Jeffrey McDermott has watched how the Center for the Performing Arts annual gala has evolved.
“I’m one of the rare people who have been to every single gala we’ve had here,” said McDermott, who was a board member prior to assuming his role as president/CEO for Carmel’s Center for the Performing Arts.
The sold-out Center Celebration 2024 Presented by Ice Miller with headliner Chris Botti is set for Sept. 21 at the Palladium. The fundraising event supports the Center’s education and outreach programs. The first gala was in a huge tent on Carter Green in January 2011, the same year the Center opened.
“We then came in there for the show and it was star-studded,” McDermott said. “What I recall is the next day there was an ice storm and the tent was destroyed. Then for the next couple of years we switched to the summers and we had it in connection with the Songbook Academy (Hall of Fame induction), which was great but created a huge stress on our staff. It’s an all-hands-on-deck (event) and when we did it in connection with the Songbook Academy, we would have the Songbook Academy one night and the gala the next. While it was great fun, it became overwhelming as the Songbook (event) and the gala continued to grow.”
McDermott said there were a few years when the dinner was held at the Indiana Roof Ballroom one night and the show at the Palladium the next night.
“That worked but it was a two-night event and that’s a lot for people to commit to,” McDermott said. “We felt a one-night affair was much better. We’ve hit a nice pace now.”
McDermott said each year the staff discusses ways to make it more unique and more memorable. What has helped the event evolve is that Carmel businessman Zak Khan donated a festival floor that sits on top of the seats. McDermott said they can seat 250 people on the floor and another 150 in the various boxes at the Palladium. The first one with the festival floor was held in 2015.
“It starts with the red-carpet entrance, cocktail reception around the building, the dinner and show on the festival floor and then goes throughout the building for the after-party,” McDermott said. “That formula has worked well for the last several years.”
Ramona Adams, the Center’s vice president of events, said it takes two to three days to install the floor and about the same amount of time to take it down. The floor is installed the first week of August and then is taken down when the gala is over. It enables the Center to rent Palladium space for weddings, conferences and corporate events.
Adams said it probably takes about a dozen professional stagehands and production experts to install the floor.
“The floor has been a game-changer for us being able to hold larger scale events,” Adams said. “We don’t have room for much more than 100 until we install the festival floor in August. Then we can accommodate 250 people, so it’s ideal for wedding receptions. It’s a fun opportunity for us in rentals to sell that space.”
Adams said every department is involved in staging the gala.
“It’s a real all-hands-on-deck kind of event,” she said.
Kendra Latta, vice president of development, said the gala lays a fundraising foundation to support and raise awareness for the Center’s education and outreach missions.
“We have limited seating at the gala, but it’s a big enough event with a strong enough message that we want to get it out in the community that we do more than concerts,” Latta said. “We’re a place for education and a place for gathering, and donor support makes that possible. Our education programs are growing like crazy. We offer free matinee programs for school children and for the last two years those shows have been filled to capacity by the time school starts each year.”
The volunteer co-chairs are Adam Arceneaux and Michael and Caroline Garvey. Arceneaux is the senior co-chair in his second year of a two-year commitment. The Garveys will become senior co-chairs for the 2025 gala.
“These volunteers go out and recruit a committee of volunteers,” Latta said. “They are people in the community that go to shows and work for companies that support us and maybe serve on our board of directors. We try to get 40 or 50 committee members, and it’s their work and advocacy that sells the tables, gets the corporate sponsors, helps secure the auction items and they have a great input in making it a great evening people want to attend. We’re really indebted to them. They are an incredible group.”
Latta said the co-chairs are the cheerleaders of the group.
For more, visit thecenterpresents.org.
