Actor Liam Neeson has hosted a star studded dinner in New York that raised nearly $400,000 to help rebuild Belfast's Lyric Theatre.
Actors Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Ciaran Hinds, Conleth Hill and singer Brian Kennedy were among the guests at the distinctly Irish event.
Celebrity chef Paul Rankin designed a menu featuring traditional Irish fare.
Neeson, who is from Ballymena, is patron of the Lyric which was where he began his professional career.
Speaking on Gerry Kelly's Saturday programme on Radio Ulster, chef Paul Rankin said the event was "an out of the world experience".
"It was held in a very cool penthouse near Broadway in New York.
"As we were sitting down, you could see Manhattan glittering in the background. It was an out of the world experience... it was just a stunning event."
About 50 people from the arts community were invited.
Chairman of the Lyric, BBC NI's Mark Carruthers, joined Liam Neeson in urging guests to support the theatre's fundraising campaign.
Guests were treated to readings and performances from Neeson, Hill and Brian Kennedy.
Paul Rankin had drawn up a menu which started with Glenarm smoked salmon with potato pancakes; lobster, cod, potato and dulse chowder followed by rack of lamb, colcannon cakes and braised skag. It finished with barmbrack bread and butter pudding, Bushmill prunes and buttermilk ice cream.
"Meryl was very complimentary... Kitty Neeson (Liam's mother) said it was the best dessert she'd ever had," he told Gerry Kelly.
"It was a stunning event."
The theatre needs to raise £800,000 by June towards the cost of the new Lyric which is being built on the same site.
The original theatre opened in 1951 and moved to premises on Ridgeway Street about 20 years later.
However, ongoing problems with the buildings and dated facilities led to a decision to close it.
The new theatre will consist of a 394 seat main auditorium, a 150 seat studio theatre, a rehearsal room, extensive riverfront foyers and bar, backstage facilities and office accommodation.
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