Phalanx of the Famous Frolic at ‘Phantom’ Festivity

Talk about sitting pretty. One table over, a subdued Lucie Arnaz--reed-thin in black and white with a splash of colorful posies--chatted it up. Close by, Bob Mackie and super-model Lorelei glitzed it up. Nearby, celebrated director Hal Prince mugged it up.

And living it up smack dab in the middle of them on Saturday night were Willa Dean and William Lyon of Coto de Caza. The handsome couple were among hundreds of guests who whooped it up at the gala following the first benefit performance of “Phantom of the Opera” at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Willa Dean--who outshone gala-goers in a floor-length nude chiffon splattered with gold sequins (a Mackie)--was on the committee for the fund-raiser that netted $750,000 for the Center Theatre group.

What was The Real Challenge for the committee of the $500 and $1,000 per-person gala? “There wasn’t really a challenge,” said a smiling Willa Dean, joined at her premier table by the couple’s son, Bill, William Lyon’s daughter, Christine Rhoades, and Christine’s husband, Jeff. “I wanted to help sell tables but they were sold out. And that was in January!”

One had only to scan the circus-size tent to see why. On the pitched ceiling: chandelier after gilt chandelier, miniature versions of the flashing, dashing, almost-crashing one that robbed guests of their breath during the first act. On the black-clothed tables: towering vases spilling over with ferns and white roses, heaps of “Phantom” masks, and sensibly portioned fare by Chasen’s that included plump shrimp with melon, veal Marengo spilling from pastry shells and ice cream snowballs sprinkled with toasted coconut.

Willa Dean said she was at first reluctant to accept the Music Center’s invitation to be on the gala committee. “I told them we were very involved with the Orange County Performing Arts Center,” she said. (Chairman Henry Segerstrom recently named William Lyon chairman-elect of the center’s board. And Willa Dean is an active member of the elite Angels of the Arts support group.) “But then I decided to do it because I really wanted people to see the show.”

“When something wonderful happens, we want to support it, be part of it,” said William Lyon, who, with his family, zipped to the City of the Angels via helicopter. “And this has been wonderful. It’s the finest production I’ve seen anywhere.”

The whole gala package was a hands-down hit. The black-tie crowd began streaming onto the Music Center’s promenade at sunset, when its dancing Lipschitz fountain began to glint pink. “Phantom” banners and rainbow arches of purple, turquoise and red balloons provided the backdrop as guests tipped tulips of bubbly and feasted on a groaning board of heavy hors d’oeuvres.

Among those on view were former President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan (tan and lovely in figure-hugging white lace). Orange County residents included: Dick and Joan Stevens (in a bugle-bead splashed white crepe theater suit); Roger and Janice Johnson (in emerald green silk); and Susan Bartlett (in black knit with glittering collar and cuffs) with her friend Edouard de Limburg, her brother, Jim Busby, her mum, Barbara Steele Williams (a mega-philanthropist at the Performing Arts Center), and her stepdad, Nick Williams.

“It was hard to realize it was a stage play and not a movie,” Bartlett said after the show. “You felt like you were in it. I mean, how many things do you attend where they have a flying chandelier? I was amazed. Awe-struck! And didn’t the Reagans look wonderful? It must be the California sun. They looked so vital.”

Bartlett’s group eschewed the post-performance splash. “It was getting a little late,” she said. But not to worry when Bartlett, an “A” hostess, is around. “We had finger sandwiches in the car going home,” she said. “I took them out of a cooler, put them on a silver tray and we polished them off!”

Patron of the Arts: “It’s most appreciated but certainly not deserved, I don’t think, compared to what others have contributed in money and time over the years,” said Ed McGrath of the Patron of the Arts award he received from Master Chorale of Orange County on Sunday. About 100 chorale supporters gathered at the Cowan Heights estate of Donna and Bob Peebles to pay tribute to the arts activist and philanthropist, owner of the McGrath Co. in Laguna Beach.

“I was uncomfortable when they told me about the award,” McGrath said. “But now I’m comfortable because, what it really comes down to is, I’ve made the best investment I’ve ever made.”

Investment? “Whatever I’ve done, they’ve done far more for me. I get No. 1 seats any time I go (to the center)! That’s important to me. And I’ve met some wonderful performers. But it’s really all about the people who are involved. The arts attract people who make things happen, who talk about ideas, who make the world a better place. Frankly, the quality of my life has been enhanced by all of this.”