Things Are Humming at Music Center

Those awaited invitations for the Music Center’s 25th anniversary galas are in the mail, and the teal-blue folders offer four exciting choices--as Platinum, Sterling, Silver or Gala patrons.

But co-chair Nancy Olson Livingston and coordinating chair Deborah Tellefsen are cautioning for early reservations for the September event. Says Nancy: “Three of the four possibilities--Platinum, Sterling and Silver--are limited to 50 reservations for two.

Gala patrons, at $2,000 a couple, will be available to 1,000 for a post party on the plaza after the celebration performance in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sept. 24.

The supreme attraction, however, will be for Platinum Patrons--at $25,000 a couple. They’ll be entitled to spend three magical days over Labor Day weekend on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, guests at the exclusive opening of David Murdock’s new luxury resort, the Lodge at Koehle.

Co-chairs Gloria Holden, Arianna Huffington and Ginny Ueberroth promise three days of boating, scuba diving, golf, tennis, beach partying and both formal and informal dining with celebrities.

Sterling Patrons, at $10,000 a couple, will opt for black-and-white or color portraits and a personal statement about the Music Center in the Music Center’s 25th anniversary commemorative book. Co-chairs Keith Kieschnick, Margaret Buckley Parker and Joni Smith are standing by to assist.

Silver Patrons ($5,000 a couple) will attend an intimate dinner Sept. 23 with members of the International Council, performers and celebrities. Co-chairs are R. Stanton and Ernestine Avery, Robert and Lois Erburu and Earle and Marion Jorgensen.

Gala Patrons ($1,000) will be among the 3,200 attending the Sept. 24 performance featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic and works from the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre, the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale and The Joffrey Ballet LA/NY. The post-gala for patrons--this includes Platinum, Sterling, Silver, and Gala--is bound to glitter under the tutelage of Bettina Chandler, Carole Cook, Anne Douglas, Annette O’Malley, Terry Stanfill and Edie Wasserman.

But not only galas will be glittering. On March 20, Zubin Mehta will be a special guest at the 25th Anniversary Luncheon honoring the Music Center’s historical founders whose donations made the building a reality. Other major donors and community leaders will be saluted also.

And more: The Blue Ribbon will add an innovative gift to its Children’s Festival (which annually brings 35,000 to the Music Center) through a videotape of the creation process of “Billy the Kid.” The video will prepare students for the Joffrey Ballet performance they will see.

Then, celebrating Los Angeles’ multicultural heritage, the plaza will vibe the weekend of July 15-16 with performances, workshops and exhibits. And, Dec. 6, the actual anniversary of the Music Center opening, the public will reel in a grand party on the plaza with birthday cake, fireworks and rotating performances.

Anniversary innovations also include the establishment of an International Council of corporate leaders from around the world and the creation of The 21st Century Arts Award, which will be awarded in music, theater and dance categories to young master artists.

THE IDES OF MARCH: Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and satirist Art Buchwald will be the honoree at USC’s School of Public Administration’s Ides of March VII Dinner on March 1 in the Grand Ballroom of the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

Bank of America executive vice president James P. Miscoll (also executive officer for Southern California for the bank) is chairing the dinner and will be master of ceremonies. To date, co-chairmen and patrons include include Carolyn and Dr. Carl M. Franklin of USC, Dennis F. Holt, William M. Keck II, Angelo R. Mozilo and Miscoll.

The $300 tickets will benefit scholarships. Since 1983, more than $1 million has been raised through the dinners.

Buchwald enlisted in the Marines at age 17, served from 1942-45, then attended USC under the GI Bill of Rights. He was managing editor of Wampus, the campus humor magazine, and wrote a column for the Daily Trojan.

PLAUDITS: Thomas Larkin thinks the California Pediatric Center & Family Medical Center is one of the city’s best-kept secrets, and he wants word of the center to reach more low-income families as well as potential donors.

Thus, the Women’s Auxiliary presents “Hollywood Nites” on Saturday at the Hollywood Roosevelt’s Blossom Room. It will honor guitarist Jose Feliciano as Humanitarian of the Year for overcoming physical obstacles and for giving benefit concerts for the Latino community.

Also, corporate leadership awards will go to Thomas E. Larkin, past president of the board and managing director of the Trust Company of the West in downtown Los Angeles; John T. Malloy, head of John T. Malloy, Inc., and Ernest Gett of Latham & Watkins law firm.

Maria Sanchez, 3 1/2, will receive the Most Inspirational Patient Award; she was born with cerebral palsy and spastic paraplegia. At the center, she has learned to walk, run and jump.

Lainie Kazan will entertain and Mario Machado is the master of ceremonies.

PAST PERFECT: Bob Eberle’s elegant surprise dinner dance at the Hotel Bel-Air honoring wife Debbie’s birthday. . . .

Jay and Susan Stein’s wonderful dinner honoring Mayor Bill Frederick of Orlando, Fla., and his wife, Joanne, and including guests Richard Swann, Lynn Wasserman, Ed Haddock, David and Joan Weitzer, Herb and Carrie Steinberg, Tony and Caroline Young, Dan and Grace Slusser, Mark Hales and more. . . . Ada Gates and Anna Muggia’s preview of artists at the San Marino home of Ted and Deedie McCarthy and including Santa Barbara dog portraitist Connie Coleman, floral painter Susan Hazeltine Connell, sculptor Nina Kaiser and race horse painter Celeste Susanny.

$100,000: Last year after their Geoffrey Beene fashion luncheon, the Luminaires were able to hand Doheny Eye Institute a check for $100,000. Members are at it again, under the leadership of Luminaires president Nancy Payne and chairman Ruth Harbour, known for their volunteer successes. They have chosen couturier Michael Novarese to spice up aperitifs and luncheon with a fashion show in the newly redecorated Regent Beverly Wilshire ballroom. Bobbie Galpin will transform the room into a burst of spring and Ginny Gaspar will take reservations and hopefully not turn away bids for one of the choicest luncheons in the city.

VALENTINE AIM: Cupid’s bow will be aimed at Los Angeles’ most eligible bachelors at the Big Brothers Bachelor Auction on Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire. Bachelors will be auctioned to highest bidders. Actress Lee Purcell is chairing the affair and actress Barbara Bain is honorary chairman. Bids start at $100, but guests will be encouraged to pool financial resources, then draw straws to see who gets him.

GOOD NEWS: Kelsey Hall will take on the presidency for another year of the Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital. She will introduce new members including Cherry Bianchi, Nancy Krueger, Debby Mielke, Suzanne Miller and Kathy Ryan on Feb. 16 at the Valley Hunt Club. More on the board will be Lois Matthews (she’s also the only woman member of the Huntington Memorial Hospital board), Doris Ann Williams, Veva McKee, Kathern Gillespie, Carol McGhee and Jane Odell. Barbara Guglielmo will be June Debutante Ball chairman.

INTERESTING ALLIANCE: The Los Angeles Pops Orchestra will benefit Tuesday from the Baseball Hall of Fame Celebrity Dinner at the Biltmore. Baseball hall-of-famers Jack Lang and Ralph Kiner are supposed to welcome Los Angeles Dodgers. Tickets are $150.