RSVP : In Honor of Art : Five Artists, From a Dance Choreographer to a Tenor, Get Their Due

Five highly individual artistic demeanors were on display Wednesday at lunchtime as the recipients of Distinguished Artists Awards made their thank-yous to Club 100 of the Music Center.

They didn’t dance, sing, conduct, write a play or stage a sitcom. They only spoke--four in person, one via a surrogate--but, at the podium in the pretty ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel, they managed to evoke strong feelings about the importance of Club 100’s efforts to promote the performing arts in the community through education, advocacy and fund-raising.

They also, as true artists should, stirred up a sense of wonder, laughter, applause and even, perhaps, a tear or two.

“I think this award says you like what we do,” said Judith Jamison, artistic director and choreographer of the Alvin Ailey Dance Co., as she talked about dance “coming from the people” and “needing to be given back” with love and a sense of humor.

Garry Marshall displayed his humor in a spontaneous riff of a speech that made fun of everything from the grilled salmon menu to Lamb Chop the puppet, which, he claims, was “kind of mean” about his early efforts as a comedy writer: “Imagine being insulted by a piece of cloth.”

However, the creator of “Happy Days” and director of “Pretty Woman” eventually turned serious, quoting George Bernard Shaw:

“Without art the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” He accepted his honor with a touching reference to his mother, Marjorie, a dance and music teacher who “taught for 50 years in a cellar and didn’t get an award.”

Introduced by Alice Coulombe with apt reference to his “unfailing courtesy,” tenor Placido Domingo had no hesitation in urging, “Subscriptions are what we need. . . . Please join us at the opera.” Paul Salamunovich spoke of his “fairy tale” journey from his youthful membership in the Los Angeles Master Chorale to his current position as its music director.

Actress Brooke Adams told the crowd, “You pretend I’m Wendy and I will, too,” as she read a fax from the fifth honoree, playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who was working on a movie in Paris.

Genevieve McSweeney, president of Club 100, and Shelton G. Stanfill, president of the Music Center, kept their introduction speeches refreshingly short.

Co-chairwomen were Eleanor Frank and Roberta Haft, and others present included Gordon Davidson, artistic director/producer of Center Theatre Group, and Peter Hemmings, general director of Los Angeles Music Center Opera.