This past weekend, while the monsoon Nor’easter was wreaking havoc, flooding basements, whipping up 40mph gusts and uprooting century-old trees all through NYC’s five boroughs, the scene at Soho’s Red Bull Space was quite different. It was the Sweet 16 Birthday event for actor Mark Indelicato, the sweet-faced kid who plays Ugly Betty’s nephew on the popular ABC Primetime show, and there were several cool elements at play.
The scene was an interesting one – it was a mixture of a suave Hollywood shindig, a loving family gathering and an episode of MTV’s over-the-top “My Super Sweet 16” all rolled into one. The music was on point with the lesser known Madden brother, Josh playing the hottest club beats du jour (can someone say Gaga’s Telephone?). There was a Nintendo Wii set-up for the pre-teen gamers present, a fully stocked open bar with soft drinks, wine, assorted liquors & beer, and for those afflicted with the dreaded sweet-tooth virus, there were delicious cupcakes courtesy of Manhattan Upper Westside bakery, Crumbs.
The best features of the party were the random additions like a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream stand, and a hanging cut-out poster of Mode Magazine (the publication from the Ugly Betty show) where you could stick your head and take those cheesy magazine cover photos everyone loves so much. To fill the Hollywood quotient, Mark Indelicato’s fellow cast mates were out in full force to support their young co-star. America Ferrera (Ugly Betty herself) showed up looking much prettier in person, Ana Ortiz (who plays Mark’s Mom) came through looking slender and sexy, and Michael Urie (who plays Vanessa Williams’ assistant) all turned up to liven up the proceedings. So was it your typical NYC Saturday night party? Not in the least. But were there enough unique, oddball things going on to make it an event you didn’t regret attending? Damn right. Happy B’day Markie Mark; enjoy the rest of your teen years – they have this habit of slipping by so quickly.
Words by Geo Hagan, Photos Courtesy of JustJared.Co
