On Mar. 11, the Marlborough Student Charitable Fund (MSCF) held a private screening of the classic 1961 Audrey Hepburn movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Harmony Gold Theater from 5p.m. to 8p.m., raising well over $17,000 for the grants they give to charitable organizations that help women and girls in Los Angeles.
Tickets were $35 for students and $45 for adults, and in addition to the film screening, the event included tables of breakfast treats, keeping with the theme of the movie, and live and silent auctions. Many generous parents and Alumnae donated items such as pearls, skin care products, a trip to Mexico, reserved parking spots at School and much more.
Foreign languages instructor Eric Reinholtz emcee’d the live auction, encouraging parents and Alumnae to open their wallets with his persuasive rhetoric.
“I loved watching Dr. Reinholtz try to get the parents to give more money,” Evelyn ’14 said. “I definitely would have bought some if I actually had any money.”
The biggest windfall of the night came from two sets of four tickets to the exclusive Mar. 22 screening of The Hunger Games hosted by John Emerson and Kimberley Marteau Emerson, whose daughter, Jackie ’12, plays Foxface in the film; each set sold for $1,000.
With the help of Coordinators of Community Outreach Miranda Payne and Nadia Hopper, the MSCF girls began setting up for the event at 2p.m. and stayed until 9p.m. cleaning up.
Some parents objected to Breakfast at Tiffany’s because they said that Mr. Yunioshi, Audrey Hepburn’s neighbor in the film, is a racist character. To play the part, Mickey Rooney, who is not Asian-American, wore prosthetic buck teeth and exaggeratedly spoke his L’s as R’s. In response, MSCF co-chairs Maddy ’12 and Maya ’12 announced that neither Marlborough nor MSCF endorses the brief instances of racism in the movie. Few students said they were upset by the choice of film.
“Although the racism in the movie is slightly offensive, I didn’t really think it was a reason for parents to stop their daughters from watching it,” Elaine ’12 said. “It’s a great movie regardless of the few minutes of racism.”
Keeping with the theme of the evening, some girls came dressed as Audrey Hepburn with black dresses, buns and tiaras, while others came dressed for “breakfast,” in pajamas.
“We were at first really concerned about the lack of ticket sales, but it was a real learning experience to tap into our connections and try to advertise,” MSCF co-chair Maddy ’12 said. “In the end though, we raised a lot more money than expected for such a small event.”
