Madonna, the gracious hostess

From the article by host of Fashion Television and contributing editor to the Star, Jeanne Beker:

There’s not much that would tear me away from the frenzy of New York fashion week, but an intimate dinner with the original Material Girl in Toronto on Monday night, hosted by the Bay, was just too glamorous an opportunity to pass up. So on Monday afternoon, I played hooky from my reporting duties in the Big Apple and boarded a plane back to Toronto for one of the most appetizing invitations I’d had in a while.

Of course, the daunting question of what to wear had been answered days before when I chose a simple-but-slinky black matte jersey Lida Baday dress and borrowed a cache of crystals from the Toronto International Film Festival’s Swarovski suite at the Four Seasons.

I went with understated chic because the last thing I wanted was to look victimized in the presence of la grande dame. The first time I interviewed Madonna -in 1993, just after the premiere of her film, Body of Evidence — I wore black velvet Anna Sui sweeping bell-bottoms, sashayed into the room and realized my subject was wearing the same fabulous pants. I was charmed, but she seemed miffed, so instead of celebrating the fact that our great fashion minds were thinking alike, I put my stylish tail between my velvet-clad legs and stopped gushing about our twin trousers.

So there I was Monday, feeling a tad intimidated and guilty about missing the Betsey Johnson runway show in New York. (I figured Betsey would understand. When I first interviewed the designer in 1985, she sang Madonna’s praises. “She’s my idea of a true-blue woman,” cooed Betsey. Of course, that’s the way most of us feel today.)

The second I walked into the green room at Roy Thomson Hall and saw Madonna on the big flat-screen, chatting with the media outside on the red carpet, I was smitten. She looked gorgeous in a chic black dress with sky-high black ankle-strap stilettos. Her hair was very Veronica Lake and she seemed to be enjoying herself. A handful of guests sipped champagne as we waited for the petite star to arrive: There was Flare editor Lisa Tant, Suzanne Rogers, Fashion Magazine editor Bernadette Morra and the Toronto Star’s Derick Chetty, along with Bonnie Brooks, president and CEO of the Bay, and Richard Baker, owner of Hudson’s Bay Company, who flew Madonna to Toronto on a private jet.

Madonna finally made her entrance. A small group had their photos taken with Madonna by celebrity shooter George Pimentel, and then it was into the theatre for the TIFF premiere of her epic W.E., the story of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, intertwined with the tale of a modern-day young woman who’s obsessed with her.

Madonna watched the film from the balcony with her stars, Andrea Riseborough and Abbie Cornish. The movie was a feast of superb costumes, divine classical music and sumptuous sets, and the audience leapt to their feet to give Madonna a standing ovation.

After the screening, a group headed over to 11 Duncan St., where the U.K.’s Soho House has set up a pop-up for the festival. There were about 40 of us, and we occupied several big wooden tables. I was assigned to Madonna’s table. Just before I took my seat, I told her how amazing I thought the costumes were and commended her on choosing longtime personal stylist Arianne Phillips for the W.E. wardrobe.

Madonna then gave a couple of sample spritzes of her upcoming Truth or Dare perfume, which smells of gardenias. I didn’t get a chance to say much to her — she was busy chatting with a couple of girlfriends and, later, the film’s producer, Harvey Weinstein, who wandered in and sat next to her.

Then there was some musical chairs, and Madonna was talking with people down at the other end of the table, while I engaged with her famed hairdresser, Garren, who’d made the trip with her from New York City.

I ordered the salmon and eggplant and sampled the antipasti – but the whole time, I couldn’t help being conscious that one of the world’s most iconic superstars was sitting nearby. I tweeted several updates, and felt incredibly privileged to be in the eye of this particular storm. It was surreal.

Shortly after dessert trays arrived, the party opened up and other people started streaming in.

Madonna politely said her goodbyes, shook our hands and disappeared into the night, heading back immediately to New York in the private jet. It seemed anticlimactic, really. Maybe it had been a little silly to have made the trek all the way back to Toronto for these few fleeting hours. The fantasy had actually been better than the reality.

But when I looked at my BlackBerry to check all the tweets that had come in, dozens of people had sent messages, telling me how thrilled they were to be reading along, how they were living vicariously through me, how they would have given anything to meet Madonna, how lucky I was. It was overwhelming.

And suddenly, I felt very blessed to have been able to soak up a little of the stardust that is Madonna, knowing that the journey is always better than the destination.

A small group had their photos taken with Madonna before the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of her film W.E. George Pimentel Photo.