A star-studded cast

It’s the thrill of the opening night.

A quivering curtain sits between the actors and the audience, all

in great anticipation. Then, in a flash, the seats rumble, the

orchestra tunes up, hearts beat loudly and, suddenly, all the world’s

a stage.

And somehow, incredibly, the spotlight falls on you -- the top of

the bill.

So it goes for the protagonists in our 10th annual presentation of

the 103 Most Influential People of the Newport-Mesa Community.

We have stories of influence that could have come from the pen of

the best playwrights. There’s the story of the man who ascended from

the “other side of the tracks” to become a great captain of industry,

a car dealer turned state politician, a tavern owner who runs city

government and maybe even a bunch of kids who spend the lion share of

their time rolling on urethane wheels, but who make sure that their

squeaky wheels are getting greased with a skateboard park.

Like those 103 chosen in the past nine editions, these are the

tireless souls who make sure the show goes on.

They work behind the scenes, crafting their dialogue and

practicing their lines. They have timing, charisma and a presence

that can’t be denied.

They command an audience and bring the crowd to standing ovations

and calls for encores.

So this year we went into our annual casting call to see just

whose star shone the brightest this year -- whose performance was

second to none, who didn’t really need an audition or an

introduction.

With so many to choose from it wasn’t easy. Would it be the man

who deeded 11,000 acres of open space to the entire county? Would it

be the woman who managed to do the impossible and knock a sitting

judge out of office with a write-in campaign or the surfwear maker

who merged his company with Nike to collect a cool $100 million plus?

We ended up with an obvious and overwhelming choice, one who had,

incredibly, been overlooked in the years before.

And so, without further ado, we present our 10th edition of those

who hold the power, the prestige and the panache.

The envelope, please.