Jillian Added to Arts Center Bill

Entertainer Ann Jillian will open for song-and-dance man Ben Vereen at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s fifth anniversary bash in Costa Mesa Sept. 25.

Bandleader Barry Cole, whose Newport Beach-based orchestra will back up both singers, said Jillian and Vereen have been told by center officials that their hourlong acts will have to be “cut about in half.” A source involved in the event said the trims have been ordered so the Wednesday evening program won’t keep patrons out too late.

“We haven’t rehearsed yet, so I don’t know if (Vereen and Jillian) will be doing anything special” to commemorate the center’s anniversary, Cole said. But “right now,” he noted, “they are thinking about trims they can make,” not about things they can add.

Tickets for the event range from $500 to $2,500 each.