The Parties BEFORE the Polo
By Katlean de Monchy —
JULY 20
Polo is held on Lumber Lane. That means it is held adjacent to the estate of Maria and Ken Fishel, essentially in their back yard. And so, before the two demonstration matches, the series opener and the next, on consecutive weekends, the Fishels invite a select group for cocktails.
Young people are invited, thanks to the Fishels’ son and his wife (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
The invitation is one of the most coveted of the season, as it’s not only a fun-filled afternoon in support of two charities, it’s also a rare opportunity for women to wear magnificent hats.
The July 20 pre-Polo reception was in support of the Center for Family Services Palm Beach County Old Bags Luncheon, which will to be held next year at the Breakers in Palm Beach. Socialites, fashion designers, media personalities and reality stars mingled and talked about winter plans, before they joined Christie Brinkley and the Polo players on the field.
Maria and Ken Fishel (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
Host Kenneth Fishel admired his wife, Maria, in a beautiful Oscar de la Renta dress and a custom-made Kokin hat. Candace Bushnell was there and was heard to complain that there are no desirable men left in the Hamptons.
Candace Bushnell (sans hat) (Photo by David Warren /Sipa USA)
On the other hand, Ramona Singer, star of the “Real Housewives of New York, has found her match with the financier Bill Luby. Another star of that series, Luann de Lesseps, was there, taking a break from her “Marry F**K Kill” tour.
Bill Luby, Ramona Singer (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
The fashion designer Nicole Miller, wearing a practical-looking hat, was bubbling over with excitement about her travels to Albania to judge the fashions of the next generation.
Nicole Miller (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
Jean Shafiroff was killing it in a sexy red, form-fitting Oscar de la Renta outfit and an amazing Kokin chapeau.
Jean Shafiroff (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
Others there included Julia Haart (in the midst of that headline-making divorce), the photographer Antoine Verglas, the executive Andrea Catsimatidis (who is the long-time head of the Manhattan Republican Party), Chloe Melas (NBC’s features entertainment reporter on stories like Brad Pitt’s children, Harvey Weinstein’s health, and goings on at Graceland) and Ann Coulter (a Conservative commentator).
Julia Haart (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
Also there, Tom Ierna, who manages some of the top reality TV stars; the television producer Brandon Lankar and Lexi Barbuto.
When the cocktails were sipped, we were waltzed across a 500-foot private path to the grounds of the polo field wearing our color-coded wrist bracelets, and took our places at the cabanas and in the chairs on the sidelines. Ideally in one of the Fishels’ several of the twenty-five private cabanas.
Needless to say, the Fishels already knew the top players, including those on the Equuleus team, who won the demonstration match on a wet field.
Maria Fishel with an Equuleus team member (SIPA USA AP / Dave Warren / K Collections Photography)
JULY 27
Week two was about winning opera a bigger audience.
Alvisse Casellati (Andrew Werner Photography, VITAL Photo NYC )
Maria and Ken opened their home in support of Opera Italiana, a visionary initiative created by Maestro Alvise Casellati to celebrate the beauty and diversity of Italian opera. One of his missions is to champion Alberto Franchetti’s operas, once popular everywhere and now overlooked.
Soprano Maria Natale, Alvise Casellani, Ken and Maria Fishel (Andrew Werner Photography, VITAL Photo NYC )
Earlier this month, Maestro Casellati conducted “Aida” twice in Verona, once in the Roman amphitheater built in 30 AD that can hold 15,000 opera lovers. In Italy, there is no need to expand the love of opera.
But he was not at the Fishels to champion obscure operas. He was there to make opera popular and so he brought along the Italian-American soprano Maria Natale. She has had starring roles with various opera companies around the United States in “Tosca,” “Manon Lescaut,” and “La Traviatta.”
Yet I was not the only one to be stunned to hear what has been described as her “powerful soprano” coming out of the Fishel’s porch. She got two ovations.
Maria Natale (Andrew Werner Photography, VITAL Photo NY
Come September 24, Maestro Casellati will be at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park with “Opera Italiana Is in the Air.” It’s a free concert, with 900 not-so-comfortable wooden-slat seats in an outdoor setting on the Mall. It promises to be lively.
Opera Italiana seeks to reimagine classical music as contemporary entertainment. It also has a program in collaboration with Juilliard’s pre-college program.
Gilda Sacasa, Elena Alden, Maria Fishel, Katlean de Monchy; second row, Kenneth Fishel (Andrew Werner Photography, VITAL Photo NYC )
Among the guests at the pre-polo party was Gilda Sacasa, a former diplomat from Nicaragua, who was filed with emotion to see the Fishel’s son, Bradley, and his wife, Alexandra, and to learn there will be a baby Fishel early next year.
Leesa Rowland (Andrew Werner Photography, VITAL Photo NYC )
Other guests included Soren White, Leesa Rowland, Jean Shafiroff, this time in red-hot pink, Alexandra and Bradley Fishel, and Julie Auclair.
After cocktails and opera it was on to the polo match, which this time pitted Equuleus against Patternier.
