With Fries as Hors D’Oeuvres, It Was a Black-Tie McBenefit

For Nancy Estrin, it could have been the Rainbow Room in New York, but it was a McDonald’s in Irvine.

Attired in a glittering cocktail dress and sporting an orchid wrist corsage, Estrin, of Huntington Harbour, arrived by limousine, then wended her way through the black-tie crowd as waiters passed platters of Chicken McNuggets and fries.

“I never dress up like this,” Estrin told friends as she swept into the fast-food restaurant on Saturday night for her 65th birthday bash. “But for this special occasion . . . I had to!”

This was going to be the best birthday party ever, she said. “It’s a benefit for Ronald McDonald House--what could be better?”

Her husband, Don Estrin, not only wanted to toss Nancy a special celebration, he wanted it to be special for others too.

So, in lieu of gifts, the host requested donations to the Orange County Ronald McDonald House, a home-away-from-home in Orange for families of seriously ill children.

“Ronald McDonald House is as nice as any Five Star hotel,” said Estrin, a retired senior vice president of Bekins storage company. “And it’s free of charge for anybody who stays there with ill kids. The house deserves all the help it can get.”

Of his wife of 45 years, Estrin said: “She’s a doll, my sweetheart. The last big party she had was when we were married. I just thought it was time to do something really special for her.”

To secure the restaurant, Estrin paid the owner $500, the normal take on a Saturday night. “Saturday nights are slow,” said restaurant owner Mary Jo Donofrio.

“This is really clever,” said guest Alice Blume of San Diego, who wore a mink-trimmed jaguar coat to the party. “It’s fun because it’s double-duty. It’s great for Nancy and it helps others.”

When guests weren’t hugging the birthday girl, they were sipping Eden Roc champagne punch from paper cups, being serenaded by a violinist or signing a poster featuring baby Nancy in the buff.

Dinner--guests had their choice of filet of fish, a Big Mac, McGrilled chicken or fajita chicken salad--was served at snack tables covered in yellow plastic overlaid with blue lace.

“This is the best dinner I’ve had all month,” said Dona Savage of Huntington Harbour. Although the restaurant was closed to the public, McDonald’s employees prepared dishes in the usual fashion.

Also among guests was physician Art Madorsky of Claremont, a boyhood friend of Don Estrin’s. “This party is part of the whimsy that is Nancy and Don,” said Madorsky, who attended with his wife, Julie, also a physician.

“Don has always had a sense of whimsy, and Nancy has always had the good grace to go along with it. He put on an entire political rally for one guy’s 75th,” Madorsky said. “And on New Year’s Day, he used to put on first aid parties for friends.

“Nancy and Don dressed up like doctors, had an ambulance in front of their house and got pretend IVs going.”

One of the birthday party’s most grateful guests was Len Liberio, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House, a 20-bedroom facility. “At the house, the kids and their families are in one of those ultimate struggles in life,” he said. “And yet, the children still have their childhood about them; their optimism permeates everything.

“Tonight is about love. The Estrin family is a family with a lot of love in it.”

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Pampering mega-donors: How do you court donors who have already contributed $200,000 or more to your cause?

Ask Henry and Renee Segerstrom.

As hosts of last week’s black-tie Fire Bird Dinner--held under the Fire Bird sculpture in the first-tier lobby of the Performing Arts Center--the couple made sure that more than 70 center donors dined in the grand European style, watched a pas de deux from “Romeo and Juliet” and walked away with crystal replicas of the theater’s Grand Portal.

Not to mention the trumpet fanfares, the violin serenades, the towering floral centerpieces and the culinary piece de resistance--a desert of marscapone chestnut velour accompanied by a chocolate wafer emblazoned with a gold Fire Bird.

The celebration was one of several events planned for the center’s 10th anniversary year.

“Good evening, fellow major donors,” said real estate mogul Henry Segerstrom, whose family donated the land and $6 million to the center. “There are 78 donors represented here this evening who have contributed . . . $71 million.

“Your efforts have enabled us to build the center and provide funds for its operation and endowment. Those are great achievements.”

Guests, who included center Chairman Mark Johnson and past chairmen Thomas Nielsen, William Lyon and Timothy Strader, strolled across a red carpet before ascending the grand staircase to dine on appetizers such as duck liver eclairs and prosciutto with figs catered by the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Before enjoying dinner, underwritten by Tiffany & Co., guests were escorted by costumed “nobles”--dressed in the style of 16th century Verona--into Segerstrom Hall. There, they watched American Ballet Theater’s Susan Jaffe and Vladimir Malakhov perform the balcony scene from Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

The sit-down repast of grilled veal rib-eye with balsamic walnut sauce had guests raving. “Out of this world,” said arts lover Joseph Thomas of Corona del Mar, a private investor.

Staging a dinner in the lobby of a performing arts center was not without its challenges. Fire codes prohibited candelabra, so a design team from Tiffany’s topped each table with etched crystal globes and filled them with votive candles.

The area where food could be prepared was also restricted. Chefs from the Ritz-Carlton whipped up the gourmet fare on the center’s loading dock. “Servers are having to take the meals from the dock, up the elevator, down the hallway, through the Center Room and out to the lobby,” said a center spokeswoman. “That’s eight to 10 minutes of travel time.”

During the champagne reception, Henry Segerstrom said he felt like the center was beginning all over again. “There is such excitement here tonight, such spirit! You can just hear the buzz. It’s wonderful.”

Also among guests: Center President Tom Tomlinson, Jeanette Segerstrom, Byron and Ronnie Allumbaugh, Anton Segerstrom with Nina Taweepong, Joan and Don Beall, Irene Bentley, Grant and Christi Bettingen and Michelle Rohe.

Other guests were Floss and Ed Schumacher, David and Jean Tappan, Katie Wheeler, Cecil and Kathryn Wright, Al and Deeann Baldwin, Tom and Joyce Tucker, Jo Qualls, William Gillespi, Charles and Nora Hester, Mary Moore-Young, Larry and Dee Higby, Harold and Sandy Price and Thomas Kendrick with Judy Morr.

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For lovers only: The cast of “Romeo and Juliet” partied till the wee hours after opening Thursday night at the Performing Arts Center. Gathering at Birraporetti’s in Costa Mesa, members of American Ballet Theater sipped kir royales (champagne shot with Chambord liqueur) and dined on pasta and Caesar salad.

Radiant after her performance as Juliet, principal dancer Julie Kent said she was still recovering from dancing the role.

“I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve after a performance,” Kent said. “And if there’s a day that I’m going to cry during rehearsal, it’s definitely going to be after a performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ You come out of it slowly.”

Principal dancer Jose Manuel Carreno, who danced the part of Romeo, said he too was recovering from the challenge of the part. “It is very important to try to believe what I am doing,” he said.