Next Sunday, February 23rd, MiceChat will host an evening of entertainment, gourmet dining, Disney legends, and unique auction items all in benefit of charity. With five Disney legends, six Broadway performers, artists and voice actors, this is an evening you won’t soon forget. Read on and learn how you can take part in this event to benefit the Ryman Arts Foundation. 

What would the Disney Company be without artists? The are the life-blood and creative force behind nearly everything the company has done and the reason why the company is a household name throughout the world. Great organizations, like the Ryman Arts Foundation, are fostering the creative arts to ensure that the next generation of artists have the skills and tools they need for success.

What is the Ryman Arts Foundation?

Ryman Arts is an orginization dedicated to teaching teens essential skills for art and life in a rigorous, nurturing studio environment. Established in 1989 as a living tribute to Disney Legend, artist and mentor Herbert Dickens Ryman. Herb or Herbie, as he was known to Walt Disney, was a brilliant artist and a favorite of Walt’s. He was famously called upon to draft the original concept map for Disneyland that Roy O. Disney used to pitch Walt’s dream to investors and anyone who loves EPCOT has seen the beautiful concept art he created for that ambitious project.

When Herb sadly passed away, It was agreed by family and friends that the most positive way to commemorate the life of Herbert D. Ryman was to carry on his philosophy and commitment to teach and encourage young artists to reach their full potential. It was in this spirit that Ryman Arts was created. From a single drawing class for 12 students in 1990, Ryman Arts has grown to 30 classes for 450 students annually, engaged 4,500+ Southern California teens in its core program, and provided outreach activities to 7,500+ inner city students.

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Ryman Arts has become one of the nation’s top youth arts programs and offers intensive studio classes taught by master teaching artists, college and career planning, field trips, support services, and community engagement opportunities to artistic high school students—all free of charge. Almost all graduates go on to college, many alumni work in the creative industries, and all are poised for personal and professional success. To foster a creative college-going atmosphere, classes are held in the studios of Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles and on the campus of California State University, Fullerton in Orange County, which both host Ryman Arts classes free of charge. Accepted students choose to attend Saturdays on the campus of CSUF or Sundays at the studios of Otis College. This vibrant community of culturally diverse teens comes from over 130 neighborhoods across Southern California. More than 80% live in low-income neighborhoods where schools provide little access to art and dropout rates are extremely high.

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Ryman Arts is the only such program in Southern California that is completely free, and that selects participants solely on the basis of their ability and commitment. By doing so, Ryman Arts is able to serve talented youth from a wide variety of backgrounds without regard to their family’s financial status. Ryman Arts aims to inspire, nurture, and challenge the next generation of young artists to reach their potential.

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Ryman Arts doesn’t just teach technical skills, it also imparts “life skills” including time management, self-confidence, persistence, goal setting, self discipline and patience. Providing young people the tools they need for future success.

 Why Donate?

Arts programs in schools are, for lack of a better term, in trouble.  Ryman Arts is one of the few places where artistically inclined students can go, regardless of race, economic status, or gender to receive exposure and education in the arts.  But it is also an organization that is driven solely by the generosity of the community at large.

That is why MiceChat, in cooperation with Disney Legend Marty Sklar and Ryman Executive Director Diane Brigham, have created this very special celebrity gala. We want to dazzle and entertain you, while benefiting this worthy organization.

A Very Special Evening

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The spectacular evening will start with a champagne cocktail reception and silent auction, complete with hors d’oeuvres and the opportunity to mingle with Disney legends. You’ll then be escorted into the ballroom of the Sheraton Park Anaheim (next to the Anaheim Convention Center) where more than a dozen Disney celebrities, legends, artists and Broadway stars will be in attendance. Every dinner table will contain at least one celebrity guest, which ensures that you won’t soon forget this wonderful event.

Dine like kings and queens on this sumptuous feast: 

  • Mixed field green salad with sliced apple, baby tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese and candied pecans, balsamic dressing
  • Petite filet of beef and breast of chicken
  • Roasted baby red potatoes, haricot verts & baby carrots, cabernet demi glaze, shiitake cognac cream sauce
  • Assorted rolls
  • Marble chocolate torte with dark chocolate curls served with fresh raspberries, white chocolate & raspberry coulis

Your Hosts For The Evening

  • Marty Sklar (Disney Imagineering Legend)
  • Diane Brigham (Executive Director of Ryman Arts) 

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Disney Legends: 
  • Alice Davis (Disney Imagineering Legend)
  • Bob Gurr (Disney Imagineering Legend)
  • Dick Jones (Disney Voice Acting Legend – Pinocchio)
  • Floyd Norman (Disney Animation Legend)
Disney Personalities: 
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  • Lisa Davis (Anita, 101 Dalmatians)
  • Margaret Tinker Bell Kerry (Live Action Model for Tinker Bell)
  • Mike Peraza (Art Director for Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Concept Artist for such films as Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast)

As dinner wraps up, some of Broadway’s brightest young stars will entertain us in a remarkable cabaret-style performance of Disney songs hosted by the fabulous Michael-Leon Wooley (Louis the Alligator from Disney’s Princess and the Frog).

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Michael-Leon Wooley and the cast of bright stars who will be performing for the MiceChat Ryman Gala.
Broadway Performers:
  • Michael Leon Wooley (Louis the Alligator from Princess and the Frog)
  • Anneliese van der Pol (That’s so Raven, Belle on Broadway)
  • Chandra Lee Shwartz (Wicked, Gypsy)
  • J. Elaine Marcos (Annie and A Chorus Line)
  • Michelle Loucadoux (Ariel in the Broadway cast of The Little Mermaid)
  • Miller Tai  (Tony Award winning Utah Shakespeare Festival)
  • Sharon Wilkins (Dream Girls, Ain’t Misbehavin’)

We’ll share a touching tribute to the beloved and recently departed Diane Disney-Miller by Imagineering Legend, Marty Sklar. Diane’s daughters, Joanna Miller and Jennifer Miller-Goff, will accept the very first MiceChat Ryman Legend Award on their mother’s behalf.

We’ll wrap up the evening with an opportunity for you to bid on some rare and fun works of art and treasures in support of Ryman Arts.

Tickets to this amazing event are available now. And if you’d REALLY like to support the event, there’s an opportunity for you to sponsor a star and sit with them at the event or donate auction items (contact [email protected] for information about sponsoring a star or donating auction items).

This is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that you just can’t miss, an elegant evening with Disney’s finest which also supports a charity near and dear to so many in the Disney community.
If you are in Southern California Sunday February 23rd, come join us at the Ryman Arts Charity Gala in Anaheim.  It will be a spectacular evening for a very good cause.
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 Special Offer at Event Host Hotel – Sheraton Anaheim Park

The Sheraton Anaheim Park Hotel has generously offered special room rates to those who would like to book a stay during our Gala weekend. Please use THIS LINK to book a discounted room at the Sheraton Anaheim Park Hotel.

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Norman Gidney
Norman Gidney, also known as Fishbulb, has produced and edited many of the articles on MiceChat over the years.