Lisa Vanderpump talked glowingly of ballet in a fancy ballroom Saturday night, but didn’t tiptoe around the moment.
Referring to a couple of classic ballet productions, Vanderpump said from the podium at the 42nd Annual Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Black & White Gala, “I actually do have many similarities to ballet. I have swans in my lake at home. And my husband says after 43 years of marriage, I’m definitely a nutcracker.”
Vanderpump’s husband, confidant and longtime business partner, Ken Todd, smiled and nodded from the main table. The line drew loud laughter and hearty applause for one of the most heartfelt and entertaining induction speeches at the event in the past two decades.
Vanderpump was this year’s Woman of the Year and star of a fundraising effort that drew about 500 guests to one of the year’s philanthropic highlights. Lance Bass of NSYNC, who has known Vanderpump for decades, introduced the honoree.
A Vegas entrepreneur
Vanderpump is set to unveil the Vanderpump Hotel, a rebranding and revamp of The Cromwell, next month. An effort is underway to name the service street between the resort and Flamingo Road as Vanderpump Way.
From the stage, Vanderpump said to the crowd, “I’m truly humbled to be here tonight, by virtue of my predecessors.”
The cultural icon, philanthropist and entrepreneur nodded to the gala’s first Woman of the Year honoree: “Elaine Wynn was somebody who was so welcoming and supportive, from one woman to another, as I joined Vegas. I know we will miss her and she was so instrumental in my confidence in coming to Vegas.”
It is clear that Vanderpump, a reality show legend as star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and executive producer of “Vanderpump Rules,” is only expanding her influence on Las Vegas. In her partnership with Caesars Entertainment, she has stamped her imprint on Vanderpump Cocktail Garden at Caesars Palace, Vanderpump à Paris at Paris Las Vegas and Pinky’s by Vanderpump at the Flamingo.
Vanderpump is personally involved in several philanthropic causes, including LGBTQ efforts, suicide prevention and canine rescue initiatives. Most recently, she was a VIP guest at the Keep Memory Alive Power of Love Gala in February at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Dance through her life
But Vanderpump is also a participant in the arts and dance, beyond her appearance on the 16th season of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2013 (she and partner Gleb Savchenko were eliminated in the fourth week, finishing 10th).
Vanderpump speaks of her youth and the art of dance, having spent nine years of classical training at the Corona Academy in London.
“I fell in love with dance as a young girl, and what it gave me was so much more than the ability to move gracefully. It gave me discipline. It gave me dedication. It taught me that beauty, real beauty, is not accidental. It’s earned,” Vanderpump said. “Those of us who have lived it, we know what that truly means … It means climbing into bed at night with bleeding toes. It means doing the same movement hundreds of times until it looks to the audience like you simply floated onto that stage, and it costs you nothing. That is the great illusion of ballet.”
‘Hardest-working woman’
Bass, late of NSYNC, said he has known the trailblazer “for a very, very, very long time.”
“I can say, with absolute conviction, that she is the hardest-working woman I know, shows up, does the work, never complains, and just keeps pushing on,” Bass said from the stage. “Not only is she a powerhouse who has starred in over 350 episodes of television, as well as produced them, with her namesake shows living on multiple episodes at the same time. She is an accomplished designer and award-winning restaurateur and soon-to-be hotelier.”
Bass also noted Vanderpump taught musical theater to her kids’ school when they lived in France, which she said while promoting the second season of “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.” She taught for three months of the year. “I loved it,” she said.
Funding a need
Following a video montage of Vanderpump’s life and career, NBT Board Member Stella Roy and NBT Board Chair Jerry Nadal presented the honoree with the Woman of the Year Awards, a bronze sculpture of a dancer by renowned artist Richard MacDonald.
Starting with Wynn, who was a devoted NBT advocate, the list of icons honored at the Black & White Gala have included Debbie Reynolds, Chita Rivera, Celine Dion, Paula Abdul, Bette Midler, Marie Osmond, Debbie Allen, Olivia Newton-John, Vanessa Williams, Giada De Laurentiis and Shania Twain, among several others.
Former executive director of the Elaine P. Wynn and Family Foundation, Punam Mathur, led the “Fund a Need” paddle raise to buoy NBT’s Community Education programs. The fundraising portion was led by NBT Board Member Dawn Hume and the father-son auction tandem of Christian and Parker Kolberg.
Mathur threw a charge into the crowd by remembering her close friend Wynn. Mathur said in her tribute that above all NBT’s executives, visionaries, dancers, productions and cultural gifts, “If I’m talking the truth, her deepest devotion was to the Community Education Programs, which may be the best-kept secret not worth keeping secret anymore.”
The programs serve 20,000 students every year with free dance classes, scholarships and other arts programs.
“Fund a Need” raised $736,100 for those education programs. Earlier, dozens of young artists from NBT’s Future Dance and Dance Discovery Scholars, its Professional Company and award-winning Competition Group performed.
Play it out
Throughout the event, Las Vegas legends the Lon Bronson Band furnished the music. Their stylings did not go unnoticed.
“The highlight of the night for me was when Lance Bass recognized I was playing ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’ as his play-on,” Bronson said of the NSYNC hit. “I think he was genuinely impressed. I got the wave.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
