New Pictures Added

I am finally in my room after a wonderful, emotional, exciting night.  The National Inclusion Project’s Championship Gala was an amazing event.

I will admit that it is very late.  I stayed out enjoying the company of friends so please excuse if this post is choppy and not complete.

Thoughts:

1.  The Gala at the National Theatre started right on time.  Ruben opened the show with a great rendition of Super Star.  It was fun to see him and the audience gave him a lot of love.

2.  Arsenio Hall did an excellent job of being the MC.  He joined Ruben on the stage and one of the first things Arsenio said was that Ruben and he had something in common…Clay let them win on their show..(not a quote, but that was the gist of the comment).  Everyone laughed and relaxed a bit.

3.  Ben and Sean were both a part of the band which included another electronic keyboard, guitar and bass.

4.  All three Gala winners were amazing.  Each one filled your soul with love, pride and determination to work just a bit harder for inclusion.

5.  Debbie was enthusiastic on stage.  She sang Maybe This Way from Cabaret…then later in the show sang Proud Mary and Lost In Your Eyes as a duet with Clay.  It was lovely.

6.  Rubin returned to the stage and sang Flying Without Wings and he and Clay sang a duet to More Than Words, a song from Rubens’s CD, Love Is.

7.  Clay sang at different times in the night.  He sang, Because You Love Me,  Everything I Don’t Need, To Love Somebody,  The Real Me and Invisible.  Each song was wonderful..  We got shirt tugs (with a smirk), growls, and amazing, passionate singing.  I wanted it to go on forever.

8.  Dee Snider was there via video.  He talked of his support of CLay and The National Inclusion Project.  Then he introduced the Auction section of the night.

9.  Clay auctioned off 2 dinners with him and Arsenio and Clay put together an event as the auction was going on.  Arsenio said he would invite 2 people to be in the front row of his “Dog Pound” on his new show and Clay would be on the show.  Clay added that he would have dinner with the winner.  The auction section ended with a “Send A Kid To Camp” auction.  I am sure they raised a lot of money as there were bid numbers all over the place.

10.  My observation saw a lot of love on the stage.  All of the performers truly love and respect each other and were very respectful and appropriate.  Clay mentioned that Ruben was stuck with him as a friend forever.  There was no doubt that Arsenio and Clay respect each other and have a true friendship.

11.  Clay was dressed in a tux and his tie was dark (black?) and thin.  Speaking of thin,Clay looked great.  He has obviously been working on his physical well-being.

There is so much more to tell you, but I am falling asleep.  I will post a few pictures that were on twitter and then get some shut-eye.  I will post more later.  My re-cap was the best I could do.  I am sure I left out a lot!!

From Twitter:

Backstage with the Director of the show

From Arsenio - Backstage at rehearsal

From Arsenio

From Debbie-backstage after the concert

From Debbie

From Producer