The Sirens were to ride up to the theater door, pose for pictures and attend an opening-night reception before viewing the film.

Edwin Schubert Swanson will entertain at an opening-night wine-and-cheese reception with classical and jazz piano selections.

"People need to develop their imagination in order to cope with their lives," Mr. Horn said at the opening-night reception.

ON Tuesday, a mighty storm started to drench the opening-night reception for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 1996 Next Wave Festival.

Ida DiPietro, who baked the anisette cookies for the opening-night reception on Monday, said: "Joe loved everything homemade from scratch.

The corporate presence was also felt after the close of business each day, as companies paid for social events like a glitzy opening-night reception featuring the singer Dionne Warwick.

But before anyone even got to the formal part of the program, all the buzz at the opening-night reception was about the death of E3 as we know it.

The cast's exultation at the overwhelming opening-night reception was shattered by the critics, who saw only the surface, literal aspects of the play.

Attendance at the opening-night reception ballooned past the building's 2,000-person occupancy limit, forcing the Boston Police Department to shut down the party.

Hot August Night It was so hot on Aug. 1 that the opening-night reception for Lincoln Center Out of Doors was moved indoors.