Grammy Award-winning singer Chaka Khan might have been the headliner at Saturday night's "Cabaret for a Cure," but many in the audience were more taken with Sheryl Lee Ralph, Mary Griffin and Todd Honeycutt, each of whom had the crowd rocking in the Hilton Americas-Houston ballroom. Add the impressive Richard Brown Orchestra to the on-stage mix and it was non-stop music throughout the night.
The fourth annual cabaret-style benefit for Legacy Community Health Services played to a sell-out crowd of 600. Applause, applause not only for the singing talent but also for chairs Lora and Dr. John B. Clemmons and Argentina James and honorary chairs Anita and Gerald Smith.
Congrats to honorees Kimberly and Frank DeLape, Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor and Brian Teichman as well as to emcee KHOU Channel 11 morning star Deborah Duncan, who kept the program flowing. The ever-popular Paul-David Van Atta, who conceived of the cabaret-style fundraiser and who happens to be Hilton Americas director of catering, presented a special award to the truly fabulous Ralph for her decades of support for AIDS patients. "You know fabulous is a full-time job," she quipped to the audience.
The swell crowd included a vibrant mix of the city's social scene with guests such as Mayor Annise Parker, Trini Mendenhall Sosa and Frank Sosa, Tara and David Wuthrich, Elaine and Dwight Jefferson, Terry Zmyslo and William Dobbs, Renee Logans, Joe Nelson, Soraya and Scott McClelland, Dr. Shannon Schrader, Gail Brown and Lisa and Mike Holthouse.
Pretty people were everywhere including Jonathon Glus and Alton LaDay, Jessica Rossman and Gordon Bethune, Laura Randale, Karen and Mike Mayell, Carolyn Farb, Monsour Taghdisi, Phyllis Williams and Barbara and Ulyesse LeGrange.
