The Crowd -- B.W. Cook

The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation and the Orange County

Jewish Community Scholar Program teamed up to presenttwo authors whose

status in the literary world is on the rise for an intimate reading from

their respected works at a dessert reception held at the Hyatt Newporter.

Nathan Englander, the author of “For The Relief of Unbearable Urges,”

joined UC Irvine graduate Aimee Bender, who shared excerpts from her

debut novel, “An Invisible Sign of My Own.”The local crowd celebrated the

offerings of these two young writers at an evening round table designed

to offer insight into media, the arts and literature, all of which will

someday be showcased in the renovated Balboa Theater on Balboa Peninsula.

Organizers call this effort the Community Scholar Program. It is a

cooperative effort supported by a grant from the Jewish Federation of

Orange County and donations from individual community members, as well as

support from a variety of organizations committed to education in Orange

County.

The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation has aligned itself with

the scholar program, as well as select other organizations, with the

intent of offering a rainbow of cultural enrichment for the Newport-Mesa

community at large. When the new theater is completed, it will offer a

350-seat performing arts venue that will feature music, dance, theater,

children’s entertainment, and film and arts education activities.

The foundation is seeking underwriters for these programs, requesting

donations starting at $125, which entitles benefactors to a dinner

reception before upcoming literary events. Tickets are set a $36 per

person for the program only.

More than 140 guests converged upon the Hyatt Newporter for the most

recent program. Attending the event at the Hyatt Newporter were Dayna

Pettit, president of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation; Arie

Katz, chair of the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program; and

Ken Reinhard, UCLA professor of English and comparative literature.

Local theater board members supporting the evening included Ronald

Baers, Nancy Gardner, Art Gronsky, Bart Hackley, Stanley Kafka, Jo King,

Ricki Kucheck, Terry Markowitz, Seth Siegel, Yaron Telem, Bill Wren and

Andrew Youngquist. Also in the crowd were Valerie Burns and Jennifer

Wesoloski, both members of the theater foundation staff.

Upcoming theater fund-raising events will follow the start of the

annual membership drive, which began May 15. A summer ballroom and casino

night is set for Saturday, and the annual 5K run will take place Sept. 7.

For more information on these events, call (949) 673-0895.