Leggy ‘Pirates’ Commandeer SCR Set to Stage Fashion Benefit

From the stage in South Coast Repertory, Fashion Island coordinator Kitty Leslie greeted 300 theater guests on Monday night. “Welcome students ,” she began, and her well-dressed, well-past-school-age audience laughed.

For the next half-hour, Leslie and a crew of models ruled the Mainstage boards, using the nautical set for Mark W. Lee’s drama “Pirates” for a fashion show runway and theme. Proceeds from the $40-per-person benefit will be used by SCR.

Throughout her narration, Leslie--sitting in a corner of the set representing a book-lined history teacher’s office--stuck to her metaphor.

“This evening’s lesson will introduce you to the relationship between history and fashion,” she said. “You will learn how history influenced fashion and vice versa.”

As models climbed and capered about the elaborate ship’s facade--dressed in fashions that emulated pirates’ gear in spirit, if not in grubby fact--Leslie expounded.

Seventeenth-Century women wore dark colors because “there were no dry cleaners and very few baths,” she joked. Men were “fops--in lace and velvet.”

Introducing a swimsuit parade, Leslie asked the crowd to imagine that long-legged ladies in spike heels were heading down the plank. (The models’ hands were tied loosely behind their backs with satin cords.) “History,” Leslie quipped, “has taught us that life’s little unpleasantries can be much more bearable if you’re dressed for it.”

Before the fashion show, guests sipped champagne and Chardonnay in the lobby and bought raffle tickets for prizes, including shopping sprees at Fashion Island, dinner and theater tickets and a “treasure chest” loaded with $1,000 worth of gold coins.

Michele Meyer, president of the 70-member Theatre Guild of SCR, said the group chose a fashion show for its annual benefit because “people interested in the theater are always interested in fashion.”

If she saw an outfit she liked, would she rush out and buy it? “In a minute ,” Meyer said, grinning.

After Leslie’s fashion lessons, guests returned to the lobby for gourmet treats catered by Nicole Cottrell. The buffet

display included sun-dried tomato and pesto torte, baked Brie en croute, grapes rolled in Roquefort cheese and toasted almonds, fresh fruit, cheeses and desserts.

Susan Shusko was chairwoman of the benefit. The party committee included Meyer, Phyllis Balderston, Barbara Goulette, Bebe Lyon, Irene Mack, Edna Myers, Doris Pascale, Corinne Rostoker and Daphne Walker.

Help at the Hop: The Orange County branch of the Lupus Foundation of America used Monday night for a consciousness-raising benefit at The Hop in Fountain Valley. The $50-per-person party drew a capacity crowd of 350 for a show that included two comedians, a concert by the Righteous Brothers (Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley, who own the club) and an live auction of Righteous memorabilia and other items. Hatfield and Medley picked up the tab for the benefit, which netted about $25,000.

An estimated 500,000 Americans suffer from lupus, a chronic disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack its own healthy tissues and organs. Symptoms can range from an arthritis-like soreness in the joints to life-threatening kidney or heart failure. Among lupus-sufferers in the crowd was Linda Hatfield, who gamely trooped onstage with her famous husband before the show and thanked guests for supporting the cause.

Proceeds from the event will be used to “increase public awareness of lupus,” said Kerryn Coffman, president of the local branch. The campaign will include bus shelter posters of the Hatfields--the new local spokes-couple for the disease--at 50 locations throughout the county.