WBT to Host Eight-Hour New Year’s Eve Party
John Vecchiolla Photo
Eight hours of celebration are planned for New Year’s Eve at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, and with 500 seats available, that should keep Executive Chef Alexandra Sampaio plenty busy.
A performance of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s classic musical “Show Boat” is part of the evening’s entertainment. The cost is $370 per couple, which includes dinner, show, beverages, party favors, taxes and gratuity.
The evening’s festivities begin at 6 p.m. in the lobby with the buffet-style serving of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. A revival of “Show Boat” follows on stage at 7 p.m.
The first dinner course, a fresh greens salad, is served during the play’s intermission; the second and third courses arrive after the show ends.
After dinner, the stage is transformed into a dance floor and The Tuxedo Parc Orchestra entertains. A champagne toast ushers in New Year’s at midnight, but the party continues until 2 a.m.
Sampaio said hors d’oeuvres include chilled lobster, shrimp cocktails, clams casino, pigs in blankets, antipasto, empanadas and fresh fruit. There is the choice of three dishes – beef, chicken or fish and the signature Peach Melba will be served as dessert. A basket of dinner rolls includes fresh baked corn bread.
The open bar policy applies all night with beverage service, including cocktails, wine, coffee, tea and soft drinks, provided by the wait staff.
“Show Boat” recalls a time in history (the musical’s opening is set in 1890) when the Mississippi River showboat was a remarkable early American entertainment venue. The first act deals initially with racism as the show boat’s female star, accused of being black though appearing to be white and married to a white man, is banished from her role.
The play is noted for its departure from comedy to drama in a musical on the early Broadway stage. The score is incredible and includes “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man,” “Life Upon the Wicked Stage,” “Bill, Why Do I Love You,” “Goodbye My Lady Love” and “You Are Love.”
A beautiful duet, “Only Make Believe,” is sung early in the first act by soprano Bonnie Fraser (playing Magnolia, daughter of the riverboat captain) and John Preator (Ravenal, a gambler and Magnolia’s first and only love). The touching “After the Ball” is sung in the second act in a beautiful rendition by Fraser and other cast members.
Sampaio joined the Westchester Broadway Theatre as executive chef on March 1, 2012. At 16, she worked as a busgirl at the theater when her uncle, Tony Dinis, was executive chef Little did she suspect that one day she would take the same job her uncle had held for more than 30 years.
Born and raised in Tarrytown, Sampaio attended high school at Our Lady of Victory Academy in Dobbs Ferry. While a student at Westchester Community College, Sampaio signed up for adult-education BOCES courses in cooking and baking.
“After only a few classes, I began thinking seriously about a career in the food industry or in pastry baking,” she said.
“I wasn’t that interested in cooking when I started working as a busgirl, although I did like to bake,” Sampaio recalled. “My father, in fact, would have preferred for me to choose almost any other profession for a career. But when he and my uncle Tony realized that food was the highlight of my life, they became my mentors and influenced me tremendously.”
She enrolled at the New York Restaurant School in TriBeCa (now the Art Institute of New York) in 2003 and after graduation joined the Greens at Greenwich, an upscale assisted living facility in Greenwich, Conn. as sous chef. Two-and-a-half years later, she opened B4, a 40-seat bistro in Valhalla where she ran the kitchen and her partner handled the front of the house.
Sampaio was also the head chef for the Bedford Central School District before joining WBT. Her duties include hiring, training and managing the kitchen crew and food wait service staff. About 50 employees are on hand for sold out performances. She also decides the menu.
The theater accommodates about 500 people including up to 80 in the luxury boxes. Luxury box seating at $470 per couple (at least four couples required) is offered on New Year’s Eve.
Westchester Broadway Theatre is located at 1 Broadway Plaza (175 Clearbrook Road) in Elmsford. For more information, call 914-592-2222 or visit www.broadwaytheatre.com.
