Hoi Polloi Can Be Parties to These

You’ve heard the buzz--preparations are under way for wassails in quintessentially understated yachts and casas. And your name is not on the list?

Fear not. A flurry of equally divine and open-to-the-masses bashes is about to begin, so there is no need to draw the drapes, stash the Jag and pretend you’re doing Nepal for the holidays.

For starters, mark your Filofax for Dec. 7, when South Coast Repertory will stage “Christmas Spirits,” a gala celebration-cum-performance that will mark the 10th year of the theater’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” For $100 each, guests will toss down bubbly in the SCR lobby at 6:30 p.m., attend the benefit performance at 7:30 p.m. (with that little dickens Hal Landon Jr. portraying Ebenezer Scrooge) and, beginning at 9 p.m., dive into a turkey and roast beef buffet at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel. Guests are invited to wear vintage finery to the celebration, which will include caroling, dancing and complimentary photographs of party-goers. Irene Mack is chairwoman for the gala, sponsored by the SCR Theatre Guild.

On Dec. 10, the board of directors of the Orange County Performing Arts Center will stage the 16th annual Christmas Candlelight Concert, featuring the music of the Pacific Chorale and the Pacific Symphony, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. Hundreds of arts lovers attend the black-tie splash, annually the affair that brings out the holiday’s most elegant ball gowns (with Renee Segerstrom usually stealing the show in a jewel-tone creation by Yves Saint Laurent). Tickets are $175 each. Ciel Woodman is chairwoman of the gala.

On Dec. 17, the third annual Toys for Tots holiday brunch will be played out at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach. The brunch, which will include roast turkey, soups, salads and a French yule log for dessert, is a steal at $24.95. All guests are invited to contribute one unwrapped toy for the toy drive.

The same day, the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross will put on its annual champagne brunch at the Rex restaurant in Newport Beach, with proceeds from the $35-per-person event (another steal--this restaurant has an ocean view that takes your breath away) going to the local disaster and relief fund. The dress code? Stylish-casual (another way of saying glittery day ensembles on the women and candy-cane socks on the men).

Sorry, this one is already sold out, but a holiday party list would be incomplete without a mention of the “Splendors of Christmas” ball Saturday sponsored by the Hoag 552 Club at the Newport Beach Marriott. This is the ball that annually kicks off the local holiday season, with six-figure proceeds from the $552 per-person event benefiting the new Patty and George Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach. (Deep background: This beloved party had its beginnings in the cafeteria at Hoag Hospital with folks such as John Wayne and Andy Devine reading “The Night Before Christmas” and Harry Babbitt leading a lump-in-the-throat sing-along. Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the gala, and the buzz is it will be fantastic . Start saving your money.) Jim Dale, owner of the Villa Nova restaurant, is chairman.

For the first time, the Pacific Symphony and the Orange County Philharmonic Society are combining forces to stage a New Year’s Eve gala Dec. 31 at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel. “Into the ‘90s, a Musical Romance” is the theme, and the $150-per-person affair will offer a champagne and hors d’oeuvres reception (with goodies such as Peking duck and lobster brioche) at 7:30 p.m. and a concert at 8:15 p.m. that will feature selections from composers such as Johann Strauss Jr. (“Voices of Spring”), Rodgers and Hammerstein (“Carousel” and “The King and I”), Jerome Kern (“Showboat”) and Lerner and Loewe (“My Fair Lady”). A four-course dinner will be served afterward. On the menu: pheasant and roast veal chop. George Anderson and the Naturals will play for dancing. Lorraine Lippold and Eva Schneider are co-chairwomen for the gala. (Tidbit: eight front-and-center tables are available for the event for $1,800 each. Other tables of 10 are $1,400 each.)

The Newport Harbor Christmas Parade of Lights will be on view for party-goers Dec. 20, when the Laguna Art Museum has a fund-raiser at the bay-side Linda Isle home of museum board member Dolores Milhous. Tickets are $50 per person, and valet parking will be provided.

On the super-hot private party circuit: Court Prowell, 1989 Grand Marshal of the Huntington Harbour Boat Parade and Cruise of Lights (which annually brings in a whopping $100,000 to the Orange County Philharmonic Society), and his wife, Missy, chairwoman of the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee, will be the host and hostess of an exclusive bash Dec. 9 aboard the Grand Marshal yacht as it glides along the glittering waterways of Huntington Harbour. . . . The Mediterranean-style Big Canyon home of Clifford and Elaine Heinz will be the site of the annual luncheon presented by the Angels of the Arts, the all-women support group of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, on Dec. 5. The Angels will dine on grilled shrimp, veal medallions, and Belgian chocolate horns filled with fresh berries and lemon curd. Oh, and angel-shape cookies, but of course. . . . Deeann and Al Baldwin will be the host and hostess for members of the Young Presidents Organization for dinner in their ultramodern Emerald Bay home on Dec. 14. . . . Willa Dean and William Lyon will welcome friends for a formal dinner in their Coto de Caza mansion on Dec. 16. . . . Beverly and Robert Cohen, residents of John Wayne’s former digs, are planning a boat parade party in their Newport Beach home and on their mega-yacht, the P’Zazz, on Dec. 19. . . . Pilar Wayne, John Wayne’s widow, will have a dinner party Dec. 16. . . . The Ritz Brothers will convene for their annual holiday lunch at the Ritz restaurant on Dec. 4. . . . Adoption Guild of Southern California activist Fritzie Williams and her pal, Nancy Hillman, will toss a holiday bash for more than 100 tonight at the Sculpture Garden in the Newport Harbor Art Museum (that’s right, hostesses, the Sculpture Garden is available for parties). . . .