There are fundraisers, and then there are evenings that resurrect an entire era. On Saturday, April 11, the Sebastiani Theatre makes a play for the latter.
Billed as “The Golden Age of Hollywood,” the Sebastiani Theatre Foundation’s annual gala leans into the venue’s natural advantage: It already looks like a place where something glamorous ought to happen. The trick, of course, is filling that space with enough energy to justify the architecture. This year’s answer is a hybrid of concert, costume party and civic ritual, all in service of keeping one of Sonoma’s most storied cultural institutions thriving.
At the center of the evening is SUSU, the New York rock outfit fronted by Liza Colby and Kia Warren, who will expand into an eight-piece big band for the occasion. Colby and Warren will also serve as hosts, guiding the night’s proceedings alongside music director Tony Bruno, whose resume includes work with Rihanna and Enrique Iglesias. Backing it all is the Neil Fontano Band, providing a local anchor to the otherwise cosmopolitan swirl.
The Sebastiani isn’t just presenting a show; it’s staging a case for itself. Historic theaters have a way of becoming either mausoleums or miracles, depending on whether a community decides to keep showing up.
Jocelyn Simone Rhude, the theater’s director of marketing and social media, frames the stakes in generational terms. “I work in marketing at the Sebastiani Theatre, a purposeful choice made due to a deep personal connection. My grandmother, my mother and I have all performed on that stage, a shared experience that makes the theater truly feel like part of my family,” says Rhude.
After returning from New York, Rhude decided to devote her time to helping the theater grow and flourish as a vital community hub.
“Preserving historic theaters like this, while planning for the future, is so important. They serve generations of our community, and they give us a place to gather, to laugh, be enriched by artistic programming and to pause for a moment in a world that’s moving so fast,” she says. “One day, I hope that when I have kids, they’ll get to grow up here too, going to camps, watching movies and experiencing live music at the Sebastiani Theatre just like I did.”
That sense of continuity—past bleeding into present, present angling toward future—is the quiet theme beneath the evening’s overt spectacle.
Local musician Tanner Walle of Little Worth captures the feeling from the stage-facing side of the footlights. “As a songwriter and performer in Sonoma, I’ve never felt more inspired than when I step into the theater—on stage or in a red seat,” says Walle, who credits music director Bruno’s talent for programming the venue as an indicator of the coming evening’s success. “It’s a rare privilege to create within a place that holds so much memory.”
The evening features a live auction led by Ellen Toscano, Sonoma’s “Singing Auctioneer,” with more than $100,000 in offerings: a Vail getaway, a four-night stay in Scottsdale, private flights over the Bay Area, rare magnums of wine and much more.
Throughout, there will be wine, canapés and photographers documenting the evening (guests are requested to be attired in black and gold, which will look marvelous against the red carpet).
Doors open at 5:30pm, Saturday, April 11, with the event beginning at 6pm at the Sebastiani Theatre, 476 1st St. E, Sonoma. Tickets range from $150 general admission to $250 VIP, available at sebastianitheatre.org.
