Carvey a Genuine Cutup at O.C. Benefit

Comedian Dana Carvey had the jitters.

“I’m an April Fool’s joke--that’s it,” Carvey said before going onstage at the ultra-traditional Golden Baton Gala.

“This crowd is expecting Shecky Greene and they’re getting this kid from ‘Saturday Night Live.’ ”

Not to worry. Some guests howled, a few groaned, and at least one walked out of the ballroom, but mostly they roared at Carvey’s wacko and sometimes off-color humor during the elegant black-tie event staged by the Orange County Philharmonic Society.

“This is George Bush country, isn’t it?” the star of “Wayne’s World” asked the crowd on Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.

“Well, I had just a one-termer,” said Carvey, doing his famous impersonation of President Bush. “But now, Bar and I have a lot of time to make sweet love--even though some people think she looks like the Quaker Oats person. . . .”

For the outrageous Carvey, nothing was sacred, not the society ladies--”such cleavage ,” he jeered--not the President of the United States--”I’m a horny President, let’s face it,” he drawled--not the Orange County Philharmonic Society--”the guy who came up with the name philharmonic was really stoned,” he jabbed.

But he got his biggest laughs when he mocked the O.J. Simpson trial. “I think Judge Ito did it!” Carvey deadpanned. “And Marcia Clark and Ito . . . they’re in love! She’s always thinking, ‘Oh, those gorgeous robes, overrule me!

“As for F. Lee Bailey . . . conjugate a verb or something! We don’t know what you’re saying!”

Carvey threatened to tease the crowd about the Orange County bankruptcy, but backed off. “I hear you’re good sports about it,” he said, “but you’re probably tired of it. Well, I’ve got a 20-minute chunk (of material) about it.”

The $200-per-person event, which netted about $60,000 for the society’s music education programs for children, began with a cocktail reception, followed by a sit-down dinner taken at tables decorated with golden-hued harlequin dolls.

During the festivities, philharmonic President Richard Reinsch presented the society’s Golden Baton Award to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. for its ongoing support of music in Orange County.

Ernest Fleischmann, the association’s director, accepted the award, saying, humbly, that “the most important thing is that you are supporting the arts” and calling great music “the greatest artistic expression of which mankind is capable.”

Dean Corey, executive director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society, presented medallions to the society’s major donors, who include Ben and Pat Dolson, Harry and Helen Reinsch, Richard Reinsch, Ed and Helen Shanbrom, Douglas Smith, Donald and Eugenia Thompson and Louis and Mary Kay VanderMolen. Sharon McNalley, who attended with her husband, Michael, was gala chairwoman.

*

There’s the beef: Shelve those notions about beef being a no-no among the dine-out crowd. About 400 guests dived into the juicy steak sandwiches provided by Morton’s of Chicago last week during the restaurant’s grand opening on behalf of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Gathered in the dark steakhouse at South Coast Plaza Village in Santa Ana were members of the arts crowd such as Henry Segerstrom with his wife, Renee, Barbara and Jim Glabman, Shari and Harry Esayian and Charles and Nora Hester.

Fat content aside, the finger sandwiches stuffed with thin slices of medium-rare New York steak were a culinary hit, with some guests going back for seconds.

“Fat content is not something we look at here,” said Michael Archer, president of Morton’s. “We serve prime, aged steaks, and there’s marbling in those steaks. That’s what makes them good.” (On Friday, you couldn’t get a dinner reservation. “We’re packed,” apologized a restaurant hostess. “The word is out.”)

Also up for finger-licking at Wednesday’s opening: fresh oysters, swordfish medallions, spinach sauteed with mushrooms, asparagus and scallops garnished with mango chutney.

“This is going to be the new in place,” said Henry Segerstrom.

The arts crowd hopes so. “We hope to have some of the center’s post-performance parties here,” said center spokesman Gregory Patterson.

*

A fling with the ‘40s: “Such nostalgia,” said Pacific Symphony buff Marcy Mulville on Friday at the Center Club after attending the orchestra’s “The Fabulous Forties: A Musical Journey Through The Radio Years, 1949-1940” at Segerstrom Hall.

Featured in the two-hour concert were songs such as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “The Angels Sing,” “White Cliffs of Dover,” “My Buddy” and “God Bless America,” with performances by vocalists Judy Blazer, Alix Korey, Michael Horton and Jason Graae.

“I cried a little, smiled a little,” said Mulville, who attended the concert with her husband, Maurice. “That was a long time ago.”

Blazer’s throaty delivery had music lovers thinking: Judy Garland. Especially when she sang “The Trolley Song” from “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

“It’s a style thing,” Blazer explained, sipping a cup of tea at the post-performance bash for performers and symphony supporters. “I really only sound like Judy when I sing this period.

“This show got to me,” Blazer added. “During World War II, my dad was a lieutenant stationed in Italy. He met and married my mother there.”

*

A visit with Shirley Jones: At the most, look for singer-actress Shirley Jones to do a cameo role in the movie that will be made about her ‘70s television hit, “The Partridge Family.”

“Yes, they’re going to do a movie, because of the success of the ‘Brady Bunch’ ” flick, Jones said during a recent visit at her Beverly Hills home. “But, no, I won’t star in it--the same way Florence Henderson didn’t star in the Brady Bunch movie. I’ll just do a cameo appearance, the way she did.”

(Actually, Jones was asked to do the Brady movie cameo. “They thought it would be funny if I showed up in it instead of Florence,” Jones said. “But I told them no--too jokey for me.”)

When she isn’t contemplating movie appearances, Jones--star of “Carousel,” “Oklahoma!” “The Music Man,” and Oscar winner for her role in “Elmer Gantry”--is performing in concerts around the country.

On April 28, the silver-haired actress will star at a carousel-themed gala benefiting the House Ear Institute Children’s Center of Orange County.

The program will feature selections from her musicals, including “If I Loved You,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” and “People Will Say We’re in Love.”

How long will she keep singing? “As long as something comes out,” said Jones, who began her career at 18, when she starred in “Oklahoma!”