Pictured #1 Lauren Bacall #2 Bacall ( seated ) pauses for a photo with ( left to right ) Michael Anderson, dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and part-time staff member at Columbia College Chicago; Ms. Bacall's assistant Leila Brahmi; and Chuck Bricker, Constituent Relations Coordinator at Columbia. #3 Jamie Lundblad; Barry Benson, Columbia's director of corporate sponsorship and underwriting; Jon Snyder; and Dino Stoneking. Photos by Bob Kusel
A standing-room-only crowd gathered Nov. 11 at the Columbia College Chicago Dance Center to get 'Up Close' with legendary actress Lauren Bacall. In the Dance Center's intimate setting, Bacall shared a video program and an autobiographical presentation of her life and career, was interviewed by Columbia Theater Department Chair Sheldon Patinkin and then took questions from the audience. She wrapped up the program by reprising, at an audience member's request, her famous 'you know how to whistle,' lines from To Have and To Have Not.
The program was the inaugural event for the college's new high-profile series, Conversations in the Arts: Up Close With ... . The program series is designed to provide an education opportunity for students, attract donors to the school and strengthen the arts and media college's position as a major player in Chicago's cultural life.
Prior to the public event, a group of the college's 'friends' gathered at the presidential residence for a sit-down dinner with Bacall hosted by Columbia President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. During the cocktail reception, the group was treated to entertainment by Columbia musical theater students Leah Morrow and Danielle Boyd, who performed songs from Applause! and Woman of the Year, accompanied on the piano by Columbia music student Nicanor Gutierrez.
Upcoming guests include James Earl Jones Feb. 10 and Mary Tyler Moore April 14. See www.colum.edu/conversationsinthearts .
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