I enjoyed attending the Congregation Kol Ami Thirteenth Annual Gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel tonight. Joel Grey did a really wonderful job performing. He sang some Irving Berlin songs as well as songs from Cabaret -- a show that earned Grey a Tony in 1966.
Grey also sang some of his Dad's (the comedian Mickey Katz) greatest hits. In the 50s Katz took popular songs of the day and changed them using Jewish humor. I guess he was something of a Yiddish Weird Al Yankovich.
I was a guest of Cary Davidson and Andrew Ogilvie. Seated at the same table was State Board of Equalization Chair John Chiang. John worked on a Woodward & McDowell campaign back in the 80s. He always asks about the people he worked with back then (Rochelle, Karen, Jackie and Dick).
Chiang is gearing up to run for State Controller next year. At one point he joked that he had been served the exact same dinner in the same ballroom just three days ago. I asked him how many banquets he attends a month. He didn't have a number, but he said he attends between 800 and 1200 events a year! How's that for a busy schedule?
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