‘Phantom’ Fund-Raisers Are Scheduled

Fans of “The Phantom of the Opera” will zero in on benefits before and after the show opens to the public at the Ahmanson Theatre.

The first gala, a benefit performance for the Center Theatre Group of the Music Center, will be May 20, say benefit chairwomen Terri Childs, Nancy Vreeland, Robin Parsky, Debbie Tellefsen and Jane Weintraub.

Then, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles expects to fill the Ahmanson for a May 26 benefit show, which will include an elegant dessert intermission. Sponsors hope to raise money for a chair in cardiac surgery, another in molecular pathology, and the Tri Delta hematology-oncology program.

Trustees chairman Dr. Richard Call heads the Childrens’ event steering committee; more involved are board members Bonnie McClure, Nancy Petersen, Sally Stewart and Anne Wilson. Susan Miller, president of Childrens Chain, and Jan Richard Shortz, president of Westside Guild--both dynamic support groups--also are assisting.

Both the Center Theatre Group and Childrens are taking the entire house, almost 2,000 seats; Childrens will reward $1,000 patrons (two seats) with a reception March 1 at the Regency Club.

In other previews, CHIPS (the junior Colleagues support group) will take 1,000 seats for a May 25 benefit, and Duke University will absorb a chunk of seats on May 21.

On July 27, The Associates, an auxiliary group of Vista del Mar Child and Family Services, will take 1,200 of the better house seats for a fund-raiser and a festive dinner in the Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, preceding the performance. Margot Bambergeris is Associates president; fund-raiser co-chairwomen will be Betty Sigoloff and Suzanne Sidy.

BLACK-TIE READY: Don’t put away the black ties, ball gowns and froth. There’s a January flurry of social nights and days. In a special celebration at the 101st Inaugural Ball, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 13 will honor its 1989 chairman John C. Argue, and officers and directors of the chamber will salute the Japanese business community represented by American Honda Motor Co. Inc., California First Bank, the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Japan Air Lines Co. Ltd., Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.) Inc., Nippon Steel U.S.A. Inc., Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A., Shuwa Investments Corp. and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc.

Sheldon I. Ausman is chairman of the black-tie dinner-dance in the Los Angeles Ballroom of the Century Plaza; Betsy Sanders is vice chair.

PLAUDITS: The “Rain Man” premiere to support Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times (a camping program for children with cancer) raised more than $250,000.

CHANGE THE NAME: The legendary Beverly Wilshire Hotel officially reopens its 1928 Wilshire wing as a virtually new hotel Feb. 11 after $65 million in restoration and renovation undertaken by Regent International Hotels. To symbolize the union, the hotel is being rechristened the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

CLASSIC BALL: For the second year, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Ball will be at the Marriott’s Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert. It’s the key social events connected with the 30th annual Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Wednesday to Jan. 15 at Bermuda Dunes Country Club (host golf course), Eldorado Country Club, Indian Wells Country Club and the Palmer Course/PGA West.

James and Verlie Newquist, who reside in Corona del Mar when not at their La Quinta desert home, are chairing the ball, says Donald Pooley, Classic president and tournament chairman. A Newport Beach lumber executive, Newquist is former president of La Quinta Country Club; she’s a supporter of the National Charity League. Also on the committee are Jane Eastman, Dale and Donna Pense, Gen. Les and Thelma Brown, Leslie L. Newquist, Bobbie Galpin, Philip Pistilli, Eva Walker, Robert and Anita Bremson, John and Joan Foster, Raleigh and Carol De Bow, Mark Kramer, and Eva Claiborne.

TWELFTH NIGHT: It’s the 25th anniversary Friday of Les Dames De Champagne Bal Masque, a Twelfth Night mystical evening in which guests dress in masks and black-tie for champagne and dancing to Rudy Varon’s Orchestra at the Beverly Wilshire.

SAN MARINO DEBS: The 26 National Charity League, San Marino Area Chapter, debutantes must have been exhausted on the day of their ball. They lunched with their fathers in the Champagne Room of the Beverly Wilshire, rehearsed in the afternoon, dressed in their gowns for photos, then curtsied for the 600 guests who had been greeted by Thomas and Julie Condon (ball chairman) and Daniel and Fran Biles (president).

The season’s debs are: Nancy Addis, Jill Barry, Jana Bunn, Barbara Coberly, Lynn Dee Crabtree, Melinda Fedde, Christa Gledhill, Mary Hanzel, Jennifer Hemming, Kristen Horgan, Michelle Hoy, Beverly Johnson, Grace Kibler, Katie Knaphurst, Michele Knechtel, Wendi Lind, Anne Milias, Stephanie Pearson, Kerri Ross, Julianne Saxton, Monica Seares, Julie Shannon, Nicole Tyler, Michelle Varner, Jennifer Weyand and Lisa Wines.

EVERGREEN BALL: Las Madrecitas, auxiliary of the Crippled Children’s Guild of the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital, will honor Las Madrecitas, senior girls who volunteer at the hospital, at their 32nd Evergreen Ball Saturday evening in the Beverly Wilshire Ballroom. Las Madrecitas to be presented are Dyan Decker, Kimberly Capers, Alexandra Doherty, Allison Kitching, Christianne Lieb, Joanna Boval and Margaret Malone.

Rhea Tankersley chairs the ball. Among those assisting are president Bettie Hedlund, Eileen Tremonti, Joanne Fucci, Nancy Tinley, Sandy Montgomery, Cathy Elbert, Michele Snyder, Linda Fox, Emily Blue and Linda Docter.