PAGEANT PERFORMANCE TO BENEFIT AIDS GROUP

The AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County has bought out the July 17 performance of the 1987 Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters as a benefit for AIDS support programs.

Pageant spokeswoman Sally Reeve said Tuesday that this will be the first time that a performance of the tableaux production has been sold out to a single organization.

Al Roberts, president of the foundation’s board of directors, said the organization hopes to raise $150,000 from the July 17 benefit--the largest fund-raiser yet by the new foundation.

The foundation will be paying $52,000 to buy out the single performance at the 2,662-seat Irvine Bowl. The usual ticket prices are $11 to $30. Benefit tickets will be from $25 to $250, Roberts said.

“We haven’t had much luck in obtaining (public) grants, so we’re counting on this project to be our major money raiser for the next year,” Roberts said. “It’s gratifying that the pageant board and the arts community of Laguna Beach are so supportive.”

Based in Costa Mesa, the AIDS Services Foundation was formed in the summer of 1985 to provide support programs for persons with AIDS or AIDS-related conditions. The current annual operating budget is about $130,000, said Roberts.

A benefit for the foundation was held last fall at the Festival of Arts’ Forum Theatre. Two Orange County residents, Jim McBroom and John Weston, bought out a performance of “Beyond Therapy,” which was being staged by the Stop-Gap organization at the 225-seat playhouse.