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Eins-zwei-drei—eins-zwei-drei—eins-zwei-drei. Life in Vienna is lived in triple time. The folks there don’t walk down the streets. They waltz. Ask a native Viennese to count to four, and he’ll panic. It’s true. Using psycho-analysis, Sigmund Freud, in his day, attempted to remedy this affliction among his compatriots, yet to no avail. As sure as halftime follows kickoff and Leno is followed by Conan, in the collective Austrian psyche the number three is invariably followed by one. Eins-zwei-drei-eins-zwei-drei.
Although, to date, no Macy’s Parade exists in Vienna, a cloned version of the legendary Vienna Opera Ball has been held in New York City since 1956. Under the aegis of the U.S.-Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the 53rd incarnation of the Viennese Opera Ball in New York was co-hosted by born-again Stephen Baldwin, the dazzling albeit born-only-once supermodel Carol Alt, and NBC’s Chuck Scarborough. Mr. Scarborough’s singing dog Oliver, however, had to stay home, because Oliver may have frightened the Pferd—indeed, a gig drawn by a live horse suddenly traversed the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf=Astoria!!!
Miss Teen USA Hillary Cruz (not to be confused with Miss South Carolina Teen USA Caitlin Upton of map question fame) and Riyo Mori, the reigning Miss Universe, plus their respective male West Point Cadet escorts joined the swirling debutantes, and that especially youthful-looking lady cavorting spryly about on the dance floor was none other than MGM legend Marge Champion. (I’ll have what she’s having!)
The white-tie waltzfest had drawn an international pallet-load of diplomats, among them Austria's US Ambassador Eva Nowotny, Austrian UN Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, and Jordan's His Royal Ambassadorness Prince Zeid Ra. Peter Duchin and his Orchestra provided the requisite blanket of Strauss, and the ball’s proceeds went to CARE, a global humanitarian outfit.
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