“Chance Encounters of the Bold Kind” was an ASTRONOMIC success!

What a cosmic night we had on August 26th!

This year, our Gala Committee, headed by Bette and Ashleigh Aitken, pulled out all the stops to create a far-out experience taking us light-years ahead! The event combined a fun and stellar atmosphere, interstellar attire, delectable cuisine, a mystery wine pull, spaced-out silent auction, and live entertainment that had the audience literally demanding more.

Thanks to the support of so many gracious theater lovers, who helped us exceed our fundraising goal!

The evening was kicked off with an out-of-this-world musical number from Chance artists, and things stayed light and fun with hosts Casey Long and Jocelyn A. Brown (aka Luke Skywalker and R2D2).

Later in the evening, resident artists Jocelyn L. Buckner announced our 20th Anniversary Season! More details about that coming in November, so stay tuned…

The evening wrapped up with a speech from Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen congratulating the board, company, and all our supporters on another successful year. He also recognized the important contributions made by this season’s Producers, whose belief in the value of the Chance’s contribution to this community helps to remind us why we continue the pursuit of our mission of creating a more compassionate, connected, and creative community.

There were some exciting announcements made during the galactic event, including….

• Education Director Karen O’Hanlon brought the audience up to speed on the recent accomplishments and expansion of the Chance education programs and Veterans Arts Initiative, including the 12th straight year of the Speak Up summer program and two presentations of the Veterans Initiative in the Arts since the last gala.
• Speak Up student, Jaztyne Lim from Cypress High School and Retired US Air Force Veteran, Martin Ventress both stepped up to the microphone and spoke about their experiences in their respective programs and how they feel the wonderful work has impacted the community.
• We also pulled the winning 60/40 opportunity drawing ticket, and Robert Daily was the winner! Robert, who was with us at the event, graciously donated his winnings back to the theater! Thank you, Robert!
• Board Chair Larry Cripe announced that board member Mary Kay Fyda-Mar was issuing a $10,000 matching gift in support of our New Works and Education & Outreach Funds. Hands shot up in the air to meet Mary Kay’s goal! We didn’t stop there though. Chance sponsor Steve Brown also offered a matching challenge of $5,000. Our gala patrons raised their hands one more time and both challenges were complete!! Thank you to the donors (listed below the gallery) who helped us meet the challenge, and a BIG THANK YOU to Mary Kay Fyda-Mar and Steve Brown.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, donated an auction item, a bottle of wine, or sent in a check! Your support made the evening a great success and will allow us to continue to serve this great community. See all their names after the gallery below.

SPECIAL THANKS

Gala Co-Chairs: Bette Aitken & Ashleigh Aitken
Gala Immediate Past Chair: Georgia Well

Gala Committee: Gail Doe, Sarah DuVal, Deirdre Kelly, Guy W. Marr, Rachelle Menaker, Rachel Oliveros Catalano*, Crystal Phillips, Heather M. Young
Entertainment Committee: Alex Bueno* and Laura M. Hathaway*

Disneyland Resort & Bradley Lock

MAJOR SPONSORS

• Prime Table Sponsors
  • The Aitken Family
  • Susan Bowman & Freddie Greenfield
  • Sophie & Larry Cripe
  • Mary Kay Fyda-Mar
  • Guy W. Marr
  • Georgia & Scott Well and Robin Preiss Glasser & Robert Berman
• Premium Table Sponsors:
  • The Aitken Family
  • Disneyland
  • Robin Preiss Glasser & Robert Berman
  • Andy & Judith Lamb and Terry & Michelle Schomburg
• Underwriters:
  • Catering: Christina Rice & Sally Ann Catering
  • Band: Cathy & Tom Kroopf
  • Themed Guests: Pat & Jolynn Mahoney
  • Table Wine: Danielle & Chris Weiler
  • Dessert: Jesse & Amy Bagley
  • Champagne: Ashleigh Aitken & Michael Penn
  • Signature Cocktail: Guy W. Marr

SPONSORS FOR CHALLENGE GIFTS ($250+)

• Katheryn Baker
• Guy W. Marr
• Ashleigh Aitken & Michael Penn
• Jolynn Mahoney
• Tod & Linda White
• Martin Benson
• Ernie & Gail Doe
• Veronica Gray
• Patti Howard & Carol Hellebrand
• Deirdre Kelly & Howard Privette
• Madeleine & Tommy Long
• Frances Riggs
• Diana Wong
• Bruce Goodrich
• Charlie Harfouch
• Nancy & Bud Foster

Performers: Jocelyn A. Brown*, Alex Bueno*, Angela Griswold, Laura M. Hathaway*, Casey Long*, Aaron McGee, Matt Takahashi

Band: Piano: Bill Strongin*, Drums: Jeff Segal

Volunteers: Chance Resident Artists and Fellows, Gabrielle Adner, Jay Ballard, Katie Brown, Tracey Butler, Miguel Cardenas, Doug Catiller, Eloise Coopersmith, Maggie Dorfman, James Gittelson, Sasha Glasser, Darby Gray, Geoff Gread, William Hansen, Lola Kelly, James Markoski, Megan Maxwell, Christi McHale, Angeline Mirenda, Thanh Nguyen, Kayla Pajarito, Piper Power, Bella Ramirez, Haley Saffel, Lindsay Saffel, Chris Schmidt, Rosalynn Strongin-Nguyen, Heather M. Young

* Chance Theater Company Member

In-Kind Sponsors:
These folks made donations to our silent auction, mystery wine pull, casino prizes and raffle drawing.

We apologize for any errors or omissions at the time of the blog posting.