Photos courtesy of Young Audiences of New Jersey
By Christian Kirkpatrick Special Writer
It was smooth sailing for Dazzle 2009: A Night at Sea. On Saturday evening, this pleasure-ship-inspired gala left the Chauncey Conference Center on the campus of the Educational Testing Service for a cruise to romantic destinations. Aboard were 320 passengers, as well as dozens of entertainers and one special guest, Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey.
The event raised funds for Young Audiences New Jersey, which brings visual and performing artists to schools across New Jersey. These artists perform at assemblies, run workshops for teachers, children and families, and work as artists-in- residence.
“We are the largest arts education organization in the state,” said Larry Capo, executive director of Young Audiences New Jersey. Last year, he noted, the agency sponsored 4,500 programs in 700 schools in all 21 counties of the state. Some 475,000 children participated in these events.
“I believe in arts education and the effect it has on creating well-rounded human beings,” declared gala co-chair Linda Kinsey of Titusville. Co-chair Debbie Shepherd of Richboro, Pa., agreed that every child should experience the arts.
The Dazzle 2009 gala gave its guests a glimpse of the talents that Young Audiences New Jersey brings to schoolchildren. Not only were most of the silent auction items donated by visual and performing artists with the organizations, some of its singers and dancers provided the entertainment.
To showcase all these artists, the organization needed most of the Chauncey Conference Center. Its entrance became a boat deck, where two men perched among steamer trunks and played the accordion and the mandolin, and its foyer was the deck of the SS Dazzle, where guests were greeted by members of the Freestyle Repertory Theatre portraying the ship’s captain and cruise director. An open hallway became the ship’s promenade deck, where silent auction items — including a bluebird nesting box of red cedar, a story- telling tea party for 12 children, a handmade journal and some gorgeous jewelry — were up for bid.
Nearby in the Gatsby Lounge, guests could eat and drink while listening to a jazz pianist and singer. Upstairs was The Cosmo Club, where martinis were served, an a cappella group sang R&B, and a duo of tap dancers performed to Irish, African and hip-hop rhythms. Next door, The Kasbah offered Middle Eastern food, traditional Near East dancers and a musical ensemble playing instruments from around the world.
Speaking in both The Cosmo Club and The Kasbah was Kevin Spacey, who accepted Young Audiences New Jersey’s Champion of Arts in Education Award. Mr. Spacey described himself as “a kid from South Orange who’s now artistic director of one of the most glorious theaters in British history.” How did this happen, he asked?
He responded that like children served by Young Audiences New Jersey, he was influenced by an actor who came to his school when he was 13. Jack Lemmon praised his work in a seminar that the veteran actor was leading. This encounter was both profoundly encouraging and the beginning of a lifelong relationship.
Like his mentor, who “never let Hollywood go to his head,” Mr. Spacey has not limited his work to big- budget films. He has acted on stage and in independent films. Today he is artistic director of London’s Old Vic Theatre Company, where he tries “to pay his debt to Jack.”
“Send the elevator back down,” he said Mr. Lemmon used to tell him. “In life there’s always someone below, just waiting to go up.”
Mentoring a budding actor can do just that, suggested Mr. Spacey. But encouraging youngsters in the theatrical arts, he observed, can do more than prepare them to become actors, it can raise their self-esteem, teach them how to communicate effectively, give them a sense of community and help them to open up and engage.
“This,” he declared, “is an investment in the future of our society.”
Dazzle ‘09: A Night at Sea was sponsored by Educational Testing Service; Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP; Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.; Rago Arts and Auction Center; Betterton College Planning LLC; Glenmede Trust Company; Macro Sea Development; MediMedia USA; Miele USA; Outerbridge Morgan Architecture and Space Planning LLC; Parallel Edge; Parker, Remsen & Sullivan; Siegel & Bergman, LLC; and Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects, LLC.
Young Audiences of New Jersey on the Web: www.yanj.org.

