BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
So what, we were wondering, was the verdict?
LaVetta Forbes' party verdict, we mean. Forbes, publisher of Beverly Hills 90212 magazine, covers glitzy parties worldwide. She was here last week for a Friday party at the Hyde Park home of Melody Richardson, then Saturday's Underground Railroad Freedom Center gala, then traveling, which is why it took us so long to catch up with her.
Verdict? "I'm amazed, and believe me, it takes a lot to amaze me. "Melody's party was, let me put it this way -- the only one I've been to that rivals it was one in Monte Carlo. That was one the Sultan of Brunei was involved in. I'm awed."
It was the combination, she says: The guest list ("sophisticated and fun; I didn't expect that"); details ("silver service plates for 150 and Irish linens; you don't see that anymore"); Richardson's home ("I love that she restored it rather than remodeled it"); clothes ("beautiful and chic; the jewels, it was like a party with European aristocracy").
"It was to rave about."
As was the Underground do. "Many of the same people and more exquisite clothes. I was with (P&G CEO) John Pepper and (Clinton pal) Vernon Jordan, and I told John, "I've never seen a scene like this, not two nights in a row.' "
She'll share it with the rest of the world in the June '99 book. "It's a big spread and I want to do it justice. I'm holding it till then because it's our millennium edition and I know people won't throw it away."
Forbes also scouted a story on "the 25 or 30 most exciting women in the world." Cincinnati candidates? Richardson, arts patron Lois Rosenthal ("she reminds me of a young Bette Midler") and a few more she's not talking about.
BALLROOM TOO:
Elsewhere on the circuit, the Cincinnati Arts Association unveiled its $1.8 million renovation of the Music Hall Ballroom at a preview party Thursday.
And mercy, wasn't it time? After 70 zillion proms and galas, the grande dame was plenty frumpy.
No more. Thanks to architect Don Beck and designer Pat Korb, it's now what one guest called "a whole new room."
Or, as Corbett Foundation exec Karen McKim said, "Used to be, you had to figure out where to hang curtains to hide something shabby. Those days are gone."
Other artsy A-list guests, between mouthfuls of salmon, crab and chicken, who agreed and gaped included Patricia Corbett, Bill and Joanie Lotts, Joyce Holmes, Shirley Bernstein.
What Beck and Korb did is incorporate RKO Albee artifacts (rails, mirrors, columns), redo the ceiling (it's now white and vaulted), install a new lighting system, redo floors and bathrooms.
CLOSE TO HOME:
OK, so we guess the little girl on the cover of Hootie and the Blowfish's new Musical Chairs CD doesn't look familiar, what with her showing only from the shoulders down and all. But she is familiar. And from a well-known local family.
She is 9-year-old Eva Valentine romping in the backyard of her Loveland home. Her mother is Nancy Rozzi -- yes, of the Rozzi family that shoots off Riverfest's fireworks extravaganza. Dad is Chuck Valentine, of Fairfield's Technicrete Corp. Eva lives with her mom in Loveland.
There's more: The photographer is Mary Rozzi, Eva's half-sister, now a New York-based photographer. The black-and-white photo was taken last year for a book cover. Hootie's people saw it, liked it and ran with it.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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