gwilym Lee (Brian May), Joseph Mazzello (John Deacon) and Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury) star in Twentieth Century Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

which I think is great. Everyone needs to see it. It’s such an iconic and historic moment. We watched it hundreds and hundreds of times in preparation for the film. I still watch it to this day.”

There’s a scene where Freddie plays piano upside down and backwards, which made me wonder if each of you plays a musical instrument.

JM: “Only upside down.”

RM: “That’s the one thing people forget about Freddie. The guy was a virtuoso. Taking piano lessons, it took quite a while for me to learn how to play ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ or ‘We Are the Champions.’”

GL: “I played a little bit of acoustic guitar, but nothing to the level of Brian May’s genius. We all put in a lot of work. We got grafted pretty hard trying to play our instruments.”

Joseph and Gwilym, what were the challenges of playing living people, as in the case of John Deacon and Brian May, respectively?

JM: “It literally never leaves your mind every time you play a real person. As an actor, you want to go into any job giving it your absolute all and everything. It just feels like there’s this extra motivation when you have this intense responsibility to the actual person you’re playing. To their family and, in this job, to the Queen fan base, which is massive. We hear from them all the time. They’re so invested in this. Every day you walk on set, it doesn’t matter if you’re tired or what’s going on in your personal life, you always keep that in the forefront of your mind and it focuses you in a way you can’t even imagine.”

GL: “You have to stay on guard. You have to stay on your game. It can be overwhelming, but it forces

you to put in the hours.”

RM: “I looked forward to knowing when Brian May was going to come (to the set). It just elevated me.”

It didn’t make you nervous?

RM: “It could have. But he stepped on the scene and he was warm. He was taking pictures of it.

There’s such humility and class in the man. He made us feel like it was a privilege to have us telling his story.”

JM: “He was taking videos on his cellphone of us doing Live Aid. It was like, ‘That’s not how this works (laughs). We’re trying to impress you.’ It was a cool moment for us.”

What do you think Freddie Mercury would think of “Bohemian Rhapsody”?

RM: “It’s hard enough emulating him in any way or trying to fill those shoes. It took me quite a while to come close in this film. To begin to ponder what this man was thinking. Ultimately, I think what the film does really well, it doesn’t spend too much time going into the darker places, the illicit places. We do that just so we can show just how grand and big his life was.”

Full.

RM: “Rich and complex and full. I think celebrating the magnificence of the man was all we hoped to achieve. I just hope there’s a moment where he’s like, ‘Well that was colorful and enjoyable. I hope you all had a real good time.’”

GL: “It’s nice to be reminded of him. He was a celebrator of life; an incredible individual. It’s nice to remind the world of him. We need people like Freddie Mercury.”

Frederic Edwin Church’s “Moonrise” (also known as “The Rising Moon” (1865), oil on canvas. Olana State Historic Site.

Moonstruck

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

T

These days we can all be forgiven for going a bit loony over la bella luna. The 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” has virtually everyone anticipating moon parties on July 20 under the sign of Cancer (which is governed by you know what).

The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers has a particular connection to Apollo 11’s historic lunar landing: It was also 50 years ago that the multidisciplinary museum launched its planetarium. Now the museum is set to celebrate both as well as its centennial with an exhibit that plumbs our fascination with Earth’s only satellite and the relationship between art and lunar science.

“The Color of the Moon: Lunar Painting in American Art” (Feb. 8 through May 12) features 60 paintings and works on paper, along with a range of programming that explores the moon’s pull on

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our creative rhythms.

“The prevalence of the moon in American art speaks to its universal appeal,” says Laura Vookles, chair of the Hudson River Museum’s curatorial department, who organized the show with Bartholomew F. Bland, executive director of the Lehman College Art Gallery, The City University of New York. At the same time, she adds in a statement, “it is something that unites us across the globe. This attraction was explored by generations of artists who gazed upon the moon and later reaffirmed by astronauts looking back upon the fragile Earth from space. Visitors will be awestruck by these views and by the beautiful paintings on display.”

Viewers have long been mesmerized by the moon, with the earliest images perhaps dating from 5,000-year-old Irish rock carvings. In ancient Sumer in southern Mesopotamia — modern-day Iraq and Kuwait — the moon was thought of as a male deity, Nanna, while in ancient Greece, the moon was Selene, later Artemis and then the Roman Diana — goddess of the hunt and twin sister of Apollo — whose light caressed the beautiful shepherd Endymion as he slept unaware. Such duality has always been part of the moon. It is the “man in the moon,” whose face gazes back on us when the moon is full, and the cycles of female fertility, represented by the opalescent orb’s waxing and waning.

It is the sphere of romance — the stuff of countless songs and movies, from “Moonglow” to “Moonstruck” — but it also has its dark side, the place of howling werewolves and madness. The words “loony” and “lunatic” come from luna, Latin for “moon,” and there are still those today who swear that a full moon brings out the crazy in all of us.

The exhibit captures myriad shades of Earth’s satellite, from the serene — Childe Hassam’s moon-dappled seascape “Isles of Shoals” — to the sinister — George Inness’ “Winter Moonlight (Christmas Eve.” The exhibit is arranged in three sections: “Popular Moon from Myth to Destination,” ranging from mythological scenes of the goddess Diana by Samuel F.B. Morse to the Apollo 11 blast-off, painted by Jamie Wyeth as part of NASA’s art program; “The Romantic Moon From the Hudson River School to 20th-Century Modernists,” featuring Albert Bierstadt’s rosy “Western Landscape — Deer Wading” and a radiantly abstract “Moon” by Arthur Dove; and “The Moody Moon From Forest Glades to the Open Sea,” with paintings by Inness, Edward Bannister and Ralph Blakelock that illuminate the deep preoccupation that linked spirituality and moonlight at the end of the 19th century.

Other featured artists include Susie M. Barstow, Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, Frederic

James Hendricks' "Moon Sites," (1969), acrylic on canvas. Hudson River Museum. Gift of the Artist, 1972.

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Edwin Church, Joseph Cornell, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Winslow Homer, Roy Lichtenstein, Norman Rockwell, Edward Steichen and Marguerite Thompson Zorach.

But the exhibit and the accompanying catalog are just the beginning of the museum’s trip to the moon. Think planetarium shows, a film series collaboration with Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers, talks on the moon in classical art and in the works of Inness and Rockwell, a first-time Lunar New Year event on Feb. 24; and a live radio play, “The Flying Cloud and the Star-Filled Sky.” There will be a moon festival, steampunk-style on March 24; a celebration of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, April 12; and a Sky and Earth Day event April 20.

Following its run at the Hudson River Museum, the exhibit will travel in June to James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which is partnering with the Hudson River Museum on the exhibit.

“As we celebrate our centennial,” Hudson River Museum director Masha Turchinsky said in a statement, “the (museum) embraces this special opportunity to share revelations about the moon in American art, illuminating the bond between art, science, and community that has been core to our mission from our inception in 1919.”

For more, visit hrm.org.

Check out artswestchester.org for fun things to do.

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Labors of love

J

BY MEGAN MCSHARRY

Jim and Betsy Perry, a Greenwich couple, are the parents of seven — three boys, two dogs and two businesses.

In 2014, Betsy co-founded The Local Vault, an online marketplace for new and pre-owned luxury furniture, with WAG alumna Patricia Espinosa.

Three years later, Jim launched Belly and Body, a boxing workout studio in Riverside, with Jonathan Edmond. In true Greenwich fashion, Edmond had become Jim’s personal trainer after meeting Betsy in the parking lot at a Cosi restaurant. After a long career at Viacom Inc., Jim decided to follow his passion for boxing.

Betsy has always had an interest in interior design. Her sisters were both designers and she worked at a furniture company in college. Although she entered a career in event planning and sports marketing, The Local Vault — which WAG first introduced readers to in our November 2014 issue — would allow her to pursue her passion for design.

“We noticed a need in the marketplace. If someone redecorates, relocates or downsizes, they often have beautiful furniture that they need to sell,” Betsy said.

With furniture sourced from private sellers, designers and retailers from the tristate area, Palm Beach and Boston, The Local Vault lists new arrivals weekly. With pieces personally vetted by the business’ team, listings feature brands such as Ralph Lauren, Restoration Hardware and Rose Tarlow.

The website artfully displays the new and preowned pieces with crisp white backgrounds alongside photographs of beautifully designed rooms.

With furniture that is antique, vintage and new, there is something for every taste. Each listing presents a straightforward description of the piece as well as its age and condition.

One of the perks of selling through The Local Vault is that although it does offer storage for clients, sellers can keep their items with them so they don’t lose possession of their furniture until the point of sale.

“It’s comforting to a lot of people, because with traditional consignment, you’d have to get it to the brick and mortar store,” Betsy says. Transporting a designer sofa to a store isn’t always the easiest task,

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Betsy and Jim Perry at Belly and Body, a boxing workout studio in Riverside that’s Jim’s baby. Betsy’s is The Local Vault.

Photographs by Liana Hayles Newton.

so the business arranges local transportation to help both buyer and seller through the process.

“We were told five years ago that no one is going to buy a sofa online. Well, now everyone is buying furniture online,” Betsy said.

Thanks to couture-selling websites like The Real Real — which WAG wrote about in the September 2017 issue — people are much more comfortable buying second-hand luxury items online. Not only are people more inclined to buy consigned goods than to pay full retail prices, but purchasing preowned furniture is also better for the environment.

“It’s been a labor of love,” Betsy says.

Jim could say the same for Belly and Body.

“I’ve always loved boxing. Even growing up, just watching boxing,” Jim says.

“Watching Muhammad Ali,” Betsy adds.

Belly and Body classes consist of three 15-minute rounds involving warm-ups, boxing, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and more. With only 10 participants and one instructor, the class setting is quite intimate, enabling the instructor to give you one-on-one feedback to help you be as efficient as possible during the 45-minute session.

“It came at a great time, too,” Betsy says. “People are so much more into HIIT now and not just going out and running 10 miles,” she adds of the full-body workout that burns fat and builds muscle. “They understand the benefits.”

Trainer and co-founder Jonathan Edmond leads a Belly and Body class.

With boxing chains cropping up nationwide, Belly and Body is riding a cresting wave. The studio has built up a loyal following and now offers personal training. It’s preparing to launch children’s programs as well as expand its existing class schedule.

“We certainly want to perfect the business and the process and the product,” Jim says. He hopes to one day open new studios, possibly in Westport

or Westchester.

Jim and Betsy have less time off and less time to travel though they always make time to bounce ideas off each other. Though they work hard it’s as if they’re hardly working.

Or as Betsy says, “If you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”

For more, visit thelocalvault.com and bellyandbody.com.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Shoulder to shoulder through women’s history

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Courtesy Random House Children’s Books.

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I

In writing her first children’s book, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (WAG, October 2014 cover) reached into the past — America’s and her own.

“Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote” (Alfred A. Knopf, $18.99, 40 pages) tells the story of suffragists we know — Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman — and those we may not, including Jovita Idár and Ida B. Wells. But it is also the story of Mimi, Gillibrand’s great-grandmother, one of the women who “left their homes and worked in factories, making equipment to help American soldiers win the war;” Polly, the grandmother who rollerskated “down the long marble hallways of the New York State Capitol, where she worked;” and Penny, her mother, one of only three women in her law school class and a black belt in karate.

What these women taught Gillibrand was courage, which Aristotle called the first of the virtues.

It is courage that also defines the 10 in the

book that is designed for ages 6 through 9.

Stanton was a young mother when she helped convene a meeting in 1848 near her home in Seneca Falls of some 300 women, and men, intent on garnering enfranchisement for women. Anthony barnstormed the country in the days of horseand-buggy, firing, it was said, the lightning bolts Stanton forged. Truth — born Isabella Bomefree into slavery in Ulster County — would be one of the first African-American women to bring a successful suit to court, freeing her enslaved son, and then worked to assert the right to vote for all people. Tubman escaped slavery to conduct others to freedom via the Underground Railroad, then turned her attention to suffrage after the Civil War. A publisher, educator and activist, Idár served as first president of the League of Mexican Women, starting a free kindergarten. Alice Paul witnessed the fight for equality as a student in England, bringing what she learned back home to help organize the first national women’s suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1913.

Lawyer Inez Milholland was there — riding the horse Grey Dawn, carrying a trumpet to proclaim a new era and wearing what she called “the star of hope.”

Wells, an African-American orphan who would go on to found the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago in 1913, once refused to give up her seat in “the ladies’ coach” of a train, later suing the railroad when she was dragged out in a move that foreshadowed Rosa Parks’ situation aboard a Montgomery, Alabama, bus in 1955. Lucy Burns, a friend of Paul’s, also learned from the London suffragists and, after the 1913 parade, joined Paul and others in the more than five-month silent vigil outside the White House. Mary Church Terrell, a teacher who served on Washington, D.C.’s board of education, was among those “Silent Sentinels” with daughter Phyllis and went on to champion African-American women’s rights, founding the National Association of Colored Women. The women are captured in colors as vibrant as their actions by Tel Aviv-born artist Maira Kalman.

Their efforts — and those of countless unsung others — led Congress to pass the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.

The book includes others who shaped our nation, from first lady Abigail Adams to Lewis and Clark guide/translator Sacagawea to first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, tennis star-activist Billie Jean King and Yonkers-based artist Maya Lin. The book ends with the 2017 Pussyhat march on Washington, because, as Gillibrand writes, “Now it’s your turn.”

For more, visit penguinrandomhouse.com.

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WEAR

Golden kiss

I

BY MEGHAN MCSHARRY

It all began the first time Barbara Ross-Innamorati laid eyes on Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” at The National Gallery in London. Enamored by the painting’s gold leaf detail, she knew she would never forget its beauty.

Years after she returned from studying at The London School of Economics, the memory still played in her head, so much so that it led her down a different career path than the one she had known at Kraft Foods, JPMorgan Chase and Xerox.

“I was just mesmerized,” she says. “I woke up one morning just thinking about gold leaf. I was like, I want to make jewelry.”

It’s been almost 10 years since she launched her jewelry brand Évocateur in a Norwalk studio.

It’s there that a small staff crafts delicate bangles, cuffs, earrings and necklaces adorned with artwork and gold leaf. Their creations glimmer in the mid-afternoon light.

Ross-Innamorati works with artists such as Lucy Peveto to design pieces and is licensed to use the works of Erté for Art Deco-inspired works.

Boxes filled with jewelry from RossInnamorati’s collections line the walls, each based on a specific theme drawn from her travels — art, animals and gardens. They represent a journey in craftsmanship to learn how to make pieces using gold leaf and seal them properly so that they stay preserved forever.

“There was no pathway that we could follow.

It’s a process that I came up with and it was perfected by our staff,” Ross-Innamorati says.

Long a mainstay of art, gold leaf has been growing in popularity as a lifestyle enhancement in recent years, turning up in everything from beauty products to chocolate. While most of the studio’s materials are sourced from New England, the gold leaf is imported from Italy. Each piece takes about a week to craft, as layers of resin used to seal the jewelry require 24 hours to dry. We watch as one employee delicately places gemstones on a cuff before adding flakes of gold leaf.

“Everyone applies the gold leaf in their own technique,” Ross-Innamorati says.

The time gone into perfecting the process

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Barbara Ross-Innamorati, Évocateur’s founder.

Photographs courtesy Évocateur.

Évocateur’s cuffs are available in a variety of widths and can be customized, too.

has surely paid off. Ross-Innamorati recalls her first show — an “Open See” at Henri Bendel in Manhattan — where her pieces were first noticed by interested buyers.

“That was the store that really launched us. It gave us commercial validation.”

Now the art-driven jewelry can be found in premier retailers around the world, including Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains. Ross-Innamorati’s wares are sold on cruise ships and have a large market in China. They’ve also attracted industry recognition. Évocateur was a JCK Jewelers’ Choice Award finalist and finished in either first or second place for five years straight. The awards hang proudly at the entrance to the studio.

Despite the growth and success of her brand, Ross-Innamorati still works hard to promote it.

She attends several trade shows a year, setting up shop at the accessories show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in January. She and her team want to make sure that everyone is aware of the Évocateur style.

For more, visit evocateurstyle.com.

WEAR

50 years of style

A

BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

Anyone titillated by the double entendre of the cleverly titled new exhibit and tome celebrating The Museum at FIT’s golden anniversary might at first be a tad disappointed — or in need of a cold shower.

But don’t be.

While the “Exhibitionism” referred to may involve some exposure of skin, it actually announces 50 years of exhibitions at the museum, which was founded in 1969 by the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

Since then, the museum has mounted some 200 shows, not the least of which was the exhibitionistic — in the other sense of the word — “The Corset: Fashioning the Body” (2000), which plumbed what museum director Valerie Steele describes in the accompanying introduction as “the most controversial garment in fashion history.” That exhibit is represented in the new show by a bold red American corset (circa 1889) that molded the body it revealed and concealed and still serves as an avatar for its shape. It’s a reminder that while clothes may not make the man after all, they can certainly make — or unmake — the body.

Think of Greta Garbo dying of consumption and ill-fated love — but beautifully — in “Camille” (1936), garbed in a bell-shaped black gown by Adrian with a fitted bodice, winged crinoline cap sleeves and a cascade of pearlescent, metallic appliqué (from the 1971 exhib-

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Chromat, ensemble, spring 2015, USA. Featured in The Museum at FIT’s “The Body: Fashion and Physique” (2017). Courtesy The Museum at FIT. WAGMAG.COM FEBRUARY 2019

it on the Hollywood costume designer, who was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut). Or Paul Poiret’s Persian-inspired ensemble in tan and gray with pops of magenta, including the plume atop the pearl-laced turban, for a 1919 fancy dress ball (from the 1976 show “Paul Poiret: King of Fashion”).

Or Harry Gordon’s mod Brit paper shift with a giant, made-up eye tilted on the front (from 1987’s “Fashion and Surrealism”). These — along with Versace’s 1991 Andy Warhol-inspired mini suit (from the 2013 show “A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk”); a sleek black Madame Grès evening gown (from 2008’s “Madame Grès: Sphinx of Fashion”); and Roberto Cavalli’s rococo-flavored cutaway denim ensemble (featured in the 2016 show “Denim: Fashion’s Frontier”) — all exquisitely illustrate the way “MFIT’s exhibitions contextualize fashion and underscore its connections to history, culture and society.”

Here’s to the next 50 years.

“Exhibitionism: 50 Years of The Museum at FIT,” Feb. 8 through April 20, features 80 looks from the museum’s approximately 200 exhibitions. A companion book, edited by museum director Valerie Steele and Colleen Hill, will also be available. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. The museum is on Seventh Avenue at 27th Street.

For more, visit fitnyc.edu/museum/ or call 212217-4700.

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WHATS COLLECTIBLE?

Posthumous honor for ‘mad’ potter

BY JENNIFER PITMAN

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The year 2018 was an exciting one for American art pottery aficionados. First off, Bob Ellison’s outstanding ceramic collection was permanently donated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. And the accompanying catalog — “American Art Pottery: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection” — was published.

Today, extraordinary works from Ellison’s 300 piece-strong gift are on display in The Met’s American Wing.

Secondly, among the most striking pieces are works by the Arts and Crafts ceramicist George Ohr, the self-styled “mad potter of Biloxi,” whose decree of “personality in every jar and jug” was no hollow boast. His eccentric and novel works, largely dismissed during his own lifetime, are today appreciated for the supreme skill involved in their fashioning and are seen as early examples of Modernism as well as precursors to contemporary ceramics.

Ohr (1857-1918) was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, to German immigrants. His father was a blacksmith; his mother ran a grocery store. Ohr tried his hand at more than a dozen trades before discovering his life’s work when a family friend invited him to join his pottery business in New Orleans. Ohr furthered his knowledge of ceramics with travels to potteries throughout the states in the 1880s. Returning to Biloxi, Ohr set up his own pottery business and began promoting his work farther afield, at regional fairs and expositions.

Unlike other potters, Ohr was involved in every part of the manufacturing process — from digging and preparing the clay to throwing, decorating and firing the pots. Ohr’s production included everyday wares and novelties such as inkwells in the shape of log cabins and cannons and puzzle mugs.

Employing humorous and grandiose boasts, he was also the chief marketer of his work. His pottery became a local attraction for tourists who traveled to Biloxi for its temperate seaside climate. Today, these examples of Ohr’s pottery can be had on the auction market for a few hundred dollars.

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George Ohr’s bisque-fired vessel (1898-1910) sold for $20,000 (estimate $4,500$6,500). Courtesy Rago Arts and Auction.

It is Ohr’s more complex works, however, that garner so much attention today. These were chiefly his misshapen, asymmetrical vessels that were largely dismissed during his own lifetime.

Ohr was a highly skilled potter, capable of throwing pots to the thinness of paper. Then he crushed, folded and twisted the walls of each vessel into a unique form. Ohr worked on a small scale so pieces that were more than 6 inches were considered tall. Works were often embellished with crimped edges or frilly handles that were too delicate to be functional. Some vessels were left unglazed or the clay body was embellished with colored slips to create a marbleized effect. Ohr’s glazes were an important component of his work.

They featured contrasting colors and shocking hues. Some glazes were textured, creating blistered surfaces. The eccentric shapes and glazes of Ohr’s pieces were well out of the norm of pottery of the period.

By the turn of the century, Ohr’s presence at fairs and his self-aggrandizing marketing (he referred to himself as the “Greatest Art Potter on the Earth”) had raised his profile nationally, but did little to raise his sales. At Ohr’s last fair, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, he won a silver medal. Yet he made not a single sale and had to raise funds to cover the return freight for his works. In 1909, Ohr closed the pottery studio and crated up thousands of his pieces.

His work remained largely unknown until the early 1970s when a New Jersey dealer, James Carpenter, negotiated with Ohr’s sons the sale of the collection and thus the works made their way

into the marketplace. American art pottery expert David Rago remembers those early days: “Early on, like before 1975, you could have bought Ohr for $50 per piece, for a good one. Top prices were $500.

Bisque work, the best bisque work, was unsold at $40 each. I was there when Jim unpacked about 200 pieces of bisque, 25 years ago, things remaining from the early days 20 years before that.

A visit to Jim’s, back in the day, was pure magic.”

Today, Ohr’s work is critically acclaimed and widely collected and exhibited. In addition to The Met’s holdings, Ohr’s pieces can be viewed at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi.

At auction, Ohr’s best works vary in value from a few thousand dollars to the $50,000 to $100,000 range. Form, color and size all effect value. According to Rago, “Form is the most important and color is a serious factor. Reds are rare but multicolored flambés can be the best.

Taller can be better, but some of Ohr’s larger pieces are clumsy and uncoordinated, and some of his smaller pieces are sublime. Whatever your price range, make sure to buy something distinctive, something that shows the artist’s personality and his particular quirks.”

Ohr always maintained a steadfast faith in his work, stating, “When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored and cherished. It will come.” And indeed it has.

Jennifer Pitman writes about the decorative arts, jewelry and fine art she encounters as Rago Arts and Auction’s senior account manager for Westchester and Connecticut. For more, contact jenny@ragoarts.com or 917-745-2730.

WARES

From bath to spa-ahh

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BY CAMI WEINSTEIN

Winter leaves us inside our homes more and when we are in our homes we tend to look around at areas of our homes that need to be repaired or upgraded. Nationwide, real estate agents will tell you that the two areas of your homes that increase their value the most are updated kitchens and baths. This month I’d like to focus on bathrooms and how they not only enhance the value of our homes but how they create a retreat for ourselves.

Today’s bathroom upgrades not only include the functional but can also elevate your bathroom to a spa-like experience. Getting a jump on a bathroom renovation during the winter months is a great idea because by the time spring comes you’ll already have your ideal bath.

Some of the new aspects of bath design include medicine cabinets that have anti-fog features, and comfort-height toilets, which are a huge hit with both taller people and an older population. There are also toilets with heated seats. Vanities are also trending on the taller side. And, if there is room in your bathroom, definitely put in a double-sink vanity and a soaking tub. Who wouldn’t want to soak in a fabulous deep tub on a cold winter night with some luxurious bubble bath?

Soaking tubs come in so many beautiful shapes and materials. For the ultimate in soaking experience, look for a single piece of marble, cast iron and acrylics. There are also tubs with various kinds of hydrotherapies for relaxation.

If soaking is not your thing, today’s showers can offer the ultimate spa experience with new steam components, hand-held sprayers and thermostatic controls. These always ensure that your shower heats up to your perfect temperature. You can also listen to music while showering with showerheads that also have speakers. This can give a whole new meaning to singing in the shower.

When it comes to walls and floors, there are so many beautiful tiles, marbles, mosaics and porcelains to choose from. You can indulge your desire for a traditional bathroom or you can create the most modern, clean spa-like experience. The trends in bath design are still tending toward

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Nothing enhances a home – or a lifestyle – quite like an upgraded bathroom. Courtesy Cami Weinstein Interior Design.

neutral with lots of white tiles and marbles. Grays are running a close second. Many of my clients are staying neutral with their master baths but are interested in being more creative and adding color to their second and third bathrooms.

Powder rooms are an area where color, custom tiles, stone, hardware and wallpapers can come into play to create a unique space. Unlacquered brass is an elegant feature that is currently being used for hardware in bathrooms. Having been out of style for so long, it now looks new and stylistically modern. Everything old, it seems, is new again.

Features that I think are particularly indulgent in today’s bathrooms are radiant floors and a heated towel rack. Getting out of a hot shower and stepping onto warm floors and then wrapping up in a warm towel are truly examples of giving your self the spa treatment.

Speaking of spa treatment, you’ll find that there are many wonderful soaps, lotions and shampoos

on the market, many made with natural ingredients and fragrances to add to the feeling of having your very own home spa.

When planning on creating or remodeling your bathroom, utilize every inch of your space.

If there is room, add a linen closet for towels and other sundries. A vanity area for applying makeup is another great addition to your bathroom and don’t forget plenty of light. Bathrooms need not only decorative lighting but also clean natural light for applying makeup and for shaving. Make a wish list for your bathroom and plan your space accordingly. If you have limited space and storage, then definitely use a vanity and not a pedestal sink.

Baskets also are great places to hold extra towels, makeup and shampoos.

Enjoy upgrading your bath experience with the many new features that are available and incorporating them into your home.

For more, visit camidesigns.com.

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WARES

Spring for the covers

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BY GEORGETTE GOUVEIA

It may be the dead of winter, but already our thoughts turn to spring. Pitchers and catchers, for instance, report for spring training Feb. 12 and 13.

Ted Baker London may be more cricket than baseball, but the irresistible fashion and home brand is dreaming of softer seasons and warmer climes with its SS19 Home Collection available at Nordstrom.

Peachy florals, lemony tendrils and green branches climb Ted Baker’s pink Elegant line of bedding. Flitting birds and blooming branches evoke Japan at cherry blossom time for the Flight of the Orient-Mint collection. Exotic birds alight on delicate green stalks for the Fortune line. Purple and white branches blossom against a cornflower blue backdrop that’s oh-so Graceful. Then Ted Baker pulls out all the stops for Pistachio, whose lotuses, palm fronds and flamingos will have you in Florida — if only in the mind.

For more, visit tedbaker.com.

Courtesy Ted Baker London.

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WHAT'S NEW AGAIN?

Skin in the game

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BY KATIE BANSER-WHITTLE

Love, sex, romance, eroticism: They’re powerful, complex, universal, timeless forces. And they are arguably the most fundamental themes in art, constantly being reinterpreted and redefined.

Photographer Nan Goldin’s representations of these themes are groundbreaking in both style and substance. Her still-growing body of work unsparingly documents more than 50 years of social and cultural upheaval in ideas and expressions of love.

Goldin’s work, like that of all highly original artists, is sometimes controversial. Many consider it bold and fearless, depicting sexuality in all its variety. Others find many of her images, which often explore the culture of drug use as well, transgressive and disturbing. Goldin herself is bisexual and has a lifelong interest in and affection for those who define gender in both traditional and nontraditional ways.

Born in 1943 in a prosperous Boston suburb, Goldin’s childhood was profoundly marred by

Nan Goldin’s “Kim Harlow in the Dressing Room, Paris” (1991) was set to be auctioned at Skinner Inc. Jan. 25.

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the suicide of her much-loved older sister when Nan was 11. A teacher at her progressive school introduced the young teen to photography with a Polaroid camera, which allowed her to document her world in snapshots — colorful, spontaneous, intimate. These qualities have remained hallmarks of the work that has brought her international acclaim.

Goldin studied photography at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. In 1973, while still a student and working mostly in the now-discontinued Cibachrome process, she had her first solo exhibition. She moved to New York City in the late 1970s and immersed herself in the gay, New Wave music and drug subcultures.

Her intensely personal visual diary of the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS scene resulted in a multimedia presentation, “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.” The work, a 45-minute video of more than 800 slides with a soundtrack, including such diverse performers as Nina Simone, the Velvet Underground and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, was presented at the Whitney Biennial in New York in 1985.

The ensuing critical acclaim established Goldin as a leading figure in contemporary photography, which was becoming increasingly respected, exhibited and collected as fine art. “The Ballad” was reworked and published in book form in 1986 and has subsequently been further reimagined and screened numerous times in the United States and abroad.

In the book, Goldin is quoted as saying “I want to show exactly what my world looks like, without glamorization, without glorification. This is not a bleak world but one in which there is an awareness of pain, a quality of introspection.”

Goldin’s themes and style have been immensely influential. One of the foremost exponents of the “snapshot aesthetic,” her observational approach is neither judgmental nor sentimental. She has said that her touchstone is honesty. While the resulting images are not often conventionally beautiful, they are powerful, immediate and uncompromising.

The artist has continued to explore and expand both subject matter and media. After working with slides and prints for many years, Goldin is increasingly engaging with cinema. She has created more multimedia installations such as 2006’s DVD “Chasing a Ghost,” revisiting the theme of memory and combining documentary with self-examination.

She has produced additional book projects, including the recent “Eden and After,” images of the many aspects of childhood, and “Diving for Pearls,” which juxtaposes artworks from great museums with Goldin’s photographs of friends in echoing poses.

Her exploration of media has also continued, from Polaroid snaps, to Cibachrome slides and prints to film. She claims no interest in digital photography and disavows any causal connection between her work and the rise of the Instagram selfie. She is currently exploring another fine art form — painting.

The artist’s subject matter has broadened.

Friends, lovers and extended family are still the cornerstones of her exploration of the varieties of human relationships, but since the mid-1990s her work has come to encompass city skylines, landscapes and commercial fashion photography.

Goldin’s involvement in social issues has deepened, too. Unflinching examination of sexual violence and drug dependency were concerns in early work and expanded into advocacy for AIDS victims. That disease claimed many of her friends in New York City, frequent subjects of her photography in the 1970s and ’80s.

In 2017, Goldin revealed that she was recovering from three years of opioid addiction. This developed after she was prescribed OxyContin for a painful wrist injury that continues to limit her hand function. She has organized a group called P.A.I.N., Prescription Addiction Intervention Now, to demand that Purdue Pharma, the developers of OxyContin, fund addiction education and treatment programs.

Goldin’s geographic boundaries have also expanded. She lives and works in London, Germany, and France as well as New York. She continues to explore the world around her as she creates new chapters in the multimedia diary that is, literally, her life’s work.

For more, contact Katie at kwhittle@skinnerinc. com or 212-787-1114.

P WHAT'S NEW?

PORCH – a new home for style

BY MARY SHUSTACK PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROZYCKI

OPENING THE DOOR to PORCH Home + Gifts in

Mount Kisco starts quite the sensory journey.

First, there’s an incredibly lovely scent, perhaps from the candles or maybe the bath products.

As you’re thinking about it, you also notice your eyes are darting about, from the unusual chair with a pagoda-themed back to the variety of wooden tables artfully filled with everything from dessert spoons to glassware, linens to platters, candlesticks to gourmet goodies.

And there’s that bicycle perched above the counter, not to mention the porch swing in the large front window.

It’s a dazzling array of singular finds, one that has you quickly making mental notes of what you want to have or give — or simply admire or touch.

How did this shop, opened in October by Jen Gerken and Suzanne Grant, come about?

Gerken, a Pound Ridge resident, has a background in interior design, while Grant, of Mount Kisco, brings experience in marketing and branding. The business partners first became friends through their extensive volunteer work. Over time, they realized they worked well together and decided to translate that compatibility into the first retail venture for them both.

Things came together quickly, with the pair zeroing in on the longtime but long-vacant home of the Art Emporium. Extensive renovations yielded the airy, easygoing-yet-sophisticated space that has already been embraced by the town — and the region.

“The community’s been very welcoming,” Grant says on a recent afternoon.

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“We talk to everyone who comes in,” she adds, with customers often saying one of two things: “We’re so glad you’re here” or “We needed a store just like this.”

Customer input influences what ends up on display, though any item for sale must pass a key test.

“It’s really important that we both love it,” Gerken says.

The pair adds that while they share a vision, they don’t have identical tastes, which leads to good interplay.

Grant says the parameters were quickly established — “home accents and gifts for the home. It was that simple.”

A clear focus, she adds with a laugh, prevents them from any potential “Ooh, shiny things” distractions when on buying trips.

Gerken adds they are “finding it interesting what people are gravitating towards.”

Already, Grant notes, “People love our tabletop category.”

Gerken adds, “Color has been very popular,” as has texture.

Examples include a collection of brightly hued mugs that while appearing to be vintage tin are actually contemporary ceramic, while texture is embodied, as Grant points out, by an alpaca pillow from Herde de Ferme. It’s one of several items from the Westchester-based collection of luxury clothing and accessories created from cruelty-free, sustainable alpaca fur and fleece launched in 2017

by WAG’s own publisher, Dee DelBello.

Showcasing other local artists and artisans is

Suzanne Grant and Jen Gerken, from left, are the owners of PORCH Home + Gifts, a stylish new in Mount Kisco.

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a part of the plan, evidenced by everything from paintings to woodwork, with a sign explaining that a cheeseboard is “made by local woodworker, business owner and all-around nice guy Pete Menzies.”

As Gerken says of products such as the Ajiri line of teas and coffees that support orphans in Kenya, “We both really love products that have a story behind them.”

Amid new merchandise are nestled a number of vintage treasures from the shop’s own line called UVO (Unique, Vintage and Original). UVO items represent finds from estate sales and flea markets, often artfully upcycled. It could be a new coat of paint or a reupholstering with designer fabric that gives a tired piece — one with good design, though — a second life. To avoid any confusion, while also creating a treasure-hunt feel, yellow tags, as opposed to the blue found on the rest of the merchandise, signify these one-of-akind UVO selections.

Those new pieces with personality plus the vintage finds add up, owners say, to recreating that feeling of home, where environments build over time.

As Gerken says, it is a reflection of how people live.

“People want this collected look, (but) they don’t always have the time to find it themselves.”

That’s where PORCH’s design services can be

PORCH Home + Gifts is filled with wares that have a story behind them. A prime example is the Ajiri line of coffees and teas, with profits supporting orphans in Kenya.

tapped, whether for a simple project such as refreshing a mantel to something more substantial.

In addition, the shop has already begun offering shopping events, pop-ups and has plans to collaborate with fellow merchants.

And that bicycle that hang over the register?

“It’s a point of conversation. It has a vintage feel to it. It sparks conversation — and endless offers,”

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Gerken says, with a laugh.

It’s not for sale, though but rather just another unique element of PORCH. As Grant says, “We’re trying to keep it interesting and different, not the kind of stuff you see in every other store… worth the trip.”

PORCH Home + Gifts is at 153 E. Main St. in Mount Kisco. For more, visit porch-home.com.

February 10, 2019 at 3PM Rachael Worby, conducting Savion Glover, special guest Gould: Tap Dance Concerto Vivaldi: Four Seasons Copland: Rodeo

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Y WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Ya gotta have heart

BY MARY SHUSTACK

WHEN WAG MADE a recent visit to the Kerri Rosenthal design studio and showroom in Westport, the namesake artist and interior designer was not on hand, but her spirit was more than evident.

From the moment we spotted the bright interior through the large picture window, we knew we were in the right place, a signature yellow heart enlivening the wall near the entrance.

We first met Rosenthal for a profile that ran in January 2016, when she was creative director for a Weston-based interior design firm, and were checking in to catch up on the Westport woman’s story since then — and the story is, she is one busy lady.

A major installation kept Rosenthal on the go in the early days of the new year, but one late morning, Nancy Sharpe, who handles sales and marketing, gave us an impromptu tour of the relaxed-yet-sophisticated destination for Rosenthal’s signature style.

It started with a warm welcome and continued on to a walk through the white-walled space, starting with its art gallery. There, Rosenthal’s original works hang alongside limited edition prints and art translated onto Plexiglas for the most modern framing treatment. There is the signature “Drippy Heart” design, photographs and even phrases (“Sunshine is a frame of mind”).

Nearby sat her “Blocks of Love,” signed works from 2- to 12-inch squares that again depict Rosenthal’s work and serve as ideal gifts.

“It’s basically taking the art off the canvas,” Sharpe said of the many incarnations of Rosenthal’s trademark heart, with its latest

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interpretation — a gold “In My Heart” — introduced for the season of romance.

The space also showcased Rosenthal’s own fabric and pillows created with imported Belgian linens and produced in America, as well as her wallpaper. Throughout, there is her furniture — the Romeo chair, introduced in 2018, is a standout — along with her “Floor Blocks,” cozy and casual seating. Nearby is her latest splash, Paperless Wallpaper, ingenious decals that create an instant look and were a highlight of an award-winning playroom design that brought Rosenthal plenty of attention.

Rosenthal would later share that she “started in retail and worked my way up, starting a new wholesale division for Oilily, a super-creative Dutch children’s fashion company. I was able to use all of that knowledge and experience to open my own shop/gallery in 2016 in Westport.”

There are also mugs and candles such as “Love That Burns,” bags and necklaces and more, much with heart motifs and others with her dots.

Rosenthal’s fashions range from the best-selling “Loved” sweaters in 100 percent cashmere (new color combinations are introduced each year) to T-shirts and sweatshirts to hand-painted denim and khaki jackets. Rounding it out is a selection of clothing by other designers that, Sharpe adds, is “handpicked” for it being able to “keep our vibe, our ethos.”

The space, those white walls serving to let the designs shine further, includes both a design studio and office space. Opening here a year ago, it tripled the original, nearby studio and has already found an audience.

FEBRUARY 2019

Kerri Rosenthal in her art studio.

Coley Stevens for Kerri Rosenthal photographs.

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“You can’t help but smile when you see Kerri’s stuff,” Sharpe said.

2019 will feature monthly pop-up events, some devoted to showcasing complementary designers such as jewelry artists but also more unexpected elements such as live entertainment.

As Sharpe says, it’s about creating a destination and a community, “not all about ‘Buy Kerri Rosenthal.’”

Rosenthal did take some time to answer a handful of questions from WAG — and we look forward to catching up with her in person again soon.

Until then, we have memories of the charming Westport destination to bring that smile.

Tell us a bit about going out on your own — how it came about, when you launched in Westport and how it’s been going?

“Going on my own and opening the first Kerri Rosenthal retail/gallery space in 2016 was just the next logical, creative step for me. I love interiors and now have even more projects than ever, but it was just time to expand creatively. And, I now have great interior design space where I can showcase all of my new textiles and wallpapers as well as work with my design clients.”

Even when WAG first met you, your art was a big part of the sophisticated-with-an edge work you were doing. How do you feel your art has developed these past few years — and how

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“Blue Jean Baby” by Kerri Rosenthal.

rewarding is it to have your own work within some of the interiors you create?

“My art is part of me and, as I evolve, so does it, and really that is exactly how it should be. My art is always going to be happy and interesting and a reflection of my life and what inspires me.”

Do you ever have a typical day? How do you integrate all the elements of what you do — the planning, the design, the installations and, of course, your own art?

“There is no such thing as a typical day but since you asked…. In a typical day, I usually work with a combination of interior design clients and art clients, and a banner day is getting into my art studio to paint as well. Spending time with my family usually comes at dinnertime and that’s when I can let go and just be.”

Hearts are a big motif in your work. How did that come about — was it by design? And what do you hope that signature element brings to an interior?

“I knew when I painted my first Drippy Heart that it was a good thing but really had no idea that it would take off the way it has. Drippy Hearts can be seen in homes all around the world and they are still a big part of my retail collection as well.

“The Drippy Heart is a symbol of love and who wouldn’t want that in their home?”

Kerri Rosenthal is at 1 Sconset Square in Westport. For more, visit kerrirosenthal.com.

WANDERS

W

A private beach on an Exclusive Resorts property in Costa Rica. Photographs courtesy of Sloane Travel Photography.

The ultimate vacation club

BY BARBARA BARTON SLOANE

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What’s your idea of a great vacation? A destination on your dream bucket list, good friends to join you, amazing activity options, beautiful surroundings and fine service — perfect, right? Who could ask for anything more? Well, actually you could. There’s something that can make your dream vacation utter perfection. And what is that, you ask? Two words — Exclusive Resorts.

This is an elite, private vacation club that takes your getaway a bit further, from the merely nice into the realm of the truly exceptional where,

as a member, you’ll enjoy access to hundreds of luxury, multimillion-dollar residences in dozens of the best destinations in the world, coupled with the brand’s hallmark, personalized service, which handles all the details. At each resort there is a dedicated service manager to assist with every aspect of planning your trip and a team at your chosen destination to ensure that all is ready when you arrive. Imagine what you can do with nothing to do.

From the beaches of Maui or Los Cabos to the

The private pool on an Exclusive Resorts’ villa terrace in Costa Rica.

ski slopes of Vail and Telluride to the cities of San Francisco and New York — or sailing around the world — the extensive choice of destinations is yours and as a member you can do it again and again, year after year.

My Exclusive Resorts experience took place in wild and wonderful Costa Rica, that Central American country replete with sandy beaches, grand adventures, wonders of nature and scintillating culture. Specifically, I was on the peninsula of Papagayo in the northwest

Guanacaste region of the country, surrounded by a volcanic landscape of high cliffs and rocky Pacific Ocean coves. Its interior is crisscrossed by river rapids, waterfalls and verdant forests full of wildlife. Think monkeys and toucans and much more. In recent years, Papagayo has evolved into an ecotourism destination with several hotels and scores of outdoor activities that range from adventurous to relaxing.

The Papagayo Peninsula is one of the club’s flagship destinations. My residence was a sumptuous two-story, four-bedroom affair that sat on a hilltop with grand ocean views and a private infinity pool. Shortly after I arrived, so did my in-suite masseuse, who performed her magical maneuvers on this somewhat dazed but deliriously happy writer, whose journey from big city to remote jungle was accomplished in just a few short, head-spinning hours. The therapist set up her massage table on my expansive patio with the sea shimmering in the distance, a decidedly pleasant way to be welcomed.

During my stay, I dined al fresco by the pool under a star-splashed sky at the Poro Poro Beach Club, the resort’s restaurant. Surrounded by exotic flora and fauna and jungle-like sounds, this was a repast to remember with great food and a friendly, welcoming staff. From time to time, I was startled by a large bat that swooped low over the pool, but hey, this was Costa Rica after

all and it added a little color and action to my tropical scene. Another evening, I chose to try the in-residence dining. My personal chef prepared a superb dinner of asparagus, porcini mushrooms, pesto risotto and charbroiled beef tenderloin.

Chocolate lava flow cake ended this delightfully decadent experience, leaving me feeling like a happily sated VIP. I took a shuttle to the Kiwanda Maji region for a short hike to view four waterfalls, the Rincon de la Vieja volcano and a sodden rainforest. I visited a working Kiwanda farm with some cute baby goats and a supremely proud-looking black bull.

(Close by I spied a wobbly, doe-eyed 3-day-old calf.) Lunch was at a pretty restaurant next to a sapphire-blue lake.

My final day, I boarded a catamaran for a private sunset cruise in the Gulf of Papagayo.

When the captain dropped anchor, I snorkeled a bit and, though I didn’t see any marine life, being submerged in warm, crystal-clear water was a thrill unto itself. Sipping a cocktail while enjoying a large school of dolphins frolicking several yards away as the sun set in an explosion of gold and orange was a perfect end to my Costa Rican adventure — made most memorable in the skilled, expert hands of Exclusive Resorts. The only problem? Where in the Exclusive world do I choose to vacation next?

For more, visit exclusiveresorts.com.

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WANDERS

A haven under the Tuscan sun

BY JEREMY WAYNE

B

Bergamot, Melissa leaf, plankton extract and white grapefruit oil are just some of the elements in the Divine Cleanse, one of the Seed to Skin rituals offered at the spa at Borgo Santo Pietro — which in turn is just one of the many attractions at this resurrected inn in the ravishing Tuscan countryside, between Siena and the Mediterranean Sea. I had long heard about Borgo, but only last October was I lucky enough to see it for myself.

Pool at Borgo Santo Pietro. Photographs courtesy Borgo Santo Pietro.

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Set in 13 acres of primped and manicured gardens, surrounded by 200 acres of pristine farmland, gated Borgo is secluded enough to feel exclusive and remote, but close enough to Tuscany’s great cities — Florence, Siena and Pisa — to feel totally in touch. And getting there’s a breeze — a shiny black Mercedes dispatched by the hotel, leather seats supple and polished and air-conditioning gently purring, will whisk you from the Rome airport up to Borgo in a little more than two hours.

Leave New York late evening and next day you can be sitting down to lunch on Borgo’s divine terrace, among the myrtle, sage and bay laurel, under a deep azure Tuscan sky, while your friends and neighbors back home are still sleeping.

A 13th-century coaching inn on the medieval pilgrim trail, Borgo had sat empty for nearly 30 years when Danish master-builder and developer Claus Thottrup and his wife, Jeanette, a fashion designer, both based in London and looking for a

vacation home in Tuscany, first set eyes on it. With a great leap of faith — and, you imagine, deep pockets — they bought the property in 2001 and welcomed their first guests six years later in 2007.

Little by little, the house has been restored and refined and the estate revived. Bespoke beds, frescoes, antique pieces — some real treasures among the eye-catching bric-a-brac and vice versa — all reflect Jeanette’s unerring good taste. Gardens have been planted with love and

dedication and allowed to mature according to their own rhythm. They lead gently one into another — culinary and vegetable gardens providing plants and produce for cooking, a medicinal garden sourcing herbs for use in the spa and Jeanette’s Seed to Skin products. A rose garden and a lemon garden, along with formal and wild gardens, all clamor for your attention, and on any given day you will see Borgo’s in-house florist picking her way between them, gathering blooms

Top: Meo Modo outdoor terrace. Bottom: Guest room.

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Henhouses as brightly colored as beach houses.

to take back to her florist’s cottage on the grounds, to make heady arrangements for all the guest rooms and public spaces.

No endeavor at Borgo ever seems rushed, because in the timelessness of rural Tuscany, nothing needs to be. And even as guest rooms continue to be added (there are now 24 rooms and suites), with a staff of 80, no guest is going to feel overlooked.

One morning, I chanced upon the artist’s studio, which I had not previously seen, nestling by the lake, and found Borgo’s artist in residence, Lena Lencek — a graduate of Barnard College and Harvard University, a professor of Russian and humanities — painting inside but happy enough to put down her brushes and chat.

Her delicious watercolors, with their broad brushstrokes and dappled light, seemed to capture the very essence of the place.

Plop down in a hammock in any one of Borgo’s gardens, or on a chaise longue by the pool and, as if by magic, a smiling waiter appears. Order a glass of fizz, a beer (Borgo never stands on ceremony), a sandwich, a plate of oysters or nothing at all, the smile will always be sweet and genuine.

Food, I quickly discovered, is taken seriously at Borgo, though never so seriously that the pleasure of good eating is sacrificed to the ego of a plaudits-needy chef. Breakfast, set out buffet style in the farmhouse kitchen, is as bountiful as it is wholesome, delicious and nutritious. (Early risers can pick their own eggs from Borgo’s hens,

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which live the good life in brightly colored, luxury henhouses that stand on the edge of the estate like a row of beach cabanas in some upscale seaside town.) Milk, yogurt and cheese come from Borgo’s own dairy, naturally; breads, cakes, cookies and Viennoiseries (Viennese bread) are all baked in-house.

Lunch might be an excursion, a picnic on the grounds, a plate of salumi and a glass of Ruffino on the terrace, or a bowl of pici pasta with Chianina (local beef) ragù at Sull’ Albero, Borgo’s own trattoria, built around an ancient oak tree. At dinner, you’ll want to try Borgo’s Michelin-starred Meo Modo restaurant, where the farm-to-table experience has more resonance than that tired phrase usually deserves — the farm, after all, is all around you. Rabbit agnolotti and lamb with aubergine were two dishes I especially enjoyed at Meo Modo, where the wine list, incidentally, needs a crane to lift it. And soon it may need two cranes, as Borgo’s own vineyards begin to bear fruit. With organic vines first planted by Claus five years ago, production in 2019 will likely reach around 5,000 bottles, with full production expected by 2021.

In the meantime, the hotel offers tutored wine tastings in its extensive cellars. In an hour with Laura, one of Borgo’s knowledgeable young sommeliers, I learned as many interesting facts about Brunello, Chianti Classico and Super Tuscans as I did in my 18 years as a restaurant critic. And in a morning spent in Borgo’s cooking school, you can learn how to make two or three

classic dishes that you’ll still be serving at home long after your Tuscan vacation is over.

For further amusement, you can walk into the local hamlet of Palazzetto, less than half a mile away, and check out Jeanette’s Seed to Skin shop. (That will take care of your vacation giftshopping.) Turn right out of the gate instead and it’s little over a mile to San Galgano, the region’s oldest Cistercian abbey, well worth a visit. Further afield, Siena is 45 minutes away. Along with the sightseeing, be sure to schedule time for lunch at Osteria Le Logge, one of my favorite restaurants in all Tuscany, just off the famous Campo. Florence itself can be reached in around 90 minutes. Just across the Arno from the city center, the Borgoowned Bottega del Buon Caffè is a wonderful place for a Michelin-starred lunch or dinner, only minutes from the action but far from the crowds.

Last but hardly least is Satori, the Borgo owned and operated yacht — a 140-foot, hand-carved, five-cabin schooner, available for exclusive charter, to cruise the Mediterranean.

France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Croatia. You go wherever your fancy and pocketbook take you, fully motorized or dreamily under sail.

“Five cabins is a good number,” says Jeanette.

“Or you could use only four, and set up the fifth exclusively as a spa,” she adds, “so your guests can enjoy daily treatments.” Sybaritism mixed with a healthy dose of pragmatism — who can argue with that?

For more, visit borgosantopietro.com.

WANDERS

Singapore Airlines has partnered with Lalique for its luxury amenities. Photographs courtesy Lalique.

First-class style

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BY DEBBI KICKHAM

Well, they had me from the little pastel-pink leather purse with the black tassel on the zipper.

It’s a new first-class amenities kit on Singapore Airlines, the world’s most awarded and lauded airline. The carrier — as picture-perfect as the upswept hairdos of many of its flight attendants — has entered into a strategic partnership with Lalique, the French glassmaker that has become a major luxe lifestyle brand under the 10-year stewardship of Chairman and CEO Silvio Denz (WAG’s January Fascinating Men issue.)

The gorgeous Lalique amenities kits are carried in Singapore Airlines’ suites and first class cabins.

Says Marvin Tan, Singapore Airlines senior vice president, Product and Services: “We are very pleased to partner with Lalique to offer our premium customers exquisite luxury in the air.”

The pretty pink purses feature the floralcitrus-tuberose Lalique L'Amour perfume, along

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with scented lip balm, facial mist and hand cream. But here’s the best part: This chic little carryall is something all women will want to keep — and use — forever. It’s the ideal accessory to any little black dress and at any cocktail party.

It’s that crave-worthy. That’s unusual, because with most amenities kits, it’s a case of one and done after the flight is over. This little Lalique/ Singapore Airlines bag is one that merits a space in your walk-in-closet, right next to your Louis Vuittons.

The men’s kit, in black leather, is its worthy mate, containing a wealth of Encre Noire, a deliciously fragrant vetiver scent by Lalique.

Both Lalique and Singapore Airlines intend to offer passengers other co-branded items as well, including toiletries, glassware, loungewear and bedding.

The collaboration between the glassmaker and the airline is a match made in a style heaven crystallized by the Singapore Girl. In 1972, Singapore Airlines hired French haute-couture designer Pierre Balmain to create a special version of the Malay sarong called a “kebaya” in a batik material as the flight attendants’ uniform.

It and the carrier’s Singapore Girl ad campaign would become two of the most recognized signatures of the airline, so much so that a

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waxwork of the Singapore Girl was unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London in 1993.

The Singapore Girl embodies Asian values of caring, warmth, gentleness, elegance and serenity to showcase the airlines’ commitment to exceptional service and quality. The rigorous training program to instill these lasts about four months — among the longest of any airline in the industry — with flight attendants learning about customer care, safety and self-development.

In other words, there are reasons why women who consistently work 10-hour flights are always so poised, personable and polished.

And the Lalique amenities kits add the perfect grace notes to such an image.

For more, visit lalique.com and singaporeair. com.

Proprietor, Bobby Epstein of the legendary Muscoot Tavern in Katonah, invites you to experience his newest restaurant—

Kisco River Eatery Come in and savor the fresh raw bar and our impressive variety of steak, pasta, chicken and seafood selections in our warm and cozy atmosphere.

Gather • Eat • Drink.

Lunch & Dinner 7 days a week Sunday Brunch 11-3 Happy Hour Daily from 3-6 222 East Main Street • Mount Kisco, NY 10549 914 • 218 • 3877 info@Kiscoriver.com www.kiscoriver.com

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WONDERFUL DINING

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Tuna tartare served with slivers of cucumbers and crunchy waffle chips.

Passion for hospitality STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY ALEESIA FORNI

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When you walk into the door of Tony’s, a recently opened Italian steakhouse, one of the first things you might notice, aside from the pleasing aromas wafting from the kitchen, is a sign that reads, “Hello, my friend.”

It doesn’t take long to realize that sign is more than just a decorative piece. It’s a genuine greeting.

Launched by Tony Capasso, a veteran of the restaurant business who spent nearly two decades at popular Italian eatery Valbella!! in

Greenwich, the new restaurant sits at the foot of The J House Hotel, a modern boutique hotel in the Riverside neighborhood of Greenwich.

The restaurant’s sleek dining room, with hardwood floors and industrial fixtures, is dotted with leafy trees that nearly reach the ceiling. Red accents lend a romantic flair, along with a white marble-top bar lined with leather chairs that overlook a wood-burning open hearth.

Upon our arrival, we find that Capasso is both charismatic and welcoming, a hospitality

A rack of lamb encrusted in panko and honey dijon.

professional in every sense of the phrase.

During a large portion of our evening, he can be found bouncing between tables, stopping to strike up conversations with strangers and longtime acquaintances alike.

Another staple of Capasso’s brand of hospitality is his seemingly neverending supply of trivia questions, questions he asks to every diner in his eatery. Topics range from history to sports to movies to music. What is the most recent sports movie to win the Oscar for

Long-stem artichokes stuffed with lobster and crab meat.

best picture?” (“Million Dollar Baby.”) What quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a losing record? (Joe Namath.) What was the last movie to win best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay at the Academy Awards? (“Silence of the Lambs.”)

Executive chef Daniel Radovic, who previously worked alongside Capasso at Gabriele’s of Greenwich, proves to be as skilled in the kitchen as Capasso is on the dining room floor. His talent is evidenced in our first dish, a tasty tuna tartare

with wasabi tobiko, cucumbers and avocado, adorned with crunchy waffle chips. Crisp long-stem artichokes are stuffed with lobster, crabmeat and mascarpone in another started dish and finished with a lobster sauce.

Radovic shines in one of our favorite dishes of the evening, a delectable plate of tagliatelle truffle topped with a smattering of truffle Romano cheese. One of the day’s specials, ravioli, is stuffed with melted cheese and tossed in a simply irresistible red sauce that is

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both light and fresh.

We also enjoy veal rollatini, stuffed with sundried tomatoes and served atop sautéed spinach. A Colorado rack of lamb is one of the evening’s standouts, mouth-watering and covered in a Dijon mustard and panko crust that pairs perfectly with a heaping portion of garlic mashed potatoes.

I can’t pass up a side order of lobster truffle macaroni and cheese, which proves creamy and bursting with flavor. An order of Brussels sprouts with crisp pancetta and a drizzle of honey doesn’t disappoint, either.

As we sip on our coffee and enjoy bites of a creamy pistachio gelato, we flag down Capasso, unable to wait any longer to see whether our answers to the trivia questions are correct. Unfortunately, after we both give our best guesses, we learn that neither of us has answered ours correctly.

No matter, we decide. We’ll just have to study up before our next visit.

For more, visit jhouserestaurant.com.

A dish of pistachio gelato.

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E R OA R I N

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Stop in and experience the charm of this historic eatery, a neighborhood favorite since the Roaring ‘20s! Enjoy our cozy tavern where it’s always lively and cheerful or relax on our patio overlooking our horseshoe and bocce ball courts.

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105 Somerstown Turnpike, Katonah, NY (Corner of Rt. 100 and Rt. 35) www.muscoottavern.com 914 • 232 • 2800

WINE & DINE

What’s for dessert?

Wine, of course

I

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH

BY DOUG PAULDING

I was invited to a small dinner party recently by some longtime friends. I asked what I could bring and was told, “Oh nothing, we are all set.” “Well, I’d like to bring something.” The hostess said, “If you think of something inspiring, you could bring a dessert.” And that got me thinking. I took a stroll down into my modest wine cellar and struck gold.

I have been collecting dessert wines for some time now and have put down a couple dozen bottles, mostly in the 375 ml, half-bottle size.

Many of these wines have been there for a decade or two and the color has deepened into a dark honey glow. So I picked out a few bottles that looked perfectly optimal and chilled them a bit.

There are many styles of wines from all over the world suitable to pair with dessert.

Champagne, Franciacorta or any other well-made sparkling wine is often a good option. Rieslings, Gewürtztraminers, Moscato d’Astis, will all be fitting and appreciated. But there are wines that are specifically made to be sweet to accompany post-dinner conversation. There are many methods to create a sweet wine, short of adding sugar. Stopping fermentation at some point, that is, arresting the conversion of sugars into alcohol when the desired level of sweetness is achieved is one quick and easy method. But there are other techniques. Some regions like Sauternes in southern Bordeaux and the Vin Santos of Tuscany have created a style other regions try to emulate.

The first thing that has to happen in the winemaking process is to concentrate flavors by reducing liquid content of the grapes. This is achieved by sun drying them on mats or in boxes, letting the grapes freeze on the vines and encouraging botrytis, known as the noble rot, to dessicate the grape. In the Sauternes region, some of the most elegant and expensive dessert wines are crafted. Semillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle grapes can vary widely, but when supportive weather patterns fall into place, a perfect storm of botrytis fungus will emerge and will attack and shrivel the grape clusters.

These twisted and distorted clusters will then be crushed, fermented and oak-aged. The

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A broad selection of many dessert wine styles, notably Sauternes, ice wine and Vin Santo.

resultant volume is but a small percentage of the wine unaffected grapes will produce, which creates a steep price point. But the wines of Sauternes can be epic. Concentrating the juice does more than just saturate flavors. It creates a lingering mouthfeel unique in the world of wine.

This oily and slippery, unctuous texture allows for a long finish of sweetness dancing on the tongue. The Tokaji region of Hungary, Napa Valley, Germany and the Finger Lakes region of New York state all predictably have weather conditions to support botrytis and this style of wine. Wolffer Estate on Long Island, in some vintages, makes a truly wonderful botrytized Chardonnay.

Ice wines, Eiswein in Germany, are wines created after the grape clusters freeze on the vines or are harvested and allowed to freeze in baskets or boxes. The grape skins fracture and spill some juice. This will concentrate flavors and create a similarly unctuous textured wine as in Sauternes. Sometimes grapes are left for the first freeze to create an ice wine. The harvest is often done in the middle of the night well before the morning sun warms the clusters. And sometimes, an early winter blast and a shortage of help prevents the complete harvest of the vineyards.

What to do with shriveled grapes? “Hmmm. I think I will make some ice wine.” While there are many fine examples from Germany, all Canadian provinces make ice wines as well. Inniskillin of Ontario and Jost Vineyards of Nova Scotia are both well-made and worthy.

Passito-style wines originated in Italy, where the grapes were harvested and put on mats or in shallow boxes and allowed to sun- or air-dry to some level of raisin. The clusters are then pressed and

fermented and then oak-aged. On a trip to Chianti Classico in Tuscany several years ago, I discovered Vin Santo, or Wine of the Saints. This Passito-style wine is put in small oak or chestnut casks and aged, often in attics that can get very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. Many producers will age their Vin Santo for four or more years. Some of the wine evaporates through the wood. This is known as the angel’s share. With some air introduced into the cask, some oxidation will result.

I visited Fontodi winery in the Chianti Classico region. Giovanni Fontodi gave me a wonderful tour of his beautiful and biodynamic estate and led me to a tasting room. His wines are great, but his Vin Santo really got my attention. The grapes are harvested and naturally dried for five months in baskets. Their annual production is small at only 4000 half-bottles and, like all the Vin Santo producers we met, it is not a money maker. Still, Fontodi is proud of his Vin Santo. His is considered among the best. “We make it for our family and we sell the rest. If we stopped making it, my mother would kill me,” he says. With dried fruit flavors, apricots, dates and orange peel with honey, it will keep everyone's attention well after the food is done.

So that was dessert. I brought an ice wine, a Sauternes and a Vin Santo. I also brought a bit of Roquefort cheese, some dried fruits, some nuts, a baguette and all were happy. Any well-stocked wine store should have many options when exploring dessert wines. Look for them and see if a particular style appeals to you more than others. These wines will turn any dessert into an experience to savor.

Write me at doug@dougpaulding.com.

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R WELL

Restoring body and soul

BY MEGHAN MCSHARRY

AFTER TAKING A

boxing class led by Aaron Drogoszewski at Bloomingdale’s White Plains as part of its October Breast Cancer Awareness events, our editor in chief suggested I learn more about Drogoszewski’s new business, RēCOVER. As I type this, I still have that awkward soreness that has me struggling to climb steps or sit at my desk chair after a workout for another story. Thus, the idea of a business catered to recovering my body after a tough workout (the first in months) immediately piqued my interest.

So, I hobbled onto a Metro-North train to Manhattan to visit the wellness studio co-founded

by Drogoszewski and Rich Richey. Located near Madison Square Garden, the fourth-floor studio is an easy commute.

Drogoszewski welcomes me at the door as I take in the surroundings. Dark-colored walls with contrasting neon signs make for an aesthetically pleasing (and totally Instagram-worthy) setting. At 10 in the morning, a client rests peacefully in a reclining chair with headphones and an eye mask.

“We are the world’s first fully-comprehensive recovery studio,” he tells me. “For us, comprehension means recreating what recovery is.”

When forming the idea for his business, Drogoszewski saw a gap in the market.

“There wasn’t a place that focuses on recovery and not just a specific tool,” such as cryotherapy, he says.

But when he and Richey came up with the idea, they knew they had to act fast.

“We were like, we have to jump on this now. Two days after we signed the lease, recovery was number two on a list of wellness trends for the new year.”

Since its March 2018 opening, the business has

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gathered some of the highest-end technology to promote recovery for athletes and everyone else.

“Performance demands aren’t specific to athletes,” Drogoszewski says. “It’s moms. It’s business professionals. I ask people, ‘Do you want to be good enough at things you do or do you want to be the best version of you?’ That’s why we wanted to make it about more than just athletes.”

As a father of two children under 5, he knows how stressful being a parent can be. But services like NuCalm can help. While it was developed to treat patients with post traumatic stress disorder, FDA-approved NuCalm is designed to provide anyone with 30 minutes or so of quality sleep that leaves you feeling refreshed — unlike some midday naps.

I have to say, I was skeptical of NuCalm. As someone who struggles with a variety of sleep issues and has run the gamut of natural and medicinal sleep remedies to no avail, I really doubted it could be all that special. However, after Drogoszewski insisted I give it a try, I was impressed.

The staff set me up in a luxurious La-Z-Boy-esque chair, covered me in a weighted blanket (something I swear by at home, too, after receiving one as a Christmas gift) and instructed me to rub a dollop of calming cream on either side of my neck. Microcurrent pads were then applied to my neck. A comfortable foam eye mask covered my eyes to black out the room while meditative music played through the over-ear headphones. And there I was, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of New York City, in the middle of the work day, taking the most luxurious nap I had ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

While I never drifted into a deep sleep, it certainly provided me with a feeling of escape. After

Aaron Drogoszewski, co-founder of RÄ&#x201C;COVER. Photographs courtesy Aaron Drogoszewski.

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the time was up, I felt ready to take on the rest of the day as if my battery had been fully recharged in just 20 minutes.

RēCOVER also offers a CVAC (Cyclic Variations in Atmospheric Conditioning) pod, which boosts energy by increasing oxygen in the blood cells. CVAC is a little-known secret to some of the world’s top athletes, including tennis’ Novak Djokovic. Drogoszewski has a number of UFC fighters among his clientele who swear by the CVAC service, but are relatively hush-hush about the technology as they believe it gives them an edge to their performance.

Other services offered includes infrared saunas, in which you can watch Netflix or listen to Pandora radio to pass the time, air or ice compression, hydro massage and hyperice heat/ice technology.

Drogoszewski and Richey pride themselves in their years of experience in fitness and on the fact that they research and stay on top of new technology to best suit their clients’ needs. It is important that all of the technology is vetted and research can support the benefits before they invest. By researching so much prior to offering these little-known services, they are able to educate their clientele and inform the public about new ways to boost your body, mind and physique.

What I find so special about RēCOVER is that, unlike some gyms or wellness studios, there’s

Wagger Meghan McSharry tries her first NuCalm session at RēCOVER.

no intimidation factor. As a young woman (who hasn’t considered herself an athlete since high school), I was immediately comfortable with the staff and the studio itself.

“If it looked like a physical therapist office, you know, sterile and clinical, it’s not going to complement the experience,” Drogoszewski says. “It shouldn’t feel

?

like a day spa. It should be that in between where it feels kinda hip, professional, but still calm. We want people just to enjoy being in here and having that energy, and to be that nice middle ground where I know I’m doing something good with my body but I feel happy with my surroundings.”

For more, visit recover.nyc.

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WE’RE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN (AND WOMEN)…

For our Fascinating Men and Women issues and annual competitions.

Our first Fascinating Men issue (January) – with Turkish delight Onur Tuna, our Most Fascinating Man, on the cover – was a big hit with the public. Now the ladies are up at bat.

For our July issue, we’ll feature the most Fascinating Women, with one selected as Most Fascinating. (We’ll return to the guys next January.)

Criteria for each are the same – courage, which Aristotle said was the first of all virtues; intelligence; generosity; confidence; dignity; grace; humor; humility; sensitivity; strength; accomplishment; likability; social consciousness; and creativity. (“Oh, and good looks doesn’t hurt,” says publisher Dee DelBello.)

Send your nominees to Dee at dee@westfairinc.com and really make your pitch. Let us know why this person should command our attention.

Who knows? You might be the Most Fascinating Woman of 2019.

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is right at YOUR fingertips Visit westfaironline.com or contact

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WELL

How not to look your age

BY GIOVANNI ROSELLI

Y

“HOW YOU LIVE IS CONNECTED TO HOW YOU FEEL, WHICH IS CONNECTED TO HOW YOU LOOK.” – HOWARD MURAD, MD

You can tell a lot about a person’s self-care by his or her hair, skin and nails. As I’ve spoken about in several past WAG columns over the years, we all want to live and age as gracefully as possible.

Good proper hydration, movement and exercise and adequate rest and recovery all play a part. If one and/or more of the pieces are not cared for then your hair, skin and nails will be affected (not to mention what goes on in your insides).

Father Time is someone who catches up to everyone, and it is inevitable for our bodies and features to change. However, I am sure you can think about the older person who still has immaculate skin, as well as a middle-aged person who looks drawn and older than his or her age.

NUTRITION The foods below have all been shown to help with hair, nails and skin: • Fatty fish such as salmon • Avocados • Walnuts • Sunflower seeds • Broccoli • Dark chocolate • Green tea Interestingly enough, these items also make many other health lists as well. Success leaves clues. If you keep hearing about the same foods in multiple sources, there’s a good chance you — and they — are onto something.

I’ve mentioned these same exact items in articles discussing heart disease, diabetes and weight loss.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can help protect your cells from damage, promote skin hydration, protect against free radicals and assist in the production of new cells. This allows for optimal growth of thicker, fuller hair, glowing 124

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Giovanni Roselli.

skin and stronger nails.

One product that I have found to work very well and recommend to clients is Ultimate Nutrition’s Hair, Skin & Nails. The company has been providing top quality nutritional supplements for the last 40 years and manufactures its own products. This means that while many companies in the health and nutrition supplement market have third parties create their products, Ultimate Nutrition has total control over quality and distribution.

Here are some of the benefits that go along with taking this gluten-free product: • It promotes healthy, fuller hair; • May increase nail thickness up to 25 percent; • May reduce skin roughness and promote smooth skin; • May improve skin hydration by up to 33.3 percent; • May improve skin texture and appearance; and • May improve skin elasticity by 9.51 percent.

BE PREVENTIVE On another note, just as we all should be keeping up with regular medical visits, we

should be going to the skin doctor at least once a year for an annual checkup. There are literally hundreds of skin diseases, and thousands of people are affected every year by some type of skin disorder.

I urge everyone to 1) get your skin checked out if you don’t do so regularly; and 2) consider adding some vitamins and minerals to your daily routine (especially if you are noticing undesirable parts of your hair, skin and nails). If you do have strong nails and hair and pliable skin, it still wouldn’t be a bad idea to add some type of additional nutrition and/or supplement so you stay ahead and on top of it — being preventive versus reactive. Just like if you take care of yourself so you are less likely to get sick versus waiting to do something when you get sick.

Howard Murad, MD, whom I quoted at the beginning of the article, is recognized as a leading visionary for his scientific innovations.

He gives us hope with this thought-provoking statement, “Aging is a fact of life. Looking your age is not.”

Reach Giovanni on Twitter @GiovanniRoselli and on his website, GiovanniRoselli.com.

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PET OF THE MONTH

This Brutus is no brute

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His is a tough-guy name, one that he shares with Julius Caesar’s chief assassin, whom Shakespeare has rival Marc Antony describe in “Julius Caesar” as “the noblest Roman of them all.” But this Brutus is one gentle pooch. The senior Maltese mix is a lovely little dog — sweet and good with everyone despite being turned in with a few companions when their owner died.

Sadly, he and his furry friends were neglected and came in to the SPCA in rough shape. Brutus had clearly broken his leg at some point and it appears that it was not treated medically so it

Photograph by Sebastián Flores.

didn’t heal properly, which is why one of his paws is facing the wrong way. That doesn’t seem to stop him, however, from getting around and loving life.

Due to his age and medical issues, Brutus is eligible to be fostered prior to potential adoption.

To meet Brutus, visit the SPCA of Westchester at 590 N. State Road in Briarcliff Manor.

Founded in 1883, the SPCA is a no-kill shelter and is not affiliated with the ASPCA. The SPCA is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. To learn more, call 914- 941-2896 or visit spca914.org.

A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS FINALIST

A quarterback's search for identity amid the brutal beauty of the NFL ORDER TODAY FROM AMAZON OR BARNES & NOBLE "The Penalty for Holding" is the second novel in Georgette Gouveia's book series "The Games Men Play," which is also the name of her blog exploring sports, culture and sex. thegamesmenplay.com

WHERE & WHEN

FEBRUARY 1 - 7 “These Shining Lives,” a play by Melanie Marnich, chronicles the strength and determination of four young women to overcome hazardous working conditions at the Radium Dial Co. outside Chicago during the 1920s and ’30s. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South; 203-878-6647. milfordarts.org.

FEBRUARY 2 Mak Grgić opens the second Connecticut Guitar Festival with a program of music from the avant-garde to the classics of guitar repertoire, including the artist’s own fantasia on Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” 8 p.m. Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Ave.; 203-222-7070. westportartscenter.org.

FEBRUARY 3 The Symphony of Westchester’s Young Artist Showcase will highlight concerto competition winners and student composers. 3 p.m., Iona College, Christopher J. Murphy Auditorium, 715 North Ave., New Rochelle; 914-654-4926. thesymphonyofwestchester.org.

FEBRUARY 3 - 22 “Form, Fantasy and Experimentation,” an exhibition of paintings by Sam Bartman, explores the artist’s observations and manipulation of materials such as resins, varnishes, automotive paints and artist oil, result in expressionistic works. Times vary, Harrison Public Library, 2 Bruce Ave.; 914835-0324. harrisonpl.org.

FEBRUARY 5 The New York Times op-ed writer Ross Douthat offers a talk on “Crisis or Stasis? The American Empire Under Donald Trump” as part of Fairfield University’s popular “Open Visions Forum” series. 8 p.m., Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-254-4010. quickcenter.fairfield.edu.

FEBRUARY 5, 6, 12 & 14 Play With Your Food celebrates Valentine’s Day with three one-act plays read by professional actors, a discussion with the actors and a lunch catered by local restaurants. Noon performances, Feb. 5 and 6, Toquet Hall, 58 Post Road East, Westport; Feb. 12, Fairfield Theatre Company, 70 Sanford St.; Feb. 14, Greenwich Arts Council, 299 Greenwich Ave.; 203-293-8729. jibproductions. org.

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Mak Grgić appears Feb. 2 in Westport.

FEBRUARY 9

FEBRUARY 10

New Rochelle Council on the Arts, Westchester Alliance of Black School Educators and the New Rochelle Black History Month Committee present the seventh annual Black History Month Celebration. The event honors Aretha Franklin with song, dance, drama, spoken word and artwork by students in the City School District of New Rochelle.

Noon, Whitney Young Auditorium at New Rochelle High School, 265 Clove Road; 914-712-8128. wabseny.com

The Westchester Philharmonic presents a Friends and Family Concert. The philharmonic, led by conductor Rachael Worby, will be joined by tap dancer Savion Glover for a program of works by Copland, Gould, Vivaldi and more. 3 p.m., The Performing Arts Center, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase; 914-251-6200, artscenter.org.

FEBRUARY 9 AND 10 The Stamford Symphony presents Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” performed with the Greenwich Choral Society. The performance will also include several selections of choruses and duets from beloved Italian operas. 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford; 203-3254466. palacestamford.org

The second annual Connecticut Guitar Festival closes with a day of master classes and workshops by guitarists Benjamin Verdery, David Madsen, Joe Kiernan, Drew Pinto and Javier Farias, followed by an Alturas Duo “Pillow Concert.” Workshops from 10 a.m., concert at 3 p.m., Suzuki Music Schools, 246 Post Road East, Westport; 203227-9474. suzukischools.org.

Sweet Honey in the Rock performs its unique mixture of gospel, soul, jazz, blues, spirituals, folk and African chants. 7 p.m., Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-2544010. quickcenter.fairfield.edu.

experience something real #PAC1819 February 2 DIAVOLO: Architecture in Motion® 10 Westchester Philharmonic Friends and Family Special guest Savion Glover 16 Robin Spielberg Piano Parlour Soiree

March 2 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Hungarian Fire 9 Lea DeLaria Live in Concert 10 Trusty Sidekick Theatre Company Shadow Play 16 Aspen Santa Fe Ballet 23 Portland Cello Project Homage to Radiohead 30 Jazz at The Center Spectacular with Cyrille Aimée

Pictured: Savion Glover courtesy of Savion Glover productions

April 7 Tiempo Libre 7 Westchester Philharmonic All-Beethoven Season Finale 20 The Triplets of Belleville 25 BODYTRAFFIC May 4 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Deeply Inspired 5 Daniel Kelly’s Rakonto: Student Voices

914.251.6200 www.artscenter.org

LUCILLE WERLINICH, Chair of Purchase College Foundation

WHERE & WHEN

Cirque Zuma Zuma has a Feb. 16 show in Valhalla. Courtesy Cirque Zuma Zuma.

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Ridgefield Playhouse presents a Valentine’s Celebration with the Grammy Award-winning Kool & The Gang. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018, Kool & the Gang has performed continuously for the past 43 years. 8 p.m., 80 E. Ridge Road; 203-4385795. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

In conjunction with the exhibition “Masterpieces from the Museum of Cartoon Art,” Jenny Robb will speak on “Breaking into the Boys Club: A Whirlwind History of Women and Cartooning,” from the pioneers to those entering the profession in the wake of the women’s liberation movement. 10 a.m., Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich; 203-8690376. brucemuseum.org.

Perren-Luc Thiessen, the 15-year-old pianist from McKinney, Texas, who has been winning numerous local and international competitions, performs works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Drozdoff, Medtner and Prokofiev. 3 p.m., First Presbyterian Church of Stamford, 1101 Bedford St.; 347-224-7577. fishchurch.org

FEBRUARY 15 “The Great Composers” lecture series continues with a celebration of Valentine’s Day, “The Music of Love and Passion.” Pianist and lecturer Michael Boriskin will lead this session, which will explore different kinds of love — romantic, physical, religious, spiritual — in the works of Mozart, Strauss, Mahler, Ravel, Prokofiev, Bernstein and others. 7:30 p.m., Hoff-Barthelson Music School, 25 School Lane, Scarsdale; 914-723-1169, hbms.org.

“Alexis Cole’s Valentine’s Day Jukebox” promises to be a romantic night of sultry jazz classics, featuring award-winning vocalist Cole and her trio. The evening will include a set of audience requests, in which specific songs can be dedicated to loved ones. 8 p.m., ArtsWestchester, 31 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains; 914-428-4220, artsw.org.

FEBRUARY 16 WCC Smart Arts presents “Cirque Zuma Zuma,” an African-styled circus show composed of performers from 16 African nations. The show includes aerial acts, Egyptian limbo dances, South African gumboot dances and contortionist feats. 8 p.m., Westchester Community College Academic Arts Building Theatre, 75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla; 914-606-6262, sunywcc.edu/smartarts.

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FEBRUARY 20 French-American choreographer Carole Alexis and her Ballet des Amériques dance company will bring a varied repertoire to the Tarrytown Music Hall in a new series “Westchester Wednesday Dance.” These midweek evenings of dance offer audience members a break in their workweek routines and the chance to witness original work by the Music Hall’s dance-company-in-residence. 7 p.m., Tarrytown Music Hall, 13 Main St.; 718-3090437, balletdesameriques.company A performer from the National Circus Project will present tricks, stunts and juggling to audiences of all ages.

2 p.m., New Rochelle Public Library, 1 Library Plaza; 914632-7878.” nrpl.org.

FEBRUARY 23 AND 24 “Radicals in Miniature” by Ain Gordon and Josh Quillen, is Gordon’s theatrical memoir, recalling the electric New York City in which he grew up in the 1960s. 8 p.m.

Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Fairfield University, Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road; 203-254-4010. quickcenter.fairfield.edu

FEBRUARY 27 - JUNE 30 “Nina Chanel Abney: Royal Flush” offers a 10-year survey of the artist’s work, featuring 30 paintings, watercolors and collages. Her monumental work illustrates the complex social dynamics of contemporary urban life and touches on politics, race, homophobia, celebrity, consumerism and other provocative topics. Noon to 5 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays, Neuberger Museum of Art, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase; 914-2516100. neuberger.org

FEBRUARY 28 Victoria Johnson speaks about her best-selling book “American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic” about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr’s personal physician, whose dream to build America’s first botanical garden inspired the young nation. 6:30 p.m., Bartlett Arboretum, 151 Brookdale Road, Stamford; 203-883-4035. bartlettarboretum.org.

Presented by ArtsWestchester (artswestchester.org) and the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County (culturalalliancefc.org/FCBuzz-events).

World class entertainment in the Bronx

Hector El Torito

ACOSTA

Saturday, February 16 2019 at 8PM

Tickets: VIP$125, $85, $65, $45

One of the Dominican Republic’s most well-known Bachata and Merengue artists plays at Lehman Center for the first time to grace us with hits such as Ḷ džỮɳŵ, ŘʮɱƆdžƥʗɳɱ, Ꞌ ƽ Ữdžɱdžɱɳ.

Currents by

MAYUMANA Sunday, March 3 2019 at 4PM

Saturday, March 23 2019 at 8PM Tickets: VIP$100, $65, $55, $45

Ruben sings Luther

NICHE

Saturday, March 30 2019 at 8PM

Grupo Niche is a salsa group founded in 1978 in Cali, Colombia. Currently based in Cali, Colombia, it enjoys great popularity throughout Latin America.

Ruben Studdard: American Idol winner, actor, singer with 5 top ten hits including Superstar, a Luther Vandross hit. Put the two together and you have a larger than life recreation of a Luther Vandross concert.

Swan LAKE

Directly from Israel

Sunday, March 31 2019 at 4PM

Russian National Ballet Tickets: $45, $40 and $25 Children up to 12, $10 any seat

The Russian National Ballet brings the world’s most beloved ballet gloriously to life with Tchaikovsky’s classic score!

Ticket Prices: $45, $40, $25 Children up to 12, $10 any seat

Directly from Israel, Currents by Maymana is an upbeat performance for all ages.

Forever

Tickets: VIP$75, $45, $40, $25

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Freestyle

Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 8PM

Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 8PM

Tickets: $100, $65, $60, $55

The International hit rock ballet, “Star Dust, A David Bowie Tribute,” commissioned by Detroit’s own Music Hall makes its Lehman Center debut to dazzle audiences with its spellbinding glamour!

Fever Records & Sal Abbatiello Presents a night of stellar performances. To see the list of artists performing see our website.

Celebrating St. Patrick’s & Irish Culture Ticket Prices: $45, $40, $25 Children up to 12, $10 any seat

Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 4PM Created by Chris Hannon, former principal dancer for Lord of the Dance, Murphy’s Celtic Legacy features original choreography combining traditional Irish and modern dance techniques presented with multimedia elements, song and live music.

Box Office 718.960.8833 Online tickets and full schedule www.LehmanCenter.org Kids up to 12, $10 all seats VIP Reception & Prime Seating

Program subject to change Box Office fees will apply

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‘BIG’ NIGHT The Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase held a gala to benefit its art and education programs. More than 200 art lovers attended “The Big Party,” which was sponsored by Conair. Highlights of the evening included a silent auction and special performances by 5 Lives, led by drummer Steve Jordan with guest star Bruce Willis on harmonica. Guests enjoyed a Little Bourbon Party and Dessert Reception after dinner and looked on as photographer John Shearer was honored with the Passionate Artist Award and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts with the Passionate Philanthropists Award.

Photographs by Lynda Curtis.

1. Ron and Sandy Diamond and Eric Herman 2. Tony Maddalena and Mark and Jo Ellen Landesman 3. Anne and Charles Curran and Susan and Ralph Mack 4. Helen Stambler Neuberger, Lynn Straus and Jim Neuberger 5. Betty Robbins, Moses Silverman and Susan Dubin 6. John Shearer, Tracy Fitzpatrick and Hugh Price 7. Alvin and Gwen Clayton 8. Marvin and Donna Schwartz and Marilyn Schuster 9. Debbie Heidecorn, Bonnie Klugman and Paul Zukowsky

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love is an art.

www.BlossomFlower.com 914.304.5376 877.458.1709

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YOU GOTTA HAVE ART

Atelier Omiros, a new art gallery in Bedford, opened with dozens of guests on hand as the inaugural exhibition introduced the public to the work of the artist Omiros. Known for his style called Figurabstraction, Omiros created paintings that were highly sought after by private wealthy collectors at the time of his death in 2010. This first exhibition features pieces in the Byzantine style.

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Barbara Tamerin Peter and Chris Duncan Tatiana Sarmina Marlene and Peter Saile Michael Reiss and Paul Hriso Emmanuel Hriso Suzanne Samsen and Barri Leff

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WALK IN HER SHOES Alexis Glick, CEO of GENYOUth, was the keynote speaker Dec. 4 when the United Way Women’s Leadership Council held its sixth annual Celebration of Women in Philanthropy, the “Take a Walk in Her Shoes” Breakfast, to benefit the United Way of Westchester and Putnam. The event, which more than 150 supporters attended at Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown, recognized and reinforced the work of women helping to lift up other women and children living on the financial edge in Westchester and Putnam counties. Alana Sweeny, president and CEO of United Way of Westchester and Putnam, and past honoree Liz Bracken-Thompson of the public relations firm Thompson & Bender were on hand to honor Ruth Mahoney, KeyBank’s market president in the capital region, with the 2018 Woman of Distinction Award for community service.

8. Alana Sweeny, Ruth Mahoney and Liz BrackenThompson

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LENDING A HAND

The Hudson Gateway Realtor Foundation, the charitable arm of the Hudson Gateway Association of realtors, recently presented a check for $5,000 to Community Capital New York based in Hawthorne. Community Capital New York is a nonprofit community development loan fund that serves eight counties in the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County. The organization provides loans and technical assistance to borrowers that are not well-served by traditional lenders. Community Capital works to use capital creatively to enhance the economic well-being of our communities and those who live in them.

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Richard Haggerty, Kim Jacobs and William Merz

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CELEBRATING YOU

Westchester County nonprofit leaders and staff joined with friends and sponsors at the Hospitality Resource Group’s 13th annual “You Are ‘Cause for Celebration’” event, presented by Entergy at the CV Rich Mansion in White Plains. More than 300 gathered to enjoy festivities featuring electric violinist Daisy Jopling, sponsored by Westchester Bank, Robison Oil, Westchester County, Caperberry Events, Corporate AV and Westfair Communications.

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2. Daisy Jopling 3. Alisa Kesten, Margaret Kaufer, Sarah Cronin and Chris Templeman

IONA PREP AT 101

Iona Preparatory School celebrated its 101st anniversary President’s Dinner at Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle. The evening featured cocktails, live and silent auctions and dinner. The Founders’ Award was presented to honorees Felix and Laura Petrillo of Harrison.

Guests bid on prizes such as tickets to the Kids Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles and a chance for a dozen friends to play the West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck. Proceeds from the evening went to support the school.

4. Felix and Laura Petrillo and children Katherine and Felix 5. JoAnn Murphy, Thomas R. Leto and Joseph Murphy Sr. 6. Maggie Kelly, Jerome Cifarelli Jr., and Kaitlin and Sean Mara 7. Kenneth D. Hicks, Mariano Rivera, John J. McCombe and Joseph F. Fosina

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Visit www.GiovanniRoselli.com for more info or contact him directly at Gio@GiovanniRoselli.com.

WATCH

FUNDRAISING FOR PHELPS

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More than 350 guests were in attendance as Phelps Hospital hosted its 31st annual Champagne Ball. The event, held at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Briarcliff Manor, raised more than $350,000. This include $188,000 through the Fund-A-Cause auction, which supports the launch of patient fall-prevention technology now available at Phelps. The evening also honored the Phelps Hospice Department, Michael McCormick, MD, Syliva and Aubrey Hawes, Maggie and Fred Mascia and Jeff Meade.

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Aubrey Hawes and Fred Mascia Floyd Byfield and Adora Lam Pamela Terracing and Kevin Plunkett Lianne Hales Dugan and Sean Dugan

100 TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS The entire staff of Manafort Brothers Inc. of Plainville, Connecticut, brightened the holidays for children in need by donating 100 new bicycles to the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program to commemorate the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100th anniversary. The tradition was started by Jake Vandrilla, a former head mechanic and Marine, who worked at Manafort Brothers for more than 40 years. Although Vandrilla passed away a few years ago, the company honors his legacy by continuing the popular charitable drive.

Photograph by Alliances by Alisa Media Relations.

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5. Nick Manafort, Jesse Garuti, Jason Manafort, Staff Sargent Anders and Corporal Hess, Jon Manafort, John J. Lynch, James Morris, Fred McGoldrick and Jon Manafort

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Eager Beaver Tree Service INTELLIGENT TREE CARE ARTISTIC DESIGN DETAIL ORIENTED LONG TERM PLANNING-IMMEDIATE RESULTS SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!

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203-966-6767

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FARMHOUSE FUN

The Stamford Museum and Nature Center celebrated the opening of the Knobloch Family Farmhouse, its first major addition to the campus in more than 50 years, with three key events.

A grand opening luncheon was held at the Farmhouse as board of directors, donors and corporate partners gathered to mark the opening of the new building officially. More than 120 guests then attended a grand opening reception enjoying cocktails, hors dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;oeuvres and tours of the 4,000-square-foot Farmhouse and Overlook Terrace. And, more than 3,200 families gathered to enjoy the Farmhouse Festival.

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Norman and Nina Lotstein and Marsha Shendell Vanessa Fedele, Lori Mercede and Lauren Simblist Ed Guyer, Melissa H. Mulrooney and Doug York Andre Labrosciano and Lynne Colatrella Flavia and Greg Lodato and Betsey and Arthur Selkowitz Carla Duarte and Bud Grebey Johnny and Dana Montanez, Harry Day and Bill and Katherine Aron Gail Grosso Hofman, Robin Story, Ginny Landle, Sue Smeraldi and Cecilia Aita Dan and Betsy Mena Knobloch Family Farmhouse Carol and Michael Fedele Tai Soo Kim, Whit Iglehart, Melissa H. Mulrooney, Harry Day, Bill Knobloch and Jesse Saylor Christine Owens, Karen Kelly and Pauline Rauh Alana and Jed Selkowitz David Martin, Melissa H. Mulrooney and Dannel Malloy Rohit Bhalla, Kathleen Silard, Pam Koprowski and Ben Wade

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KENYA, TANZANIA, ETHIOPIA & RWANDA TOURS Exceptional Camps & Lodges | Authentic Experiences Private tours for groups and families with children

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Briggs House Antiques - 40 briggshouse.com Bruce Museum – 36 brucemuseum.org Cami Weinstein Designs LLC– 85 camidesigns.com City Perch Kitchen & Bar - 97 cityperch.com Compass – 21 compass.com Connecticut Dermatology Group – inside front cover ctdermgroup.com

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Mary Jane Denzer - 93 mjdenzer.com Miller Motorcars – 37 millermotorcars.com

Empire City Casino – 31 Empirecitycasino.com

Sothebys International Realty – 57, 60, 61 sothebyshomes.com/greenwich Stepping Stones Museum for Children – 6 steppingstonesmuseum.org/rentals Tranquility Spa – 5 tranquilityspa.com United Hebrew – 17 uhgc.org Val’s Putnam Wines and Liquors - 143 valsputnamwines.com Vincent & Whittemore- 46, 47 vinwhit.com Westchester Philharmonic - 100 westchesterphil.org

Royal Closet - 43 royalcloset.com

White Plains Hospital Center – 13 exceptionaleveryday.org/cardiac

Saltaire – 79 Saltaireoysterbar.com

White Plains Performing Arts Center - 56 wppac.com

Muscoot Tavern - 117 muscoottavern.com

Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital – inside back cover ynhch.org

Our WAG-savvy sales team will assist you in optimizing your message to captivate and capture your audience. Contact them at 914-358-0746.

LISA CASH

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FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1957

WIT

WE WONDER:

WHAT ROMANTIC MOVIE CHAR AC TERIZES YOU R LIFE?

Sarah Alfonsi

Maxwell Berger

John Copeland musician Bronx resident

public relations executive Greenville, New York, resident

James Dorfman

Imani Jackson

“Definitely ‘13 Going on 30.’ I’m in a place in my life where I’m a little bit of an adult, but still such a kid that it feels like I’m constantly playing the role of a grownup. …Really I still have so much to learn and so many questions.”

“I don’t know if it truly characterizes my life or if I just love the movie, but I feel a real connection with ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ To be honest, I’m on Sally’s side of the whole ‘Can men and women be just friends?’ debate, but I find myself having the conversation with my female friends all the time. It feels like a recurring theme in my life.”

“It’s a strange one, but I think my love life is best summarized by ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,’ which is ironic because it’s such an impossible movie to summarize. Long story short, I was in a relationship that consumed me so much and left me in such a fog after it was over that I would have given anything to take the memory away and move on with my life. Man, that was heavy. Don’t worry, I’ve moved on and am in a great place now.”

“Romantic movie? That’s easy, ‘Titanic.’ The epic romance between Leo and Kate in that movie always makes me think of my relationship with my wife.

Hopefully, our story doesn’t end with me freezing on a plank in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe we’ll avoid cruise ships just to be safe.”

“I love the movie ‘Crazy/ Beautiful’ and it reminds me a lot of my first love. Like the couple in the movie, I was in a mixed relationship that was difficult because of social pressures and different cultures, but our ending wasn’t tragic like in the movie. In fact, we’re still good friends.”

Keysha Jones

Amber Sullivan

Mike Thomas

Helen Thompson retired Yonkers resident

Bill Walsh

psychologist Larchmont resident

“I saw a movie on Netflix recently that I totally lived vicariously through. It’s called ‘Set It Up’ and I didn’t totally relate to the romance part of it, but it’s about receptionists and I’ve totally had the same fantasy that the movie played out for me. It was so much fun to see my workday fantasies come to life.”

“When you get to be my age, those romantic movies all start to seem kind of cheesy and unrealistic so it’s hard to respond to a movie as if it really relates to my life. When I was a young man, most relationships felt like that movie ‘Play Misty For Me.’ I ran into a lot of ladies that seemed great and turned out to be more than I could handle.”

“Well, as a single lady in the later years of her life, I can confidently say that the Robert Redford movie ‘Our Souls at Night’ is a wonderful representation of what it feels like to be this age and have a new vision of romance that isn’t this sweeping epic or once in a lifetime type of love story. Just having someone to spend some time with and be open to is my fantasy now, and it was great to see that represented on film.”

“My wife is only a few years older than me, but because of the age difference we always joke that our relationship is represented in the film ‘Harold and Maude.’ It’s a story about a teenage boy who falls in love with a woman who is about five times his age. Now, whenever I think of that movie, I think of my wife and have a good laugh about it.”

dental assistant Scarsdale resident

doctor New York City resident

“I think ‘The Big Sick’ characterizes my love life pretty accurately. In the movie, the main character is Pakistani, and his traditional family makes it difficult for him to get involved in a modern relationship. I don’t have the same culture as the character in the movie, but I can relate to one’s family putting up roadblocks in a relationship because of their old-fashioned values.”

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graduate student Bronxville resident

receptionist Tarrytown resident

teacher Greenburgh resident

*Asked throughout central and northern Westchester County at various businesses.

student White Plains resident