The Crowd: Carole King helps center fundraising gala shine
It is arguably the most spectacular evening of the year on the Orange Coast. The Candlelight Concert unfolded Dec. 2 in Segerstrom Hall at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in celebration of the center’s 30th anniversary.
This major fundraising gala was in fact launched 13 years before the groundbreaking for the massive arts center in Costa Mesa. Donors began funding the cultural growth of Orange County years in advance of the creation of the brick-and-mortar that stands today as a national symbol of excellence.
This 43rd annual event goes down in the books as the most successful ever produced, raising an estimated $2.6 million in support of the center’s artistic, community-engagement and education programs. The massive undertaking was co-chaired by former center Chairman Roger Kirwan and his wife, Tracy, along with Jaynine and David Warner. The foursome worked tirelessly for a year to create a spectacular presentation for close to 500 guests, who each contributed thousands of dollars, demonstrating their loyalty and support of culture in the community.
Luxury jeweler Lugano Diamonds of Newport Beach, the presenting sponsor of the evening, was represented by international diamond broker Moti Ferder and his wife, Idit Ferder, one of the best-dressed women. She was attired in a very simple and elegant crème satin, strapless classic ball gown accented by a contemporary double-strand diamond necklace designed by Lugano Diamonds.
In addition to underwriting the party, the Ferders presented each of the ladies in attendance with a 32-inch strand of Akoya freshwater pearls as a parting gift. Their generosity was matched by fellow presenting sponsor Wells Fargo Private Bank.
The crowd, in black tie and glittering ball gowns, arrived for sunset cocktails and conversation on the loge foyer level of Segerstrom Hall, where they mingled with friends and associates and made holiday toasts to good health and good luck. Dedicated center patrons in the crowd included Randy and Sally Crockett, stunning in an emerald green beaded dinner dress, along with always-best-dressed Betty Huang, joining her distinguished husband, S.L. Huang, in supplying some 500 guests with an endless supply of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
Orange County’s top barrister, Wylie Aitken, and his charming wife, Bette, joined the community’s most philanthropic couple, George and Julia Argyros, along with Carol and Kent Wilkin, Shanaz and Jack Langson, Marta and Raj Bhathal, Dee and Lawrence Higby, Barbara and Alex Bowie, and the glamorous Maralou Harrington and her husband, Jerry Herrington.
Elizabeth Segerstrom, wife of the late founding chairman, Henry T. Segerstrom, was front and center at the gala representing her family. Elizabeth has charmed the community and won the hearts of Orange County citizens supporting her dedication to Henry Segerstrom’s legacy. She has also assumed the role of managing partner of the formidable South Coast Plaza retail empire and has accomplished the task with serious resolve, as well as support from extended family members and longtime staff.
Always best dressed, she joined fellow women including Sue Stern, Twila True, Valaree Wahler, Carolyn Garrett, Jackie Glass, Deborah Bridges, Eve Ruffatto, Britt Meyer, and Liz Merage in serving on the committee producing the extravagant affair.
At 7 p.m. the doors to Segerstrom Hall were opened, and the cocktail crowd entered a transformed arena. In anticipation of an intimate concert by the legendary songwriter and performer Carole King, guests were seated in the upper rows of the normally cavernous orchestra section of Segerstrom Hall, while the lower seats were removed to extend a performance platform for King. The area behind the Segerstrom stage was set for a spectacular dinner to follow the show.
King, 77, entered without fanfare. The diminutive songstress, whose career as a popular composer makes her one of the most prolific producers of the mid-20th century, came on stage wearing a black lace tunic over straight leg paints and strappy black sandals. She wore minimal makeup and no jewelry, and her blond hair fell in curls just as it had done back in 1971 when her breakout album “Tapestry” captured the musical hearts of young Americans.
The audience was poised for adoration. King sat at the concert grand piano and was joined by a trio of her cherished fellow musicians, who also served as backup singers and proceeded to take the audience on a nostalgic tour of her music legacy. With each familiar song, there were sighs in the audience, and the nearly hourlong presentation ended with multiple standing ovations.
While her voice was strong and clear during the music, unfortunately her patter between songs was lost to most in the audience, since she directed her comments in a very intimate and low-key kind of Carole King way.
The chairman of the center’s board, John Ginger, gushed with excitement and praise following the King presentation. Ginger was joined by his lovely wife, Toni, along with center President Terrence Dwyer in welcoming the guests and thanking the community for its generosity.
Following remarks by the co-chairs, the massive curtain behind the performance stage was projected as a light display of white roses that dissolved into the ceiling, revealing a dinner setting that was out of this world. Spectacular modern crystal chandeliers hung from the rafters, illuminating walls of white roses, as guests came on stage to find their tables overflowing with more white roses, peonies, hydrangeas and lilies.
Significant sponsors included Jane Buchan and Jim Driscoll, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Paul and Elisabeth Merage, Joyce and Thomas Tucker, Charles and Twyla Martin, and the honorable Sheila Prell Sonenshine and her architect husband, Ygal Sonenshine. Dinner was served with gracious style by Patina catering and was followed by a night of entertainment.
As guests departed the center following a night of dining and dancing, they were greeted at the valet lounge by waiters providing grilled cheese sandwiches, tater tots and classic Coca Cola for the road.
A night that will be long remembered on the Orange Coast this holiday season.
B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
