Center’s Fitting Alternative

The Orange County Performing Arts Center has canceled its first anniversary gala performance and fund-raiser. That’s not entirely bad news. Celebrating the first anniversary with a gala costing up to $500 a ticket would have been in keeping with the Center’s lavish grand opening last Sept. 29 and would have helped offset its deficit, but expensive parties are not entirely what the Center is about.

We like much better the alternate approach announced Wednesday that will mark the first year of operation with performances in hospitals, schools and business offices throughout the county. The programs, called the “Thank You Orange County Celebration Series,” could go a long way in making the point that the Center exists for everyone in the county.

The gala was plagued with problems from the start when the Center insensitively scheduled it for Oct. 3, the evening that concludes the observances of Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in the Jewish religion.

Many Jewish patrons were, naturally enough, upset by the conflict, but Center directors, because they had commitments from artists for that night, decided against rescheduling the gala. Then Bernadette Peters, the gala’s lead performer, canceled her appearance to accept a leading role in a Broadway musical. Peters’ cancellation forced the Center to cancel the gala; it couldn’t find another performer of her stature to justify the ticket prices. It may have been the only move the directors could have made, but it also could turn out to be the best one, overall, for the Center and the entire community.

What must not be forgotten in all of this is what the Performing Arts Center has brought to Orange County. Its first year has been a good one and at times even great. Something worth celebrating.

Orange County before the Center, despite its urbanization, had inadequate facilities for the performing arts. The opening of the Center brought the handsome building and its programs national attention. But more important, it brought county residents opera, ballet, concerts, Broadway musicals and some of the most talented performers in the country.

And although the Center is operating at a projected annual budget deficit of about $4 million, it has continued to schedule top-flight performers and productions, such as the Paris Opera Ballet next June, and ethnic art groups, such as those that appeared at the Chinese Moon Festival last weekend.

The nonprofit Orange County Performing Arts Center needs its wealthy patrons and fund-raising events. It also needs, and deserves, countywide support. Celebrating its first anniversary with performances in the community is one way to remind everyone of the cultural enrichment that the Center brings to their lives and demonstrate that it truly belongs to all residents.