Guild Hall Academy of the Arts presented their annual Lifetime Achievement Awards at Cipriani on 42nd Street. The 2008 honorees were Candice Bergen/performing arts, Ken Auletta/literary arts, Jennifer Bartlett/visual arts and Donald Zucker/ leadership & philanthropic endeavors. Ruth Appelhof, Executive Director of Guild Hall, East Hampton’s cultural center for decades, welcomed guests to the celebration of artistic achievement, where Marshall Brickman (Jersey’s Boys book scrbe) presided over the lavish dinner/ceremony.

President of the Academy Roy Furman, who will be bringing the Adam’s Family Musical to Broadway next season with an inspired book by Mr. Brinkman announced that theater legend Liza Minnel will open the newly renovated John Drew Theater in East Hampton on Memorial Day. The project has taken over two years, but the ompleted theater will be a gem with state of the art technical facilites. Book now or miss out.

Photography: Barry Gordin