Center Supporters Hop With Holly

“Do you want morrrrrre?” Chip Esten hollered to the frenzied audience begging for an encore at Segerstrom Hall on Tuesday night. “Are you shorrrrrrrre?”

They got more Esten all right. The actor playing the title role in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” at the Performing Arts Center (through Sunday) sang until his guitar strings popped.

And Center supporters who attended a hop at Ruby’s Diner got even more: an ebullient, post-concert Esten, sans the late rock ‘n’ roll star’s trademark specs, rhapsodizing about his love for the role.

“There’s nothing in the world I’d rather be doing right now,” said the 26-year-old performer, arriving at Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza. “It’s the best of both worlds. I get to do the acting and the rock and roll. It’s like riding in a beautiful car.”

After watching the musical featuring Holly hits such as “That’ll Be the Day,” “Maybe Baby,” and “True Love Ways” (a heartbreaking ballad Holly sings to his wife, Maria Elena, before leaving on the tour that ends with his fatal plane ride), some members of the Center’s board of directors found themselves transported back to their happy days .

“Hearing that music made me want to go sit in a car and have a beer,” joked Dick Tripp, the Center’s vice president for development. “What about me?” wailed Tripp’s wife, Myrna. “I’m supposed to be there too, dummy!”

Center supporter Marilyn Nielsen loved the way the show involved the audience (during one scene, theatergoers became an audience at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem). “That made the difference for me,” said Nielsen, who attended with her husband, Tom. “I don’t know when I’ve had more fun.”

Drummer Colin Gray, one of Holly’s “Crickets,” said the show gave him the chance to explore the “energy of an exciting and innocent time.”

“We’ve all gone back and listened to the recordings. To re-create that music is a great experience. Holly was such an innovator. That was the time when rock and roll hadn’t been corrupted.”

When party-goers weren’t chatting with the cast, they were kicking back on the ruby-red banquettes of the pristine hamburger joint, munching burgers and fries and sipping Cokes (or wine or beer). If they wanted to dance, a blaring jukebox was on hand.

Creating his own excitement was Garden Grove’s Ed Winfield, whose extensive collection of Buddy Holly memorabilia was on display. Set on a table under a protective plastic cloth were most of the performer’s old records. And taped to the windows of Ruby’s were a slew of black and white glossies of Holly--some of them publicity stills, some of them concert moments from the career of the rock ‘n’ roll star who died when he was only 22.

Said cast member Brian Tiernan: “You should have seen the audience who watched us perform in Atlanta in February on the anniversary of the day before the actual plane crash. They went wild.”

South Coast Plaza’s 25th anniversary dinner: Gravlax, the same dish served to Margaret Thatcher during her visit to the Center Club last year, was on the menu for guests who attended the 25th anniversary dinner of South Coast Plaza at the club on Monday night. Ditto the same brand (Fogarty) of Chardonnay poured for the king and queen of Sweden during the luncheon held in their honor at the club in 1987.

Receiving about 200 guests at the sedate affair were Renee and Henry Segerstrom--managing partner of C. J. Segerstrom & Sons.

While delicious food was the highlight of the party, there was more than veal tenderloin and pears au chocolate on this party menu. There was a tribute to St. John, the Irvine knitwear company founded by Marie and Bob Gray, who attended with their daughter, Kelly.

And there was a touching tribute to Renee Segerstrom made by her husband. Said Henry: “Renee and I have traveled . . . from Italy to New York to Chicago to Paris to San Francisco in our quest for retailers. I want to recognize her taste and fine judgment.”

And another tribute, this one to Henry Segerstrom’s delightful, ninety-something mother, Ruth (who could not attend): “My mother says South Coast Plaza isn’t really 25 years old because we’ve never stopped growing. So why don’t we call it 25 years young?”

Why not indeed. Also among guests: Maria del Carmen Calvo and Dr. Walter Henry, vice chancellor of the UCI College of Medicine; Lyle Porter, principal of Mater Dei High School; Ann Marie and Dan Harney, executive director of the Food Distribution Center; Jeanne and Merritt Johnson, president of United Way of Orange County; Thomas Kendrick, president of the Center, with Center manager Judy Morr; Betsy and Donald Tarbell, chairman of the Salvation Army of Orange County; Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder and her husband, Irv; Orange County Supervisor Thomas Riley and his wife, Emma Jane, and Belle and Jack Lindquist, president of Disneyland.

* REVIEWS: Jan Herman and Mike Boehm on “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.” F1