Columnist Elizabeth Foyt: Mile of Style Expo offers fashion hints, chance to help

Elizabeth Foyt

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 9:38 a.m.

Elizabeth Foyt's social column appears Wednesdays. Reach her at elizabethfoytsimmons@prodigy.net.

Providing another innovative way to assist others is the approaching Mile of Style Women's Expo on Saturday at Alexis Park. Help others and update your own wardrobe by bringing a bag of new or gently used clothing to the expo. By supporting Goodwill of Southern Nevada with your donation, you will receive a free admission to the daylong event with one paid admission. Clear out a closet and bring along a friend or two!

While at the expo stop by Goodwill's Style Share booth for free demonstrations on how to accessorize your outfits courtesy of Macy's at the Boulevard Mall. There will also be samples of items donated from the community that are sold at Goodwill's four area stores. The sale of these donated items helps fund the vocational training programs offered by Goodwill to citizens with disabilities and other special needs. For further information about Goodwill of Southern Nevada please call 597-1107.

'Pretenders' wanted

Feel frisky? Want to try your luck on stage? You may want to consider an audition with Joe Behar's Community Drama Workshop for its annual "Great Pretenders" presentation.

Performers of all ages and levels of experience are urged to participate in this novel program. The "Great Pretenders" program consists of lip-syncing songs to records or tapes lasting two to four minutes.

Those wishing to audition need to bring their own music, costumes and choreography. Assistance from director Carol Behar will be available for those who are chosen to perform.

Contact Behar at 457-0234 for audition times and locations. "Great Pretenders" will be presented free from 2-4 p.m. on Sept. 4 in the Dance Hall Theatre at the Gold Coast hotel-casino.

'MacBeth' performed

Adding a special touch of distinction to Super Summer Theatre '99 is Mike Edward's production of "MacBeth." Direct from London, the drama will be presented by an English touring company at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, 18 miles West of Las Vegas, a straight drive on West Charleston Boulevard.

With just four performances of this classic Shakespearean tragedy offered, Thursday through Sunday, tickets are at a premium. Don't miss the chance to enjoy these special performances under the stars at the ranch.

Gates open at 6 p.m. with performances set to begin at 8 p.m. As always guests with picnic suppers are welcome to bring blankets to the meadow theater or rent a lawn chair for the evening. Call Super Summer Theatre at 594-PLAY for further details and ticket outlet locations.

All in the family

While distance played a role, it was a true twist of fate that found entertainer Nelson Sardelli and his soap opera actress daughter, Giovanna, both hosting the annual Miss Italia Nel Mondo Beauty Pageants. The elder Sardelli, who lives in Las Vegas, hosted the pageant in Sydney, Australia, some 13,000 miles from New York, where his daughter hosted the identical pageant, both to select an Italian beauty queen.

Sardelli, in accepting the Sydney engagement, had decided to ask his two daughters to accompany him to Australia. His younger daughter, Pietra, a Destiny Guide at the Magical Empire at Caesars Palace, accepted right away. When he contacted Giovanna in New York her response indicated a few conflicts with television shows and a request that she audition for an event the same weekend. Quite surprisingly, she was selected as the host for the New York Miss Italia Nel Mondo Pageant, slated for the same evening.

Giovanna Sardelli had a recurring role as Claire on the recently canceled soap "Another World" and is currently playing Joann on "One Life to Live." Nelson Sardelli regularly appears at the Orleans hotel-casino when playing in his hometown and was recently contracted to appear as the headliner for Reno's Italian Festival in October.

Festival gala

Some of the most charming music and rousing good fun ever presented on stage are integral parts of "Damn Yankees," now being performed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, Utah.

Recently the Utah Shakespeare Festival's Board of Governors hosted its annual fund-raising gala using the theme "You Gotta Have Heart," a favorite song in this musical comedy. Held in the well-appointed Randall L. Jones Theatre and the surrounding grounds of the Southern Utah University, the gala program included a tribute to some of baseball's finest players, a splendid ballpark buffet supper and sports-themed silent auction, as well as a performance of the festival's "Damn Yankees."

A key event of the festival, the gala is widely supported by residents from across the West who have treasured each season and blissfully watched the festival expand its season from a few short weeks to its current June 24-Sept. 4 summer season, and the new fall season, Sept. 16-Oct. 16. Hosting the ballpark buffet was the genial Dr. Jerry Crawford, a most avid baseball fan and festival literary seminar director. Crawford, playwright for the Broadway play "Diamonds" and sports newspaper columnist who devoted much of his writings to the Cleveland Indians, introduced major league players Marty Barrett and Vance Law.

Among the Southern Nevadans present with their friends and families for the gala were Festival Board of Governors members Linda Casey (Development and Public Affairs Committee chair), Tom Thomas (vice-chair of the Board of Governors) and Rod Leavitt (silent auction chair).

Restaurant samplings

Planned with an eye toward pleasurable dining and relaxation, the evening of culinary sampling at the Hard Rock hotel-casino was a delightful preview of all that can be enjoyed at the luxury resort. Hosted in the early evening hours the event was held in the spacious pool and patio enclosure.

Four restaurants -- Nobu (Japanese/Pacific Rim), AJ's Steakhouse, Mortoni's (Italian) and the Pink Taco (Mexican) -- generously served their house specialties to invited local guests and special hotel visitors. Each restaurant, distinctive in its decor and menu design, had its chefs and culinary staff busily preparing delectables ranging from sushi to petite filet mignon, as well as vegetable enchiladas and a full array of pastas. Small menus reflecting the selections of each restaurant were provided to attendees for convenient planning of their future gourmet outings.

Guests, among them Kay and Bruce Spottleson, Chrisse White-Waddell, Nancy Katz, Mark Fine and Betty Roqueni with Carol Dwyer, related over dinner selections and drinks at shady tables on the patio. Others, including Commissioners Myrna Williams and Mary Kincaid with Tuesday James, walked the bridge across the lagoon to the center island for fruit-flavored drinks, enjoying the handsome Thailand-themed atmosphere of the open-air lounge.

Others chose to sit inside the four restaurants, each of which have entrances from the casino side of the resort and look out upon the pool and courtyard. Included in the crowd of knowledgable diners were Bruce Banke, Norm Johnson, Maureen Kane, Phyllis and Bill Hanley and Judge Nancy Oesterle. Cigars, dispensed by costumed cigar girls, were provided by Don Thomas, Montague and Cuba Libre.