Pasadena Showcase House President Vikki Sung and Second Vice-President Matt McIntyre at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Vannia De La Cuba, Deputy to Mayor Gordo, the property owner, and Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Jobi and Marisa Blachy at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Matt McIntyre and Designer Rachel Duarte at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Designer Dona Dockendorf, Virginia McIntyre, Shauna McIntyre, and Andrew McIntyre at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Tosca Fasso and Glen Duncan at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Emma Deroche, The Art Wolf, Katy Polsby at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Lupe Bykowsky, Designer Lara Hovanesian, Anthony Bykowsky at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Designers Courtney Staffaroni and Carla Soto at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Natalie Farrow, Molly Pitrozelli, Kate Ohanesian, and John Ohanesian at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Designer Christopher Ward, Jess Moore, and Lani Moore at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Designer Stephanie Leese and Kris Leese at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Kirsten Poole, Dan Deffenbaugh, Heather Deffenbaugh, and Dylan Deffenbaugh at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Paul L’esperance and Designer Shari Tipich at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Edward Nuccio, Shaylyn Stanley, and Biz Zelaleni at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Dotty Ewing, Dwight Robertson, Collen Robertson, and Jennifer Crase at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Jennifer Wall, Huma Sulaiman, The Art Wolf, Teale Hathaway, Claudia Afshar at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
Susan Colina and Gabriel Chytry at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design Opening Night Party, April 21, 2023.
With a palpable sense of joy and celebration, guests at the 58th Annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design’s Premiere Night Gala turned a quiet, exclusive Pasadena estate into Pasadena’s hottest club Friday evening, dancing and partying until the curfew kicked in.
The Showcase House for the Arts program is celebrating its 75th year of supporting music and the arts in Pasadena.
The wide, verdant lawn of the 1933 grand colonial Stewart House, originally built for Arthur and Ruth Nicholson Stewart, hosted more than 300 happy guests across scores of immaculately set dining tables, under rows of twinkling lights.
Designed by Marston & Maybury, the Stewart House is over 11,000 square feet of living space on two acres of landscaped and manicured grounds, all of which was redesigned by scores of local interior designers over the last three months.
This is the second go-round for the historic home, having been featured in 1983 as the 19th Pasadena Showcase House of Design, and owned by the same family for 40 years now.
“It’s a fantastic party!,” gushed this year’s Benefit Chair, Matt McIntyre. “Premiere night is our kickoff to the month-long celebration of Showcase House, and I think this is a really great symbol of all the great hard work that the members and all the volunteers have put into it, and it’s certainly a great way to celebrate this house being open to the public this way.”
Originally formed in 1948 to support the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic, the Showcase House event helps the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts support a wide range of musical gifts and grants, as well as a yearly instrumental competition, a MusicMobile, and an annual youth concert for fourth-graders at Disney Concert Hall.
As guests dined on short ribs and salmon, and a lemon sour cream cake, LA Philharmonic Chief Executive Director Chad Smith emphasized to the gathered crowd the long time importance to the LA Philharmonic of the Showcase House of the Arts.
“It is millions and millions of dollars that events like this have raised to support music education,” said Smith. “The work that the Showcase Has done has been nothing short of remarkable.
“Along with this,” Smith reminded his fellow guests, “The Showcase House donated $1 million to the building of Disney Hall twenty years ago.”
As an example of the nights fundraising prowess, a “Paddle Raise,” following a shimmering violin solo by the Showcase Instrumental Music Competition winner Muyang Wu,16, raised nearly twice the suggested $25,000 needed to jump start the reconfiguration of the Showcase House’s “Music Mobile” program, in less than ten minutes.
“These events ‘showcase’ Pasadena’s creative talent and beautiful architecture,” said Mayor Victor Gordo, “but also raise money to ensure that the pipeline of young people who are interested in music and the arts, and who are interested in being creative professionals, continues to be fed.”
And then the music began, as the decidedly well-heeled audience removed those same heels and filled the dance floor, dancing until the band leader told them it was time to go home.
The 58th Pasadena Showcase House of Design will be open to the public from April 23 through May 21, 2023. More information is available at www.pasadenashowcase.org.
