Taboo bash hit of the fest
September
10, 2003
By JOE WARMINGTON -- Toronto Sun
GRAVENHURST -- It may be Taboo but I want to let you in on a little secret.
This will go down as the party that a lot of people missed.
Taboo, Taboo.
And it will be the Toronto Film Festival soiree everybody will be trying to
attend next year. Take it from Scrawler -- this monster bash was the event
of the 2003 festival so far.
As you can tell, I'm doing my best to make my Sun columnist pals Gary Dunford,
Mike Strobel, Mark Bonokoski, Michele Mandel, Bruce Kirkland, Jane Stevenson
and Liz Braun jealous.
Hey, I don't get to do it often. Don't forget Scrawler's usually the uncredentialled
guy with the hat standing outside the front door of these fancy things. This
time I found myself having lunch with Playboy playmate Tailor James. Need
I say more? All joking aside, I really do believe it doesn't get any better
than this one.
Words and even pictures will have a difficult time describing the first annual
Toronto Film Festival golf tournament at the five-star Taboo Resort up here
in Muskoka.
Set up to help raise money for the Film Festival Group, the golf tournament
is really more of a two-day event where guests are flown up from Toronto via
Cameron Air and literally land at the dock of this enormous resort, on the
beautiful shores of Lake Muskoka. Others came up by helicopter or limo.
"My heart is jumping," said an excited Kim Coates, star of such
films as Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down and Open Range. The L.A.-based seven
handicap from Saskatoon couldn't believe he was playing the home course of
2003 Masters champion Mike Weir. "Look at this course."
"It is incredible," added Alan Thicke, who admits he's been to some
nice places. "But this was special ... This was an incredible 48 hours."
It all started Sunday night with the screening of Canadian director Peter
O'Brian's Hollywood North, an hilarious parody on trying to make movies in
Canada 25 years ago starring Deborah Kara Unger and Matthew Modine.
This film was given this year's Spirit of Film Award, something that will
be handed out to a top Canadian film each year from now on. It was neat to
see the people of Gravenhurst outside the beautifully restored historic Opera
House hoping for a glimpse of one of the stars. And on the day side of the
event there was golf, Seadooing, swimming and poolside entertainment.
We also shouldn't forget the 40-piece steel band which heralded in the golfers,
the oyster and sushi bars on the course and, of course, the Cuban cigar roller
was a nice touch. The open bar also went over well.
The only thing missing was St. Peter himself. After golf there was a stunning
fashion show, produced by Elaine Tennyson and featuring the best of Canadian
designers including Alberto Kelly, Arthur Mendonca, Caroline Lim, Colette
Harmon, Dannie De la Venta, Eryn Reid, Jane Ip, Joeffer Caoc, Pat McDonagh,
Pearl Miller, Sonja Topolovec and Thien Le.
"This show was as good as it gets," said publicist Deborah Knight,
president of Toronto's dkpr.
Eat your heart out Sun fashion editor Sylvi Capelaci, who regularly attends
the shows in Paris and Milan. Add Gravenhurst to your list of stops next year.
As great as all of that was, the highlight was the closing party with a tremendous
eight-course meal prepared by executive chef Michael Pataran followed by memorable
entertainment by the band Groove Council.
The place was already rocking, but in the Boathouse, right next to picturesque
Lake Muskoka, it got just plain crazy when two special guests took the stage.
Among the celebrities in the crowd where Terry Sylvester, lead singer of The
Hollies, and guys from The Tragically Hip.
Sylvester got up with Groove Council first and wowed the crowd with hits Long
Cool Woman in a Black Dress and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. And if that
wasn't enough, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair got up and played all of The
Hip's hits.
It was neat to see celebrities like Thicke, Sara Botsford, Linda Thorson and
Valerie Pringle all up on the dance floor bopping to the tunes. "We have
already been getting calls from Los Angeles from stars wanting to make sure
they can come next year," says co-founder and executive producer Gene
Mascardelli.
I'll bet.
"We hope it will become a landmark event that will be one of the highlights
each year," added Taboo Resort managing director and co-producer Egon
von Foidl.
I'll bet my Sun colleagues will end up there next time. Hope they still let
the Scrawler in.