Opera Pacific Wins $250,000 in a Waltz

The romantic world of 18th-Century Vienna came to life Saturday when 600 guests in lavish ball gowns and tuxedos twirled beneath sparkling chandeliers at Opera Pacific’s 10th Anniversary Opera Ball.

Staged by the Opera Ball Guild, the “Strauss Waltz Gala” took place in the Grand Ballroom of the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. The $200-per-person affair raised $250,000 for Opera Pacific, Orange County’s resident opera company now in its seventh season.

In Old Vienna

An aura of old-world elegance filled the ballroom thanks to gala designer Carlton Burnett. It was Burnett’s idea to import and install 40 crystal chandeliers which sparkled with the reflection of multicolored spotlights.

Strauss waltzes performed by Murray Korda and his Monseigneur Strings were played throughout the evening on a stage with painted candelabras as a backdrop. Korda’s orchestra is scheduled to perform at the inaugural ball for President-elect Bill Clinton.

Guests, some of whom took ballroom dance lessons offered by Saks Fifth Avenue before the event, whirled around the dance floor.

“It’s one-two-three, one-two-three,” one woman said, coaching her partner.

Silver and Gold

Donna Bunce and Gayle Anderson, ball co-chairwomen, looked like princesses in their tiaras and gowns with long trains created by Bunce’s longtime dressmaker, Elena Pronzato. Bunce wore silver and Anderson wore gold, in keeping with traditional baroque colors.

“This is what they wore back then,” explained Bunce, looking like Cinderella with husband, Douglas, at her side.

The pair decided to hold a Strauss waltz gala five years ago, when they first agreed to chair the 10th anniversary ball.

“We always dreamed of a Strauss ball,” said Anderson, regal-looking in an off-the-shoulder gown. Anderson was accompanied by her husband, Robert.

Ties and Tails

Guests wore their most formal attire, with many of the men in tails and white tie. Women sparkled in gowns with lavishly jeweled tops and full skirts that rustled as they danced.

“You can tell this is one of Orange County’s top events--look at all the gentlemen in tails,” said Jo Ellen Qualls, vice president of Tiffany & Co. at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa. Tiffany contributed the ball’s gold-embossed invitations that set the event’s elegant tone.

Tables were graced with tall pedestals wrapped in gold lame that held sprays of white flowers and foliage. At each place setting were service plates rimmed in gold, with white napkins wrapped in gold metallic paper.

Between dances, guests savored a gourmet feast: chanterelle bisque en croute, fall harvest salad garni with goat cheese croutons and honey poppy seed dressing, veal medallions in port wine sauce and a hollowed yellow squash filled with creamed spinach. For dessert, they enjoyed a truffle torte prepared with--what else--Viennese chocolate.

Parade and Pageantry

The night was full of spectacle as the ball committee presented a sentimental 10th anniversary retrospective of past balls.

Performances by the Strauss Waltz Dancers, Beverly Hills Cotillion Dancers, the Carmen Dancers, opera singer Mic Bell and the Immortal Chinese Martial Arts and Lion Dance Troupe paid homage to past opera ball themes.

To add to the nostalgia, former chairwomen modeled the original gowns they wore to the events. Bunce and Anderson wore gowns from two previous balls they chaired--their 1986 salute to “Porgy and Bess” and the 1987 ball celebrating “Aida.”

The retrospective included a special tribute to Ruth Ding, founder of the Opera Ball.

“I thought, ‘Every big opera company has a ball,’ so I suggested we have one, too,” Ding said.

The first ball took place at the inauguration of the Disneyland Hotel’s Marina Ballroom. It cost $75 per person to attend and raised $24,000.

“At the time that seemed phenomenal. How things change,” said Florence Schumacher, Opera Pacific’s board chairwoman emeritus.

Funds raised from the ball will support Opera Pacific’s current season at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and its year-round educational outreach program.

“This night is a dream come true,” Ding said. “Look at the support here. It shows the Opera Pacific is here to stay.”

Among the guests were George and Arlene Cheng, William and Laila Conlin, John and Donna Crean, Richard and Jolene Engel, Niles Gates, Daniel and Susie Hernandez, Gary and Kasia Johnson, Robert and Ann McLean, Harry and Helen Reinsch, John and Kathleen Rhynerson, Walter and Gerry Schroeder, Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom and Herbert and Milli Wieseneck.