When Halloween night falls in New York City, most parties stick to ghosts and goblins. This year, Leesa Rowland and Larry Wohl decided the only way to top the social calendar was to leave the planet entirely.
Leesa Rowland (Image credit: BFA / Quadir Moore)
Leesa Rowland, Marc Bouwer (Image credit: BFA / Quadir Moore)
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Pedro Oberto (Image credit: BFA / Quadir Moore)
Atmosphere (Image credit: BFA / Quadir Moore)
Leesa Rowland & Larry Wohl invited New York’s fashionable and extraterrestrials to a Halloween celebration with “Calling All Aliens Home: Forbidden Planet.”
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 31, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The annual Halloween celebration hosted by actress, philanthropist and animal advocate Leesa Rowland, alongside Larry Wohl and co-host fashion designer Marc Bouwer, took a sharp turn from the typical haunted house circuit this year. The trio summoned New York’s elite to an evening themed “Calling All Aliens Home: Forbidden Planet,” trading earthly frights for an intergalactic fantasy where high fashion, theatrical costumes and playful mischief collided under one roof.
Rather than rehashing the same tired tropes of witches and vampires, the “Forbidden Planet” concept opened up a fresh universe of costume possibilities for attendees. The dress code clearly inspired a spectrum of looks, ranging from celestial couture and metallic space-age outfits to mysterious alien personas and interplanetary royalty. The result was a night that felt less like a standard society gathering and more like a science-fiction film premiere, blending the city’s fashion-forward set with otherworldly spectacle.
The guest list read like a who’s who of New York’s social and creative circles. Among those spotted in the crowd were Leesa Rowland, Larry Wohl, Marc Bouwer, Pedro Oberto, Hank Stampfl, Noreen Donovan, James Brynes, Nicole Noonan, Steven Knobel, Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley, Nikki Haskell, Marco Maranghello, Jose Castelo Branco, William Featherby, Geoffrey Bradfield, Paola and Arnie Rosenshein, Sharon Bush and Bob Murray, Elyse Slaine, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Wendy Federman, Sergio Zapata and Paul Margolin, Jane Pontarelli, James and Elvira Grau, and Carmen D’Alessio.
For Rowland, the night was a full creative collaboration. Her costume was designed by Marc Bouwer, with hairstyling handled by Marco Maranghello and makeup artistry by Dimitry Kukushkin. The event itself was held at Casa Cece in New York City, presented by Revel Rouge.
Rowland’s pedigree extends well beyond the party circuit. Raised in Austin, Texas as the daughter of an artist and college professor, she studied broadcast journalism before training as a classical actress at the renowned Stella Adler Studio in Los Angeles. Her career spans film and television, but she has equally made her mark as a philanthropist and animal rights activist. A committed vegan, she has worked with the national non-profit Last Chance for Animals since 1989 and founded the New York-based non-profit Animal Ashram in 2013.
Recently, Rowland has been expanding her creative repertoire into comedy. A lifelong fan of the sitcom format, she has been taking comedy classes with Richard Kline—best known for his role as Larry on the classic series Three’s Company—in Los Angeles. She has also been honing her improv and sketch comedy skills in New York at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, the training ground for notable alumni like Amy Poehler, Horatio Sands, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh and Ian McKay.
For more information, visit leesarowland.net.
Norah Lawlor
Lawlor Media Group, Inc.
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Why it matters: This event underscores how celebrity philanthropy and high society continue to merge with pop culture spectacle, creating a platform for figures like Rowland to promote her causes while maintaining cultural relevance. It also highlights the enduring appeal of themed, immersive social gatherings as a staple of New York’s elite entertainment scene.
