Curtain Up on ‘Nutcracker’ Party : Patron Gala Adds Exclamation Point to Joffrey Premiere

David Murdock was misty-eyed, as were Burt Sugarman and Mary Hart. And Frank Lynch.

Maybe Murdock had a point when he said, “There’s something about watching ‘The Nutcracker’ that sort of makes you feel like a kid again.” Then a big grin. “It makes you feel like jumping up and down and singing.”

This, of course, wasn’t just any run-of-the-mill “Nutcracker.” The Joffrey Ballet production, making its Los Angeles premiere Friday night, was the last ballet that Robert Joffrey supervised before his death in March.

And, yes, there was something, well, kid-like and a bit magical about the gathering upstairs in the Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, staged as the first of three Gala Patron Nights (the next two will be in spring) to benefit the bicoastal ballet company.

Just Another Fan

Take, for instance, the intriguing threesome at Table 41: A tall, well-dressed gentleman in a double-breasted tuxedo and wing-collar shirt leaning over to one of the “Nutcracker’s” petite, prima “snowflakes” (ballerina Lissette Salgado) and enthusiastically introducing himself as just another fan.

“Hi, I’m Tom Bradley,” the mayor said.

At which point, Gerald Arpino, Joffrey artistic director, interjected, “The mayor would have made a great Joffrey dancer. He has great height and good bone structure. And I mean a Joffrey dancer. There’s a type. It’s an American classic.”

Then there was Gordon Davidson, Mark Taper Forum artistic director, bouncing through the party in tux and white tennies. No, he wasn’t making a fashion statement; he just forgot to bring his dress shoes to work with him.

Honorary chairman Murdock (also chairman of the ballet’s Los Angeles Founding Directors and a major underwriter of “The Nutcracker”) and co-chairs Sandra Ausman and Phyllis Hennigan ensured this would be an unforgettable night.

Such was the case when Murdock made the surprise announcement of the Joffrey’s trip to China next fall, as part of an international arts festival marking the 40th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Financial supporters will be welcome on the excursion, as long as they “brought along their checkbooks,” said Murdock, who initiated the dialogue with the Chinese and is acting as the host of the trip.

Actually, for Murdock the night was doubly unforgettable. Before the performance, he had hosted a company party--dinner in an adjacent room, followed by tickets to the ballet--for 500 of his employees. To be precise, they were employees of his companies in Los Angeles. “We’ve got a lot more (companies) than are here,” the takeover specialist explained.

A Splendid Setting

As for the Joffrey party, underwritten by the New York Times, the setting was splendid, and, if, as some predict, opulent entertaining is on its way out along with the incumbent President, the final curtain hasn’t come down just yet on glamour and Galanos, or for that matter Chanel, Versace and Valentino.

“It looks like a Bavarian forest,” Supervisor Mike Antonovich said, staring at the Grand Hall, festooned with trees, garlands, snow, twinkling lights, and, at each plaid taffeta-covered table, small trees and wooden nutcracker dolls.

To feast on, there was smoked salmon, cucumbers and shrimp, empanadas, curried chicken, roast duck with cranberry sauce, and battalions of waiters serving Mumm Cuvee Napa Brut Prestige sparkling wine and wassail--and that was just the warm-up.

The celebrating was in three acts: First, a pre-performance buffet, then savories at intermission. Afterward, Ausman announced without a trace of jitters: “We now have 44 minutes.” That was when a team of volunteers worked some Drosselmeyer-style magic on the room, moving tables in place for dinner (chicken pot pie and plum pudding) after the final curtain.

A Family Show

What made the evening seem cozy, everyone agreed, was that many of the usual Joffrey supporters came, en famille-- the Allan and Joan Burns clan; Peter and Annette O’Malley and their children; Aames Cushing with her son, Thomas; the A. J. Carotherses and offspring; Michael and Phyllis Hennigan with Amanda and Cassandra; Walter Mirisch and his “date,” granddaughter Megan Gelfan, 5 (“She’s loving it,” said Mirisch, “She’s a late person”); Patti and Tommy Skouras and their brood; and Doug Cramer and his daughter, Courtney.