Theater celebration attracts the faithful

B.W. COOK

The buzz in the ballroom was all over “Brooklyn Boy.” This new play,

written by Donald Margulies, commissioned by South Coast Repertory

Theater, had its world premiere debut on the theater’s Segerstrom

Stage Sept. 3. The performance runs through Oct. 10 at the Costa Mesa

theater that gave it legs.

The buzzing black-tie crowd had come together last Saturday

evening at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa to

celebrate South Coast Repertory Theater at its annual gala ball.

Attended by notable Newport-Mesa citizens, more than $400,000 was

raised from the occasion, named by organizers as “Playing to a Muse

... Celebrating the Playwright.”

South Coast Repertory Theater founding artistic directors David

Emmes and Martin Benson, addressing the crowd, said: “SCR is a

company all about the play, a company based on the written word.”

Fittingly, playwright Margulies was introduced and stood at his

table in the center of the cavernous Hyatt ballroom, using a wireless

microphone to share his appreciation with the people who have

provided the green enabling him to put the black on the white.

It was a warm and intimate moment with an acclaimed writer in the

middle of a massive party. Event chairs take note: This device is an

interesting maneuver to bring a message closer to a large audience.

Everyone does not have to speak from a central dais.

Carrying the writer’s theme to the limit, event planner Michael

Mora, a former South Coast Repertory production manager turned

designer, transformed the room into a writer’s round table. Table

centerpieces were mini-sets. So much more than arrangements, Mora

invoked the writer’s passion and angst using antique typewriters,

stacks of manuscripts and even horn-rimmed glasses to create a mood.

That mood was carried further by young ladies positioned around the

ballroom, serving as resident muses Thalia, Calliope, Euterpe,

Therpichore, Clio and the rest. Under red Oriental lanterns, hung

free form from ballroom rafters, the muses played.

The enchantment, however, was in the crowd of elegant guests who

had come to support event chairperson Aletha Anderson, who did a

masterful job producing a party that flowed with perfection from

cocktails to midnight farewell kisses on the dance floor.

Said Anderson: “From its launching of plays worthy of the Pulitzer

Prize, to its nurturing of writers, directors, designers, instructors

and actors who went on to influential positions around the country,

South Coast Repertory Theater has made a contribution to the American

theater that few institutions can match.”

Anderson accepted accolades alongside her husband N. Christian

Anderson III, president of the theater’s board of trustees and host

of the gala.

As a dinner prepared by Chef Chris Savage was served by the Hyatt

Regency staff, the crowd table-hopped the ballroom, visiting friends.

A four-course dinner began with Asian-style duck broth, a salad of

mixed exotic greens dressed in balsamic vinaigrette, followed by an

entree of grilled filet mignon accompanied by Thai spiced shrimp. For

dessert, “Le Opera” was served, a delicacy of layered chocolate

Genoise. Celebrating the theater and an evening by the ocean were

Jean and Tim Weiss, Daranne and Paul Folino, Wylie and Bette Aitken,

Elaine and Martin Weinberg, Dee and Larry Higby, S.I. and Betty Eu

Huang, Sue and Ralph Stern, Socorro and Ernesto Vasquez and Henry and

Elizabeth Segerstrom. Also in the crowd were Gail and Ernie Doe,

Patricia and Chester Houston, Pat and Gene Hancock and newlyweds Mary

Munday and Richard Pedranti.

The highlight of the evening was the special-guest performance by

Broadway performer Susan Egan. The Orange County native, who recently

returned from a New York engagement in the Tony Award-winning

“Thoroughly Modern Millie,” took the party to an elevated state as

she sang “Putting It Together” from Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Egan,

who is also closely associated with the Orange County High School of

the Performing Arts, enchanted the theater audience with further

renditions of original Broadway material. She was accompanied by

Stephen Cook on piano.

Many dedicated volunteers contributed to the success of a major

fundraising evening. Some of the gala committee members working with

Aletha Anderson deserving kudos are Donna Phelps, Kathryn Glassmyer,

Donna Collett, Mary Carrington, Teri Kennady, Rebecca McLarand,

Caroline Kelley, Nancy Kelley, Sadie Finnegan and Julie Schulz.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.