The Ieuter Benefit Revue

By Madame Caylor


Well, what a gala evening it was.

Everyone was all dressed up and ready to celebrate.

The cocktail hour was held in the lobby of the Community House.

Follies barmen and waitresses (all of whom looked fabulous) helped the catering crew with service.

The hors d'oeuvres were very tasty and nice to look at.

I have attempted not to use too many names here, as there were so many who participated and the danger would be to leave out someone.



However, you must know that

Dan Goodman looked absolutely divine - like a maitre d' in the fanciest restaurant.


I was tempted to tip him $50. But I didn't.

Matz Hall looked very festive as our creative crew came up with beautiful centerpieces and table decorations worthy of the lovely dinner served.

Wolfgang Puck is noted for the presentation of the meal, and now we all know why. Yummy tomato soup (NOT Campbell's) and Agnolotti with truffle, both of which were decorated to a fare-thee-well.

How the servers were able to get each plate to a diner without the precariously balanced Mongolian Lamb Chop with Cilantro Mint Vinaigrette bumping into the Sauteed Autumn Vegetables is still a mystery.

During the meal, film clips were shown on the big screen - featuring (who else) Bill, his family, friends, and hobbies.


These were skillfully arranged

by our tech crew. Also, there was a "Man on the Street" interview where senior citizens were asked to give their opinion of Bill. There was some suspicion among the audience that the questions the folks were replying to may have been other than what we were told. In other words, a set-up.

It must be noted that during the entire evening, Bill could be heard rendering his familiar cackle/laugh/scream/whoop. Only this time, several members of the audience had been rehearsing this sound at home, so they joined in. Soon other members of the audience joined in. Cacophony.


One of the most appealing

moments was at the very beginning when emcee/host, Don "El Moldo" Graf (who also looked like a maitre d', but not on purpose),

heard someone tapping on the audience left door. There stood Ruth Ieuter, Bill's tiny little Mommy, with a suitcase. Don asked her why she was there, etc., and she responded,

"Someone was supposed to pick me up at the airport, but they didn't. I had to take a cab."

Perfect delivery of her lines!

 

The roast began in earnest as dessert was being served.


After the invocation by the

minister of Bill's church, we were entertained by speeches/ poems/jokes delivered by Bill's three sons, film clips of Follies appearances, a tableau with commentary presented by members of Bill's play-reading group, a film clip sent in by two Bears season ticket holders who have seats near Bill's at the games (these guys were hysterical), "choir" members singing a hymn of sorts and a Bears fight song, and a tribute by current and past members of the Board of Governors of the Community House, to mention a few. (Whew!)

A wonderful roast came from Bill's long time friend and fraternity brother who shared stories of Bill's antics. One story involved a celebration following an Illini football game. On the way back from Champaign in their rented limo, Bill opened the sunroof and stood up waving and cheering in celebration. He hadn't reckoned with the wind at in excess of 65 mph. His glasses blew off and remain in a downstate cornfield to this day.

Winnetka Theatre presented a very polished act as Joyce Bishop, "The Grand Old Old Old Old Dame of Theatre", wrote some very saucy (read "filthy") lyrics to a song from "Guys and Dolls", a Winnetka Theatre show in which Bill appeared. Performers were current and ex-Follyites, John Howard, Joe Schmidt, and Doug Diggs. It brought the house down!


A pervasive theme throughout

the evening was a piece of rock which fell off the stadium at the University of Illinois. This rock has been passed back and forth between Bill and his college friend since 1960. But it has been passed in ingenious ways, among others, in a cake served at the Union League Club, and in a flower arrangement received at the hospital by the friend's wife, who had just delivered a baby. Slides of the rock were shown early in the evening.

At the end of the roast, just when Bill thought it was over and had delivered his thank-you speech, here comes Mamasan (yours truly) from the Karate Chef number Bill starred in for so many years, dashing on stage with her cart and red kimono. Bill was forced to put on a kimono himself and cold-read his lines. We even managed to work the actual fabled rock into that number.

Then, came dancing with music by the Woolson Production Group to cap off the night.

Mark Olson and his group worked long and hard on this event, and it showed.

The event raised about $10,000 for the theatre fund. We all owe Mark our thanks for a job well conceived and executed, and most of all, for an unforgetable evening.