They’ll Be Back Again on Sunday--to Have a Ball and See a Ball (Game)

“Next Sunday, you’re all coming here again!” The Rams slayed the Giants, 19-13, and John Crean’s face was pink with excitement.

“You sure you want us all back?” a guest replied at the football-watching party Crean staged in his Santa Ana Heights home last Sunday.

“Absolutely. But it looks like we’d better buy some more chairs!” he told the SRO crowd.

This was no plop-on-the-floor-and-watch-football get-together. This was a party staged in the movie-set like theater in Crean’s yet-to-be-completed 40,000-square-foot mansion.

“It sort of feels like we’re on a cruise ship, doesn’t it?” said Crean, grinning like a schoolboy as his eyes took in the room with the wall-size screen, the plush carpet and the 20 or so padded chairs.

To say the least. And Crean’s pals--among them, Supervisor Don Roth and his wife, Jackie; Ritz-Carlton Vice President Henry Schielein and his wife, Carol, and Ted and Lois Lundberg--were willing passengers.

Arriving at the mansion early for the 9:30 a.m. kickoff, they climbed its sweeping, Tara-esque staircase with the temporary railing (made of 2x4s and chicken wire) and swept into the gleaming new theater after selecting made-to-order omelets, lox, bagels, fresh fruit and hot buttered popcorn.

“Don and I met at a Rams game,” Jackie Roth said, beaming at her husband as she settled into a chair to root for the Giants. The Giants ? “Just for today!” she said, looking sheepish. (However, the feisty redhead was on her feet rooting for the Rams during the overtime that saw Jim Everett sail the winning touchdown pass to Flipper Anderson.)

“In fact,” Jackie continued, “when Don and I told Carroll Rosenbloom (Rams owner Georgia Frontiere’s late husband) that we met at a Rams game, he sent us a beautiful gift. We’ve known Georgia for years.”

Also on the scene was Katie Klein, wife of Marshall Klein, Rams vice president of media and community relations. There could be no doubt which team Katie was rooting for. She wore a tiny, solid gold Rams helmet around her neck.

“I love it,” Katie said, fingering the diamond-studded pendant, a gift from her husband. “And I love the Rams.”

Come this Sunday, the gang will be at the Creans’ home again and so will the omelets, the agony and the ecstasy.

“What’s more fun than this?” Crean wanted to know. “That’s what this theater is all about. It’s a way to bring people together. It’s more fun than all of us being at our own homes watching the game by ourselves, isn’t it?”

By the look on guests’ faces, the answer was a gimme-10 “yes!”

Also rooting for the Rams: Crean’s wife, Donna (“I’m looking forward to using this theater to watch my soaps!” she said, laughing); his sons John and Andy, with his wife, Charlene; Jerry Kobrin, and Dr. Bob Roper.

A Winter Dinner: On its “12th Night of Christmas” party, Opera Pacific Gourmet Diners’ Guild gave to its members: boneless pork loin, sweet and sour red cabbage, parsley-butter potatoes, a fresh fruit platter, several pasta salads, and a piano concert by Danny Shapiro.

It all happened at Bill and Laila Conlin’s Chateau Musique in Newport Beach on Saturday night, the warm and cozy kind of party that has become the hallmark of the Gourmet Diners’ Guild.

Chairing the second annual affair was Myril Kreuder, who attended with her husband, Norm. “Everybody likes to come to Myril’s events,” said Laila, dressed in a midnight blue satin blouse and flowing velvet skirt. “She always makes sure everyone has a wonderful time.”

Arriving guests were greeted with the sound of a drum roll and the sight of little-drummer-boy decor, a theme the guild plans to use year after year.

After guests helped themselves to the hearty fare cooked up by Jay’s Catering, they pulled up their chairs to listen to Shapiro, who thrilled the opera buffs with selections by Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms.

Laila Conlin, founding president of Opera Pacific’s Guild Alliance, said the Gourmet Guild was one of 11 guilds (with 700 members) that have contributed $500,000 to Opera Pacific since being established two years ago.

“We have a variety of guilds to appeal to a variety of interests,” Laila said. “People have so many things to support we decided to come up with a new idea. We didn’t want to be a clone.”

Guild Alliance members can join the Gourmet Diners’ Guild; the Viva Guild (a group that visits operatic productions staged by companies other than Opera Pacific); the Prologues Guild, which stages educational events, and the Opera Ball Guild, which is strictly dedicated to staging Opera Pacific’s annual gala. There are also tennis and bridge guilds and a newly developed guild, New You, devoted to self-improvement.

“The unique thing,” Laila said, “is that our members can belong to any or all of the guilds. All they have to do is put up the money!”