As expected, the crowd in the windowless, concrete convention hall-turned-gala venue on Saturday seemed heavily weighted in favour of Brazeau before the fight began, with chants of his name ringing louder than those for Trudeau.
Arguably, "Turandot" was an exception, as it was the venue's opening gala and was conducted by Lorin Maazel.
This weekend it concludes its celebration of its 10th anniversary with master classes, recitals, a symposium and a huge gala concert in the various venues of Carnegie Hall.
Built in 1963 as the prime venue for film galas in East Germany, it is located halfway down Karl-Marx Allee, a monumental socialist boulevard built to host expansive military parades.
The always-impressive crowd, along with an ingenious art installation for a venue, help account for the gala's ever-growing popularity, but there are other key factors as well.
AFI Fest 2013 opened with "Saving Mr. Banks," Disney's nostalgic, behind-the-scenes story of the making of "Mary Poppins," a movie that climaxes with the premiere of "Poppins" at the Chinese Theatre — the same venue that hosted the "Banks" gala.
She has performed in venues throughout the U.S. including: GALA Hispanic Theatre and The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC); Galleria de la Raza (San Francisco); The Nuyorican Poets Café (NY); Out North Theatre (Anchorage); and The Art Institute of Chicago.
But after Mr. Obama announced his support in early May, the gala had to be moved to the larger venue, the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel, when demand for tickets spiked, organizers said.
Not only do most celebrity chefs and other festival VIPS stay there, it's the venue for two major events: a gala Tribute Dinner for chef Alain Ducasse (600 people, $500 per person) and Paula Deen's Gospel Brunch (500 people, $125).
In December, Cyrus undertook promotion in the United Kingdom at 95.8 Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball, the Royal Variety Performance the annual gala for the British Royal Family— and various other venues.
More than 400 guests turned out for this gala evening in support of Fountain Gallery, New York City's premier venue representing artists with mental illness.
