The Crowd:

The Pacific Symphony gala has established a reputation as one of the grand parties on the Orange County social circuit. Each year the symphony staff joins with event chairs, patrons and underwriters to create a spectacle. And each year the players try to outdo the party theme created the year before. It’s expensive to attend; tickets start at $1,000 per person. Many serious symphony sponsors pay a great deal more for prime tables as well as contributing to the extravagant auction, which is obligatory and necessary to raise the tally on the fundraising.

Last week at the Hyatt Regency, Irvine, the Pacific Symphony Board of Directors presented “Pacific Fantasea,” celebrating 30 years of symphonic music in Orange County. Chaired by Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, Lynn Freeman and Ellie Gordon, guests were thrilled to arrive at a transformed hotel ballroom decorated to bring patrons into the magical undersea world of a lost kingdom. It was part Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland, part Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, and it was in large part the fabulous imagination of the party chairwomen, committee members and the designers who made the guests feel like they were truly underwater. Credit also goes to the gala chairs, including Chris Elftmann, Kate Peters and Doug Simao.

How did they accomplish this? First, an enormous silk scrim was hung from the rafters of the Hyatt Ballroom encircling the cavernous space from floor to ceiling. The fabric was artistically back lit to create the sensation of water. On one end of the ballroom a set was constructed to resemble a romantic fishing village in some far-away port and it was used as a stage where actors in costume pretended to be shipwrecked pirates and buccaneers functioning as masters of ceremony and propelling the party forward with scripted dialogue, taking the audience on a undersea phantasmagorial journey.

To the sheer delight of all in attendance a whimsical feature was the parading of actors costumed as sea creatures wearing outfits representing everything from a school of fish to sea horses, jellyfish, sharks, crabs and lobsters, undersea divers and more.

Music filled the room as the black-tie crowd applauded the introduction of symphony executive John Forsyte and Conductor Carl St. Clair. In his formidable style, St. Clair charmed the crowd of more than 350 guests taking them on a sentimental journey recalling both the highlights and the benefits of Pacific Symphony cultural involvement in the community. He ended his address by telling the crowd that he wanted “absolutely zero from them.” Then St. Clair added, “That’s right, I want zero from you, lots of zeros … as we start the live auction.” The audience heeded St. Clair’s request and the auction raised $196,500 for the symphony. By the end of the night $1.1 million was raised to help keep the music playing.

In recessionary times it is a remarkable achievement and a wonderful tribute to the generous spirit of Orange County citizens supporting the 30th anniversary celebration of the Pacific Symphony.

In between speeches, auctions, musical presentations and parading creatures of the deep a multi-course dinner was served by the Hyatt that was themed around the final meal of the ill-fated Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic in 1912. Hyatt chef Greg Grahowski began his four-course menu with a consommé comprised of bay scallops in veal broth. A second course of salmon and scallop mousse was followed by a main course of seaweed and carrot purée with lamb in mint demi-glaze. The dinner was served on pink-and-gold plates representing antique dinner service that might have been in keeping with the Titanic.

Centerpieces were out of this world, made of shells, glass ornaments, driftwood and florals. Each table was different, and each centerpiece was its own work of art. Dessert was a work of art beyond compare. The kitchen prepared hundreds of handmade white chocolate conch shells filled with pots de crème and milk chocolate mascarpone. The shells were so realistic looking many people didn’t realize they were edible chocolate.

Then, as if by magic, the scrim parted at the center of the ballroom and the band appeared on high risers playing wonderful soft music a la Enya, and the undersea crowd swam to the dance floor for a bit of midnight revelry.

Supporting the Pacific Symphony were Newport Beach Mayor Ed Selich and fiancé Lynn Hackman, Sally and Edward Crockett, Ruth Ann and John Evans, Michelle and David Horowitz, Pat and Bill Podlich, Carol and Kent Wilken, Elizabeth and John Stahr, Marta and Raj Bhathal, Pat and Charles Steinmann, Janice and Ted Smith, and Barbara and Mark Johnson. Also front and center were Jane and Jim Driscoll, Catherine and James Emmi, Donna and David Janes, Barbara and Robert Kleist, Jane and Sonny Yada, Valerie Van de Zilver, and Michelle Rohé to name only a few.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.