Children’s Museum Supporters Go Goth-Glam at Million-Dollar Gala

THE CORINTHIAN WAS the scene for a haunted happening benefiting Children’s Museum Houston. The decidedly adult bash was filled with dark allure, gothic glamour, and generosity to the tune of $1.14 million, the second-highest total in the event’s history.

Noir Ball chairs Whitney and Ryan Burns and Allison and Iván Chávez pulled out all the stops in creating a memorable evening shrouded in gothic romance — a la lace veils, caged roses and eerie candelabras. Guests, clad in leather, feathers and fake blood (oh my!), were greeted by waves of thick fog emanating from a rose-petal-filled fountain. Actors portraying Maleficent, Dracula and Wednesday Addams posed for pics with galagoers in between perusing silent-auction items and grabbing a cocktail.

The live auction certainly added some light to the otherwise (purposefully) dark evening: Auction chairs Devorah Krieger and Elizabeth McIngvale-Mackey secured some covetable packages, like an extravagant dinner for 24 inside The Corinthian’s historic vault, complete with a custom menu by Jackson & Co., and centerpieces by Bergner & Johnson Design. A Thomas Markle Jewelers diamond necklace and Lark & Berry diamond earrings were also up for grabs, as was a getaway to a Costa Rican penthouse. A raffle touted a pair of white-gold diamond-encrusted rings from Valobra Master Jewelers.

The cutest part of the night was the puppy auction! K-9 Angels donated two Labrador retriever/Pointer mix rescue pups, who sparked bidding wars and found their forever homes.

The Spazmatics

Iván and AllisonChávez, Whitney and Ryan Burns

Alexandra & Alex Cabraie

William and Natalia Young

Antoinette and Julian Duncan

Veronika and Mark Adler

Ashley Sloan, Kathryn Boeker, Erin Smith, Bethany Buchanan

Travis Boeker, Matthew Mackey

Elizabeth McIngvale-Mackey, DevorahKrieger, Kathryn Boeker

Bo and Courtney Hughes

Cassandra and Ryan Dalton

Tyler and Courtney Hassen, Rana and Todd Hassen

Trey and Kelly Mattson

Deanna Altenhoff, Darren Brasher

Steven and Liz Bender

Michael and Jessica Bertuccio

Evan and Kathleen Shemonsky

Stephanie Wiegand, Laura Hines-Pierce, Mary Catherine Jones

Shawnie and Paul McBride

Freddie Minahan, Stephanie Wilcox

Heather and Mark Teshoian

Rebecca and Bill Adler

Neil Badlani and Rekha Muddaraj

Jake and Carolyn Sabbat

Rayanne Darensbourg

Morgan Allen, Annabel Florescu, Lindsey Collie, Ricky Perusquia

Matt and Maya Pomroy

Lacey and Matt Goossen

Jon and Allison Heine

Lucy and Babatunde Cole