Storybook Characters Enliven Chorale’s Ball

Once upon a time, Cinderella showed up at a ball dressed like Mother Goose. As hard as she tried to walk and talk like the den mum of storybook characters, she still came off as the pretty little girl who’d landed herself a prince.

What was her secret? “I actually married a prince!” said Marcia Coy, chairwoman of the Pacific Chorale’s “Storybook Ball” at the Irvine Marriott on Saturday night. “And I’m living happily ever after. Warren has me on a pedestal. And I have him on one--that’s the secret to being treated like a princess.”

Robyn Renner wasn’t quite as lucky. Her date, John Babiak, played a ferocious Captain Hook to her kindly Tinker Bell. “Each of our personas fit our personalities, perfectly,” the fairy-dust-sprinkled Tinker Bell teased with a giggle. “John is a manly man on a manly ship. I am a carefree little nymph!”

And so it went at one of Orange County’s most whimsical and wacky social gatherings. Guests, instructed by Mother Goose to come to the party “in black tie or costume,” arrived looking like rabbits, mermaids, kings, queens, playing cards and curly-haired shepherds. “It was either Bo Peep or Glenda the Good Witch,” deadpanned a bonnet and petticoat-clad Bonnie McLain, executive director of the Pacific Chorale. “And I decided I looked the most like Bo Peep.”

Part of the proceeds from the $125-per-person gala will go toward the chorale’s operations costs, McLain said. And a portion will be used for the chorale’s youth education programs. Annually, the chorale sponsors a music festival in the Orange County Performing Arts Center for students from 20 area high schools. “On April 28, 1,000 students will be performing for each other at Segerstrom Hall,” McLain said. “The same night, the chorale performs its final concert of the season, an all-Verdi program.”

During a champagne reception, guests perused auction items laid out on tables covered with fairy-tale books and flowers. When they stepped into the ballroom, they did so through a huge, open storybook. Once inside, they posed for keepsake photos inside of a gilded frame.

Donna and Bob Morse enjoyed the merriment as the King and Queen of Hearts. “I wanted to be Dorothy from the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ ” Donna said. “But when I tried on the wig at the costume shop it was black and so unflattering. So here I am!”

“I’m glad the wig looked bad,” Bob said. “Or I’d be here as Toto.”

Marilyn and Don Gerdts--responsible for the hand-painted table decor (featuring wood cutouts from best-loved fairy tales)--swept into the ballroom as the Ace of Spades and the Five of Hearts. “I just want to find the bar and see if they offer a discount for men in uniform,” piped Don, who retired a year ago as station manager for KOCE (Channel 50).

Bob Larsen arrived as King Neptune. A stylish King Neptune. He may have been smothered in flimsy fishnet but his watch was a solid underwater number by Cartier. His wife, Randi, for 16 years a soprano with Pacific Chorale, came as the Little Mermaid. “I chose this costume because the long hair covered my stomach,” she said, laughing. “And you can’t print that!”

On a serious note, Randi said that music was her passion. “I study. I love it,” she said.

The reason for all of the lightheartedness, Marcia Coy said, was that “these people are artists; they like to have fun.”

“We thought about having a Mardi Gras party, and then we realized everyone was having one. So we chose a ‘Storybook Ball’ theme because we didn’t want to have another party.”

The time the party was over? When the clock struck 12, of course.

Also among guests was Pacific Chorale artistic director John Alexander and Ed and Floss Schumacher, honorary gala chairwoman.

Down Memory Lane: “A Walk Down Memory Lane” was the theme of the fashion show staged last week at the Irvine Marriott hotel on behalf of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Arthritis Foundation of Orange County. Vintage fashions from the 1880s to the present were shown, including dresses worn by actresses Mary Pickford and Loretta Young.

Betty L. Elias was honored for her work on behalf of the foundation. Among guests were Lucy James, auxiliary president; fashion show emcee Sandra Wessel; Betty Jones, event emcee; and Scott Warneke, former Arthritis Foundation poster child.