JOHN RAITT TO PERFORM FOR CENTER DRIVE

Broadway musical star John Raitt will perform at a “kickoff reception” next Friday for the start of a $6-million Area Campaign for the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel in Costa Mesa.

The Area Campaign, headed by Irvine Co. President Thomas Nielsen and his wife, Marilyn, is aimed at expanding the Center’s fund-raising campaign to other segments of the Southern California community.

To date, the center has raised $44 million of the $65.5 million needed to construct the multi-facility complex, set to open in fall, 1986. Another $16 million has been raised for a $20-million endowment fund to underwrite operating costs.

Construction began in July, 1983, at the five-acre site in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza Town Center.

Raitt is best known for his starring roles in such Broadway productions as “Zorba,” “Carousel” and “The Pajama Game.” Other guests at the reception will include the mayors and city managers from each of the county’s 26 cities. For further information, call 556-2121.