L.A. Opera Benefit Gala: Raves for a Music Star

’ If I’d only known in time about all this, I could have got my mad scene together,” said Barbara Cook. The Broadway star stood backdropped by Ravenswood Castle, the set for “Lucia di Lammermoor,” the final production of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera season.

No matter, she had everything else together, and the listeners at the opera company’s annual onstage benefit gala Saturday night seemed mad about her as she began with “ ‘Til There Was You,” a reminder of Cook’s Tony-winning performance as Marian the librarian in “The Music Man.”

Veronica Pastel and Linda May, who co-chaired the black-tie benefit at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, noted that although the L.A. opera crowd is very committed in its support, the chance to hear Cook live was an additional draw. “We were competing with a lot of weddings,” said Pastel.

The tartan napkins on the dinner tables picked up the Scottish theme of the opera set. A straightforward dinner of salad, blackened chicken and an assortment of pastries followed a cocktail hour and a silent auction, with items ranging from prime seats for “La Boheme,” the 1993-94 season opener in September, to the chance to own a 16-foot stuffed snake based on Gerald Scarse’s design of the serpent for “The Magic Flute.”

The evening’s chatter ranged from how to grow the best artichokes in Pasadena to if and when to see “Jurassic Park.” And everyone at these parties is pleased to recall when they discovered they liked opera

“I was about 15 and someone smarter than I suggested I go to ‘Aida,’ ” said TV producer Stan Margulies, while his wife, Fern, admitted she fell asleep the first time she went to an opera, but now likes their tradition of trying to attend a performance in every city they visit.

As usual, Peter Hemmings, the opera’s general director, kept his thank-you remarks short, swiftly introducing Cook, to the delight of the guests. Among these were Rosemary Wilson, whose late husband, Meredith, wrote “The Music Man,” and Iggie Wolfington, who co-starred with Cook in the original 1957 Broadway production.