There was so much to see, hear, and experience at the Washington Opera’s Domingo Gala for the 21 stCentury at the Kennedy Center-where to begin? The sum of its parts-the quality of the artistsperforming, the excellence of execution of the Gala, spearheaded by Lucky Roosevelt, themagnificence of the gowns and jewels of the women, enhanced even more by the beauty of the setting-alladded up to one fact: it was a world-class evening.

This is the second Domingo Gala; the first, also planned by Lucky, was held in 1996 when Plácido Domingo, arguably the world’s greatest tenor, signed on as Artistic Director of theWashington Opera. In addition to the usual Gala ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, Lucky persuadedalmost 200 people to donate $10,000 to join the newly-created “Domingo Circle” ofsupporters. The first Gala brought in $2.6 million. When Domingo agreed to sign for another four years,she began organizing a second gala and went right back to ask for another $10,000 from supporters.

Indomitable Selwa “Lucky” Roosevelt is a force of nature in organizing and fundraising- boldlygoing farther than others have gone before in shaking the money tree. [Courage is perhaps in hergenes-her mother, Mrs. Showkar, told me some years ago how she herself had been strong enough todefy the conventions of her time, class, and country (Lebanon) to elope to America with the man sheloved.]

Lucky, who served as Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Protocol, has chaired some of the town’s mostsuccessful fundraisers. She settled in Washington some years ago with her late husband, ArchibaldRoosevelt, CIA intelligence officer and grandson of Theodore Roosevelt.

In addition to a score of Ambassadors, gala guests included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,Katharine Graham and Robert McNamara, Bill and Buffy Cafritz, Pat and Paul Stern,Marta Domingo, the Mandell Ourismans (with Mary turning heads in a dramatic black and whiteBruce Oldfield gown topped with a stunning shawl), Rebecca and Larry Burton (he’s anexecutive with BP Amoco, who sponsored the opera gala to the “aria” of $250,000), the KennethWoodcocks, Evelyn and Charles di Bona, Judith Terra and Naftali Michaeli, the Hon.John Loeb and Karen McGowan, the Hon. Edward Markey and his wife Dr. SusanBlumenthal, Ronald Dozoretz and his fundraiser-extraordinaire wife Beth, Martin and Marcia Feinstein (as former Director, Martin did much to develop the Washington Opera), chief ofprotocol Mary Mel French, Roland and Diane Flamini, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder andhis beautiful wife Tanya, Christopher Forbes, the Vernon Jordans, Jonathan Ledecky,Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, Maurice and Joan Tobin, the Hon.John Whitehead, Munir Benjenk, AOL cofounder Jim Kimsey, the Hermen Greenbergs, SydneyFerguson and Senator John Warner, John Gleiber, the Mort Zuckermans, Penne Korth, and John Damgard.

Name-Dropper’s Delight: In Georgetown one recent night, the place to be was Café Milano. The hostswere man-about-town Kevin Chaffee and Sandra Payson; the honoree, fine writer DominickDunne, whose books accurately mirror our contemporary life, for better or for worse.

The occasion celebrated his pictoral retrospective “The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of aWell-Known Name-Dropper.” And what names he drops! His fascinating anecdotes are as candid as thehundreds of caught-off-guard photos of the famous at play-most of them snapped by Dunne himself.

Often brutally honest, Dunne spares himself least of all. He recounts his experiences and friendships,from the New York theater scene to his life-at-the-top in Hollywood, and his subsequent fall from grace,fueled by alcohol and drug abuse. Shunned in Hollywood, he went into self-imposed exile in a lonelyOregon cabin, emerging to begin his life again.

Today he has written five best-selling novels and is a special correspondent chronicling the powerful andnotorious for Vanity Fair and television. Since the tragic murder of his actress daughter Dominique, he has focussed on such high-profile defense trials as those of O.J. Simpson, Clausvon Bulow, and the Menendez Brothers.

Hearts Afire: At a recent dinner party hosted by John Jepsson and his longtime-sweetheart Giselle Theberge, John received double congratulations on their upcoming wedding and for thesplendid cuisine. Real-estate whiz Giselle is also a consummate cook; she served homemade dishesof crab mousse, stuffed salmon, rolled stuffed tenderloin, and extraordinary desserts. Among the luckyguests were Teresa and Eduardo Aninat (Finance Minister of Chile for six years, now a tophoncho at the International Monetary Fund), Curt Winsor, the former U.S. Ambassador to Costa Ricaand supervisor of the Russian elections, John Utley of the Jamestown Foundation, BarbaraHaig (from the National Endowment for Democracy think-tank and daughter of the AlexanderHaigs), and Michael Samuels, a former Ambassador involved with both Africa and Latin America.

Roast ’em and Toast ’em: April 11th is the date, and the Four Seasons Hotel is the place for thealways-sold-out celebrity roast of the American News Women’s Club. Jim Lehrer’s feet will be heldto the fire by roasters Garrison Keillor, Robin MacNeil, Judy Woodruff, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, GwenIfill, Michael Beschloss, Mark Shields, Roger Rosenblatt, and Margaret Warner.

Wha’s Happenin’: Ambassador Marion “Joe” Smoak and Francie are back in their Palm Beachwinter digs after two quick trips: first to Lincoln College in Illinois where he picked up an honorarydegree, then Loma Linda, California for a celebration at the Richard Nixon Library. There Joe spoke ofsome of his experiences as Nixon’s Chief of Protocol…Karen Feld is back from Cuba after getting aninterview with Elian Gonzalez’ grandfather, and visiting the school Elian attended. She also has asculpture exhibit currently at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria…Liza Minnelli will appear April12-16 at the Kennedy Center in Minnelli On Minnelli, the concert that broke box-officerecords in November at New York’s Palace Theatre, earning almost a half-million dollars in first-dayreceipts alone. The concert is a tribute to her father Vincente, a master of the movie musical.

Magyar Medal: Pals of Aniko Gaal Schott, who went to the Hungarian Embassy ceremony whichawarded her with a decoration, thought they would see a small group of her most intimate friends; insteadthey found 199 others who answered to that description.

Hungarian-born Aniko (who is as thoughtful of her friends as she is creative) was awarded TheKnights Cross of the Order of Merit by Ambassador Jeszenszky on behalf of Hungary’sPresident Arpad Goncz, to “honor her outstanding and distinguished achievements throughout herlife for Hungary.” Cited was her fundraising for troubled youth, for Bosnian and Croatian refugees inHungary, for Transylvanian Hungarians, and for her assistance in facilitating Hungary’s acceptance intoNATO.

Diplomats present included the Ambassador of Brazil and Mrs. Barbosa, the Ambassador ofGreece and Mrs. Philon, the Ambassador of Spain and Mrs. Oyarzabal, the Ambassador of Italy and Mrs. Salleo, and the Ambassador of France and Mrs. Bujonde l’Estang.

Lady Victoria de Rothschild, Aniko’s sister-in-law, arrived from London, and her mother fromSarasota with husband Richard Reber. Also from Sarasota were Count Francis and CountessIlona Bethlen. New York guests included a couple popular with Washingtonians, Andrew and Pam Jacovides (he was the Ambassador of Cyprus during their posting here).

Also seen: Lucky Roosevelt, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Willee and Finlay Lewis, Marlene Malek,Jacqueline Leland, William Tiefel, Penne Korth, John and Donna Pflieger, James McBride (thenew General Manager of the Ritz Carlton), Marianna and Brandon Grove, the Josef Takacs and son Paul, the Maximo Flugelmanns, and Ambassador and Mrs.Alexander Watson (ex-foreign service, he is now director of the Nature Conservancy).

One guest present there, Philip, with his wife Nina, said that in the mid-1800s hisgreat-grandfather traveled to Hungary because it was famous for the quality of its flour, and he wantedto learn how to crush wheat. Charles Alfred Pillsbury then brought the technology to America,producing the flour we all know and love, and bequeathing a famous name to great-grandson PhilipPillsbury!

Party Time: Nicole Reibel’s luncheon at the Willard Hotel celebrated RobertaMcCain’s return from Europe, Singapore, and Australia. Over a lunch of braised loup de mer with white endives and black olive jus, Nur Ilkin, wife of the Turkish Ambassador, described thetwo current exhibits from her country: the priceless treasures from Istanbul’s Topkapi Museum now at theCorcoran, and the Textile Museum’s array of rare Ottoman fabrics and embroideries. Present were AnaRocha Paris, wife of the Portuguese Ambassador, Maria Ignez Barbosa, wife of the Ambassador ofBrazil, Gertie d’Amecourt, Garnett Stackelberg, and Aniko Schott… Another topflightluncheon was given by Allison LaLand at the Sulgrave Club, honoring Ambassador of Egypt and Mrs. Nerman Fahmy (who each have two university degrees in the fields of chemistry, math andphysics, she is a knowledgeable Egyptologist as well). Present were the Ronald Neumanns (he’s Dep.Asst. Secretary of State for Near-Eastern Affairs); Alan Wendt, who was U.S. Ambassador toSlovenia, and is now U.S. Coordinator for International Donor Initiatives in Kosovo; John Gleiber;international architect Dean Philpott and Cathy; Carol Lascaris, the President ofthe National Museum of Women in the Arts; Ambassador Olivier de Puget; and international lawyer Emerson Duncan…Seen at the always-sumptuous Embassy of Kuwait National Day reception: Lynda and Bill Webster, the Herbert Hafts, Franco Nuchese, Mark Goode and Marlene RamalloCooke…A reception at the Swiss Embassy residence, hosted by Ambassador and Mrs. Defago,honored both the Washington Symphony Orchestra and Arts for the Aging, withthe President of the latter, Lolo Sarnoff announced October 17th as the date for their annualgala, to be held this year at the British Embassy.

Is there something “Around Town” should know about? E-Mail donnashor@AOL.com.