Social Scene

Robert Devaney • March 17, 2016

Friends of Vincent Orange met at the Watson Place home of Johanna and Phil Sfreddo to support his re-election and ongoing legislative agenda. The at-large Council member told the lively group that government efforts can help citizens fulfill their version of Maslow?s hierarchy of needs. “We need more affordable housing, but the city is doing very well,” Orange said. Then, the dancing and talking resumed.

Georgetowner •

In case you missed Kevin Spacey at the National Portrait Gallery for his “House of Cards” portrait unveiling, or Ashley Judd at Gaston Hall or Halcyon House, or Leo DiCaprio at Cafe Milano or 1789 Restaurant, there was also a chance to catch a glimpse of actress Natalie Portman, filming in town for next year’s movie, “Jackie,” a couple of weekends ago. On March 6, Portman was in Silver Spring to introduce her film, “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” at the closing night of the 26th Annual Washington Jewish Film Festival.

Sure, many actors have traveled to Washington, D.C. — not only to testify before the Senate or House on Capitol Hill or to put their influence behind a good cause — but also for doing their daytime job: working on a movie.

The production crew of “Jackie,” which stars Natalie Portman as first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, filmed on 14th, 15th and 17th streets NW near the White House. The movie’s story focuses on the days immediately after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It’s scheduled for a 2017 release, with Pablo Larrain directing (“No” and “The Club”) and Darren Aronofsky producing (“Black Swan,” “Noah” and “Pi”).

The 34-year-old actress, who earned an Academy Award for “Black Swan,” is the same age as the first lady was when JFK was killed in Dallas in November 1963. Last week, she was in Easton, Maryland, for the filming of scenes of the Kennedys’ Dallas airport arrival.

The film work for the story of the national tragedy was good news for D.C. film advocates like D.C. Council member Vincent Orange, who responded to an email inquiry: “I’m elated that the movie ‘Jackie’ is being filmed in D.C. This follows the filming of ‘Veep’ and ‘Bourne Identity 5’ in the nation’s capital. Moreover, D.C. residents and students from Richard Wright Public Charter School are participating in these productions. These productions utilize D.C.’s Film Incentive Rebate Program, which requires a minimum expenditure in the D.C. economy of $250,000. Our newly created Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment, under the leadership of Angie Gates, is doing a great job. It is our hope that Mayor Bowser will increase the Film Incentive Rebate Fund in order to secure jobs, business opportunities and movie production expenditures in D.C.”

Juliana Zovak •

Everything in Mary Barelli Gallagher’s Alexandria home has a special story, and almost all of it involves the Kennedys.

Gallagher, 88, was personal secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy from 1957 to 1964, which includes the Kennedy presidency. Before that, she was Sen. John F. Kennedy’s secretary and worked briefly for Jackie’s mother.

Gallagher took care of many of the first lady’s affairs even before the White House, including reporting her expenses to her husband, a task she was issued thanks to a St. Patrick’s Day toothache.

The senator had been scheduled to march in a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, but when Gallagher arrived at the Georgetown home to organize Mrs. Kennedy’s affairs, she found him at home with a puffy cheek and a toothache. He became interested in the expenses and requested that Gallagher keep him informed of his wife’s excessive spending, a job that would take up much of her extra time in the next years.

“Any time our paths would cross in the White House, I’d end up with homework because he’d ask me about her bills,” she said. “I like to say, ‘His toothache became my headache.’ ”

Gallagher recalled the time just before the 1961 inauguration when she was with Jackie, who said to JFK’s press secretary Pierre Salinger: “Oh, Pierre, Mary has to come to the White House.” Gallagher responded, “Are you talking about this Mary?” Jackie reassured her, “Mary, it’ll be just like Georgetown.” (She sometimes stayed in the White House living quarters.)

During all her time and work with the Kennedys, more than 50 years ago, Gallagher saved notes, photos and gifts, many of which will be part of a presidential exhibition by Bonhams at Decatur House on Lafayette Square March 25. The night before, she, and others who worked at the White House, will discuss their time there, as well as display their Kennedy-related items, their reminders of years spent with the president, first lady and family.

Through Gallagher, our relationship with Jackie also involved details like clothes, as she and Jackie were the same size, standing at five foot seven. Sometimes, Gallagher received hand-me-downs — and even pets.

Tom Kitten was young Caroline Kennedy’s cat, but Mrs. Kennedy entrusted him to Gallagher due to her husband’s allergies. Caroline often visited Tom Kitten and played with Gallagher’s sons, Chris and Greg, with their adventures documented in photos of the three sitting on the kitchen counter or standing around the piano while a Secret Service agent played. Jackie’s and the children’s visit to Gallagher’s Belle Haven home — where she has lived since 1954 — got a mention in the newspapers.

When Tom Kitten died, Gallagher’s husband Ray dug a grave for the cat in their backyard next to a memorial for Tippy, a golden retriever also given to them by Mrs. Kennedy. As her husband filled in the grave, Gallagher said to him, “I don’t think you’ve quite finished!” Tom Kitten’s tail was still sticking out.

Gallagher also has memories and items more indicative of the lifestyle she observed while working for Jacqueline Kennedy, including a leopard-fur pillbox hat and purse.

The fur came from a well-recognized Somali leopard coat that the first lady wore on her trip to India. Gallagher had arranged for Ted Kahn of Ben Kahn Furs to bring the piece to Mrs. Kennedy, and her wearing it led to high demand. In appreciation, Kahn later had the gifts made for Gallagher.

While the first lady’s leopard coat was popular, her most recognized outfit is the pink Chanel suit she wore in Dallas, famously blood spattered when her husband was shot. (The pillbox hat was lost.) Gallagher has another outfit worn that day — her own, a pink jumper with a white and pink striped blouse and a long tan coat.

She vividly recalls that fateful 1963 day, riding a few cars behind the president and seeing policemen running with guns drawn but not knowing what had happened. When her bus arrived at the Dallas Trade Mart, rumors were flying that the president had been shot. At the hospital, as the doctor emerged from the operating room, he quietly instructed Gallagher to support the first lady. “Dr. Burkley told me to go stand next to Jackie but not to change the expression on my face,” she said.

That Christmas, she received a chilling gift. It was an etching of the White House, inscribed, “For Mary, with greatest appreciation and affection,” signed by both the president and the first lady and dated Christmas 1963. The president had been assassinated in November.

Gallagher said she considers the first lady’s finest singular achievement to be “the brilliant renovation” of the White House, shown to the world during a national television interview and tour in February 1962.

Jacqueline Kennedy left Washington in 1964 and married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. As the American public questioned Kennedy’s motives, Gallagher felt an obligation to add her own story of everyday life with Jackie to the record and published the memoir, which she had originally written just for her sons.

Just as her mementos serve as relics of her time with the Kennedys, her 1969 book, “My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy,” offers a uniquely personal perspective on the first lady. At the time, the book was criticized for being too revealing and personal.
“She was a human being like we all are,” Gallagher said. “And she had a right to live her life as she felt like it.” [gallery ids="117231,117224,117242,117236" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

More than 300 guests gathered at the Willard Hotel March 3 to benefit the Bishop Walker School for Boys, a tuition-free school for boys from low-income communities, east of the Anacostia River. The dinner featured remarks from Ron Suskind, author of “Hope in the Unseen,” and a surprise appearance by Cedric Jennings, the Ballou High School student featured in the book. [gallery ids="117174,117171" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Philanthropist Ann Nitze arranged a jewelry pop-up at her 28th Street home by Susie Hoimes of San Francisco. The vintage jewelry on display owned the room and shone with the glamour of Chanel style along with other famous names beyond its costume ornamentation.

Robert Devaney • March 10, 2016

It was a classic and lively Washington meet-and-greet during the after party for the Feb. 4 opening night of “The City of Conversation” at Arena Stage. The play — which pivots at the Robert Bork nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 — takes place over a 30-year period in a Georgetown home. Ralph Neas, who was chairman of the Block Bork Coalition, said afterwards the take-away line of the drama was that Supreme Court appointments matter. [gallery ids="102238,129404" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society hosted its annual Light The Night Walk Awards Party Feb. 4 — World Cancer Day — at Pinstripes, bringing honored heroes and supporters together to celebrate the success of the 2015 Light The Night Walk Presented by BDO.

Fox5’s Tom Fitzgerald emceed the event which featured inspirational remarks from blood cancer survivors and their family members and included awards for top supporters. The 2015 Light The Night Walk raised $2.8 million for LLS’s mission — to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. [gallery ids="102241,129376" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

Rebecca and Hugo Medrano, basking in their recent 14 Helen Hayes Awards nominations, simply had a good time Feb. 6 as Noche de GALA presented “Señorita y Madame” by Venezuelan playwright Gustavo Ott. It reveals the inside scoop on the secret war of cosmetic industry leaders Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, who make current politics look civilized. There is humor, history, pathos and fine acting by stars Ana Verónica Muñoz and Luz Nicolás, bolstered by the supporting cast. An after party at the theater was an opportunity to savor the biting humor — along with a buffet. [gallery ids="102246,129320,129337,129313,129328,129331" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • February 18, 2016

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater held its 17th Washington, D.C., Annual Opening Night Gala Benefit, which featured the Washington premieres of “Open Door” and “Exodus” — along with Alvin Alley’s “Revelations” — at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House Feb. 2. Afterwards, supporters and dancers went upstairs for dinner and more dancing. Proceeds from the gala will support Ailey’s Washington, D.C., programs, including the creation of new works, arts-in-education activities and scholarships to talented young dance students in the Washington area to attend the Ailey School in New York. [gallery ids="102240,129383,129377,129387,129393" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • January 15, 2016

Photos by Jeff Malet for the Historical Society of Washington

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., celebrated photographer Chris Earnshaw at the Jan. 6 opening of his exhibit at the Carnegie Library building. Called “District,” it is a solo photography show that explores Washington, D.C., during the 1960s and 1970s. “Originally captured on Polaroids and nearly lost to time and neglect, these gritty images show the demolition, desperation, beauty, and energy in the every-day of the era’s capital city,” according to Earnshaw, whose show runs through Feb. 26. [gallery ids="102369,124511,124514" nav="thumbs"]