The Britannia Ball - Cunard Line Hosted Gala Aboard Queen Mary 2 to Benefit New York City Opera & Brooklyn Academy of Music

The Britannia Ball - Cunard Line Hosted Gala Aboard Queen Mary 2 to Benefit New York City Opera & Brooklyn Academy of Music

Sponsored by CIT

NEW YORK, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Last night, Cunard Line's flagship Queen Mary 2 welcomed guests from the New York City Opera (City Opera) and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) for The Britannia Ball, a gala evening benefiting both cultural institutions. The ball included: cocktails, dinner, dancing to Peter Duchin and his orchestra and a special performance by Tony Award(TM) winner Patti LuPone who performed a special rendition of "The Lady with The Torch" in the ship's Royal Court Theater. Together City Opera and BAM reach more than 650,000 individuals annually and have helped to transform the cultural landscape of New York City. All proceeds from The Britannia Ball will be divided equally between the two organizations and will support their missions to produce exciting works on stage and reach more than 40,000 students from New York City's public schools through their education programs.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070525/NYF070 )

The Britannia Ball was sponsored by Cunard Line and CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), a leading global provider of commercial and consumer finance solutions. CIT Chairman and CEO Jeffrey M. Peek and his wife Liz served as co-Chairs of the event. Brian T. Leary of Massey Knakal served as Vice Chair.

Docked for this special night at its New York home, the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Queen Mary 2 -- the world's grandest ocean liner -- served as the elegant setting for the evening's festivities where guests had full access to all the public areas of the ocean liner including: the Queens Room, the largest ballroom at sea, the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar, the Royal Court Theater and Illuminations, the only planetarium at sea.

Notable attendees of last night's festivities included: Chevy Chase, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan), LaChanze (Tony Award "Best Actress" The Color Purple), Michael Emerson (Lost; Emmy Award for The Practice), Michelle Ray Smith (Guiding Light), Carson Kressley (Queer Eye), Robert Verdi (Devil Wears Prada; Project Runway), Lloyd Boston (Style Editor Today Show, The View), Patricia Field (Oscar-nominated designer, Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty pilot episode, Sex and the City), Vivienne Tam (designer), Nick Arrojo (TLC's What Not to Wear), Rene Fris (Bravo's Shear Genius), Dhani Jones (Philadelphia Eagles), Liz and Jeff Peek (CIT Chairman, event sponsor), Carol Marlow (President, Cunard Line), Susan Baker (Chairman, NYCO Board of Directors) and Michael Lynch, Jane M. Gullong (Executive Director, NYCO), Paul Kellogg (General & Artistic Director, NYCO), Karen Brooks Hopkins (President, BAM), Joseph V. Melillo (Executive Producer, BAM), Judith R. and Alan H. Fishman (Chairman, BAM), James and Marie Nugent-Head Marlas, Jon Benjamin (Deputy Consul General of Great Britain), New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Jaime Markowitz, New York City Council Member Dominic M. Recchia, Jr., Joe Chan (President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership), Princess Alexandra of Greece and Nicolas Mirzayantz, Paul Beirne, Jayne Bentzen and Benedict Silverman, Celeste and Cornelius Boele, Kevin Brine, Olivia and Adam Flatto, Lydia Fenet, Edmee and Nicholas Firth, Mary Giuliani, Simon Hammerstein, Michael Newhouse, David and Julia Koch, Elaine Sargent, Denise Sobel and Norman Keller, Ben Livingston, Mark and Lorry Newhouse, Arrie and Coco Kopelman, William H. Mann and Anna Maria Murdoch-Mann.

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070525/NYF070
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: The Britannia Ball

CONTACT: Manuela Savona, +1-212-925-2300, savona@lisalori.com, or Lauren
Thayer, +1-212-925-2300, thayer@lisalori.com, both of Lisa Lori Communications
for the New York City Opera and Brooklyn Academy of Music; or Maria Andriano,
+1-212-229-0119, andriano@redpointpr.com, or Cindy Adams, +1-212-229-0119,
adams@redpointpr.com, both of Redpoint Marketing PR for Cunard; or C. Curtis
Ritter, Director of External Communications & Media Relations, CIT,
+1-212-461-7711, curt.ritter@cit.com

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