Devilish Fete Heaven-Sent for the Arts

The road to fund-raising is paved with good intentions--and special effects.

Saturday’s “Fever” gala, given at the Westgate hotel to honor the 10th anniversary of the San Diego Foundation for Performing Arts, presented guests the choice of halos or horns, but not hoofs, even though hoofers supplied the evening with its raison d’etre .

Co-chairs Phyllis Parrish and Reba Brophy mapped the event more as a commedia dell’arte than as an abbreviated version of “The Divine Comedy,” but the guided tour of the inferno and paradise they offered their 170 guests coincidentally was completed onstage at the Civic Theatre by the Martha Graham Dance Company, whose performance of “El Penitente” provided a solemn glimpse of purgatory.

Brophy and Parrish actually brought a rather devil-may-care attitude to “Fever,” staged in scarlet and intended, they said, “to ignite a fever for the arts.”

Guests arriving for the pre-performance dinner at the Westgate were forced to run a gantlet, as it were, of little devils in crimson horns and tights, who waved pitchforks and uttered such unlikely instructions as “Be an angel!” (The little girls, officially described as “Fire Dancers,” all are members of the City Moves! youth dance project sponsored by SDFPA.) Decorations and lighting in the foyer fanned the flames further, while Pieces, the a capella trio, remained as cool as always.

Deviltry ruled the foyer, but an abrupt change of mood waited in the Versailles Ballroom, strictly off limits (so as to preserve the surprise) until yet another devil, this one full-grown and bearded, announced dinner.

Many of the women honored the theme by gowning themselves in crimson, but not Brophy and Parrish.

“We couldn’t wear red, because when you enter the ballroom, you become an angel of the arts,” explained Brophy. “This room is heaven.”

The Versailles Room was a heaven, at any rate, of contrast to the foyer’s flickering ruby lights; icy arrangements of silver-sprayed ferns and spangled ivory feathers centered the tables, and a life-sized angel occupied a pedestal at the far end of the room. Quite like the chairmen, she was a blond.

Details and theme melded seamlessly. Bags of party favors maintained the red-hot “Fever” theme by including tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce, crimson candies and thermometers, the latter whimsically intended, said Parrish, to allow guests to check if their temperatures had attained fever stage.

The menu, on the other hand, opened with what were announced as “angelic” hors d’oeuvres, or foods shaped like heavenly bodies and arranged on shiny black paper that represented the celestial void. In addition to a comet of slivered smoked salmon and a crescent moon of duck liver pate--details, details!--there was a fluted mushroom cap filled with black caviar that Westgate catering director Dale Hansen gamely described as a “black hole of caviar.” Following these nibbles, guests dined relatively tamely on beef filet.

After the performance, “Fever” patrons and the Graham company returned to the Westgate for desserts, dancing to the Heroes--the band obligingly donned scarlet horns to suit the motif--an auction of jewels, trips and other items and a performance of Peggy Lee--whose sultry rendition of “Fever,” of course, become her signature number--standards by a suitably costumed and wigged Dottie Howe.

Danah Fayman, founder and current president of SDFPA, said it was “very special” to celebrate her organization’s tenth anniversary with a performance by the Graham group, and, in fact, rather special simply to have a tenth anniversary. “All along, we just have lived from year to year,” she said. “I never worried about getting to a 10th anniversary, but I’m glad we did.”

The guest list included Louarn Fleet, Jean and Chuck Hellerich, Gil Ontai, Nancy Celick, Linda and Gerald Hirshberg, June Barrymore, Sally and John Thornton, Dian and Ray Peet, Barbara and Bill McColl, Diana and Donald Farr, Vincent Andrunas, Rusty McAnnally, Luba Johnston, Julie and Jay Sarno, Rose Mary Taylor, Francy Starr, Maxine and Gerald Trimble, Kay and Bill Rippee, and Sally Fuller with George Paul.

Quite some time ago, the Women’s Auxiliary of the San Diego Hebrew Homes selected the title “Spring Surprises” for the group’s annual fashion luncheon, given March 12 at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines as a benefit for the San Diego and Encinitas residences.

Beside the surprises the committee intended to spring on its guests, the committee itself received a major surprise when the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary of San Diego County chose exactly the same day and hour to host the 27th annual “Women of Dedication” fund-raiser and fashion luncheon.

A good deal of hand-wringing and head-shaking occurred in both auxiliaries; spokeswomen for both groups said they anticipated loosing attendance to the other, especially given the fact that many women would have attended both functions had they been given on different days.

As it happened, 450 guests turned out for “Spring Surprises,” and 670 for the benefit for the Salvation Army’s Door of Hope, figures that in both cases were more than sufficient to bring relieved smiles to the faces of the chairmen. “We were a little concerned about attendance, but we have a whole bunch of new people here,” said “Spring Surprises” co-chair Diane Feuerstein, who estimated net proceeds from her event at $14,000.

“This is a good way for us to get women involved with the Hebrew Home. Today is very much about good will.”

“Word got around that today was going to be beautiful, with really superior fashions, and that’s why so many came,” added co-chair Beverly Silldorf. The beauty--and it was a very pretty event--lay in the tables, set with sprightly pink and white bouquets and packages wrapped with fat pink ribbons. For the fashion show, Saks Fifth Avenue-Mission Valley sent its European/American collection for spring, including designs by Ungaro, Escada, Claude Montana and Victor Costa.

The Hebrew Homes event committee included Caren Adler, Gayle Zemen, Melissa Bartell, Rusti Weiss, Sherry Berlin, Sandy Weinstein, Debbie Burdman, Linda Levy, Mary Epsten, Libby Levine, Arlene Rosen, Colette Royston, Lee Fischer, Marilyn Stern and Phyllis Field.

The Salvation Army Auxiliary also chose pink as a motif and set the tables in Marriott Hall at the San Diego Marriott with pink tulips, Gerbera daisies and protea. Including the 14 women presented last Thursday, a total of 353 have been named “Women of Dedication” over a span of 27 years, and many in the audience knew the program by heart.

Women chosen for the honor are known for their outstanding volunteerism to charitable and community organizations, and among those named were the president-elect of the San Diego Opera, the chairwoman of the Southern California Small Business Development Corp., the assistant superintendant of the San Diego Unified School District and the chairman of the Chula Vista Human Services Council. By tradition, many organizations bought tables in to support their own honorees.

“These women are our 14 stars today,” said event chair Norma Shiner. “They come from many charities, but they share in common their outstanding dedication and work for the benefit of all.” Shiner said the day would earn more than $32,000 for the Salvation Army’s “Door of Hope” programs.

The honorees, each escorted slowly down the runway while the lengthy list of her accomplishments was read, were Marion Bateson, Katherine Black, Gladys Calvin, Shirley Gardella, Lee Goldberg, Bernardine Hawthorne, Roberta Hill, Gladys Luhman, Betsy Manchester, Ann Martinet, Joanne Meredith, Pamela B. Smith, Ilene Swartz and Dorie Wynn.