The 60th birthday party for PR guru and former television producer Scott Currie was held at the River Club on 52nd Street overlooking the East River with a cavalcade of celebrities, performances, and fireworks.
The private club space was transformed into the legendary El Morocco nightclub by event designer Preston Bailey, complete with the famous blue and white zebra stripes on a carpet outside and on the chairs and banquettes with the giant white palm trees and cacti the club was known for down to exact reproductions of the ashtrays and matches on every table.
The 90 guests in black tie and long gowns included Martha Steward, actor Stephen Baldwin, Melissa Rivers, and Hollywood legend George Hamilton mixing with Candace Bushnell, Dorinda Medley, Nicki Haskell, “Queer Eyes’” Thom Felicia, New York Council Member Erik Bottcher, Peggy Siegal and designers Dennis Basso and Elie Tahari among others.
Downtown cabaret icon and Cirque Du Soleil performance artist Joey Areas opened the evening with two songs by Billie Holiday, wearing a gown by Thierry Mugler with a heart-shaped cutout revealing her derriere. The Rockettes then danced to “New York, New York,” sung by Liza Minelli. Later, a giant nautical-themed cake with indoor fireworks wheeled out to The Village People’s “In the Navy” was presented.
Hamilton, who frequented El Morocco in its heyday in the ’50, ’60s, and ’70s, remarked, “I practically lived at the original El Morocco, but this is much more fun.”
Designer Dennis Basso and Joan Rivers’s daughter Melissa made toasts with Rivers noting that Currie was the son her mother never had and also confessing her mother’s propensity for taking things from every restaurant and hotel she ever visited, “an unattended housekeeping cart was her holy grail” and encouraging guests to “take anything that’s not nailed down” as keepsakes of the evening from the tables.
For those who couldn’t grab the limited supply, there were gift bags at the exit with more, including decks of original El Morocco playing cards with a note from the host thanking them for attending and noting that “Birthday gifts will still be accepted through the end of 2024.”
