Lumos Global Gala 2021 Announced

Go to Global Gala We Are Lumos.org for all the details of the virtual gathering to take place on Saturday, 2 October 2021. Or just read Nick Jeffrey’s post on the subject: Lumos Foundation — 2021 Virtual Gala.

To review what Nick said, Alec Baldwin will be the host with special guests Noma Dumezweni, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Evanna Lynch, Peter Bence and Bonnie Wright, all sharing “Unforgettable Stories About Bringing Children Home,” which is to say, liberating them from orphanages and institutional care. Special events include The Presence reading from Tales of Beedle the Bard (let it it be ‘The Warlock’s Hairy Heart’!) and an award given in memory of Scholastic’s Richard Robinson that celebrates “Young Self-Advocates” who are “raising their voices to change the world.”

The website reveals the show’s sponsors, with four different levels of investment in the cause (no surprise, Warner Brothers and Scholastic are the biggest players), as well as the costs of ‘sitting’ at virtual tables set for these Lumos supporters. Tickets begin at $150,000 for ‘Title Sponsors’ who I suppose are given tables up front or places on the dais (I’m confused about how that works for what is in essence a Zoom chat?). The lowest price for a single online seat is $500 or £375. All for a good cause! (See correction in comments: seats can be had for as little as $25.)

Reading all this, I was impressed at first that so many corporations and individuals, to include Woke celebrities, were willing to appear with Rowling. Her relative radioactivity consequent to her controversial  public stance with respect to limiting transgender access to women’s safe spaces I thought might have discouraged this linking of brands for fear of social media blowback from the Twitter Police.

Maybe it is because the cause of children in institutional care is universally celebrated and understood that everyone was able to cross that bridge? Maybe enough time has passed that the Controversy is passe or Rowling has won admiration for her stance even among those who do not share her views?  Maybe Rowling has sufficient ‘pull’ at Warner Brothers and Scholastic that they do not dare stand her up? Or maybe it is just as simple as the ticket price being set so high, the decision makers realized that very few of the Betrayed By the Bard Brigade will show up to pass judgment?

You do not have to be an especially attentive reader, though, to note that the Warner Brothers Potter and Fantastic Beasts film franchises are woefully represented. No Harry, Ron, or Hermione, no Newt, Tina, Jacob, or Queenie (or even Voldemort, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, or Credence…). If this is any indication of these actors’ willingness to associate with Rowling on any stage, I have to think the promotional interviews Rowling does for ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ will be solo efforts rather than previous events in which Ezra Miller and company fan-worship the Genius-Author-Goddess.

Which I have to think is just fine with Rowling and, speaking for myself at least, those her admire her novels and her philanthropic efforts. Here’s hoping TheRowlingLibrary swings a Press Pass so we get a report of what The Presence chooses to read from Beedle!