A s everyone sat down for dinner in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Cullinan Hall for the storied Grand Gala Ball, few among the intimate clutch failed to notice how, well, intimate it was. Could it be that there were so few schmoozing through the shimmering starry night decor, they wondered?

For the record, the museum notes that the guest list was limited to 300 people.

Gone are the days when the MFAH gala reigned as the most prestigious and ballyhooed black-tie fundraiser of the season by welcoming a palpable throng of philanthropists, social swells and wannabes, a well-heeled scrum of as many as 650 packing both Cullinan Hall and the Brown Pavilion. Today, the Grand Gala Ball maintains a certain eminence if not its former no-holds-barred approach to galas.

Indeed, the recent co

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