Countdown to 2000: 1990s Culture

Andrew Glazer

The 1990s brought a new theater, and for a blink, a new affected humility

to Newport Beach.

In the early 1990s, Newport Beach’s wealthy tried to remain modest. In

the wake of the Orange County bankruptcy, it was in bad form to drive

Rolls Royces and wear glitzy duds while their less-fortunate neighbors

were pawning theirs.

But that didn’t last long. As the region’s economy recovered, so did the

pomp. Houses grew larger and more lavish than ever. Baubles hanging from

the ears, necks and wrists of Newport Beach women grew both in

circumference and abundance. Costume jewelry was no more.

Teenagers yanked secondhand retro polyester clothing, complete with wide

collars and flared cuffs, off thrift store shelves. Many secondhand

stores even began charging retail store prices for their pre-worn

clothing. Owners called them “Vintage Clothing Stores.”

In the arts, the Laguna Art Museum merged with the Newport Harbor Art

Museum to form the Orange County Museum of Art -- now the county’s

premier museum.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center began planning and raising funds

for a wide expansion. New arts facilities will include a small music

hall, a visual arts center, an expansion of the South Coast Repertory

theater and a central plaza. The largest project is an 1,800-seat concert

hall, which will be built on a six-acre plot of land donated by the

Segerstrom family. The concert hall is expected to cost approximately

$200 million.

The Costa Mesa theater scene also showed new life with the emergence of

the Theater District. The small company popped onto the scene at an

office complex on Superior Avenue in 1994.

The company, which eventually moved to the Lab Anti-Mall on Bristol

Avenue, was started by husband-and-wife partners Joan and Mario Lescot.

The company’s performances included “Picnic,” “The Boys in the Band,”

“Cabaret” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”But the 1990s also may

see the last of the troupe. Rent increases at the Lab space are forcing

it to leave after the December staging of “Light Sensitive.” The company

is looking for a new space for productions.

Sources:

Daily Pilot; Tom Titus.