R S V P / ORANGE COUNTY : Phully Phantom : Candlelight Dinner and Music of the Night Assist the Huntington Youth Shelter

Organizers of the Music of the Night benefit for the Huntington Youth Shelter on Saturday staged their version of “The Phantom of the Opera.” The dinner and show featured a masked phantom and his protege, glowing candelabra, red roses--everything but the crashing chandelier.

More than 300 guests attended the fifth annual Phantom Phantasy, presented at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach by the shelter’s guild and board of directors. The $110-per-person gala was expected to net more than $80,000 for the Huntington Beach-based shelter for homeless youth.

Phantom Phans

“In the past, we’ve had a fashion show. We wanted to change all that,” said

event co-chairwoman Pat Guidotti, accompanied by her husband, Al.

To set the mood, party planners decorated a table at the ballroom’s entrance with glowing gold candelabra and red roses. Inside, tables were adorned with a trio of candles set high on acrylic pedestals, with a single red rose tied with gold Mylar ribbon.

“We wanted to capture the glamour of the ‘Phantom,’ ” said Sue McGraw, who designed the decor.

Guests dined on salad with goat cheese croutons, paupiette of chicken (filled with spinach and shiitake mushrooms) and a white and dark chocolate mousse covered in a chocolate phantom mask.

Randy and Marilyn Tichauer performed as the Phantom and Christine, singing “All I Ask of You” and other “Phantom” favorites.

“They’ve played at three of my daughters’ weddings,” said Joan Lund, event co-chairwoman and “Phantom” buff who attended with husband Bob.

Children of the Night

Huntington Youth Shelter provides temporary housing for homeless youths 11 to 17 who are estranged from their families.

“Kids come into our community thinking they can live on the beach,” said Donna Klein, executive board president, and the shelter’s volunteer of the year. “They wind up doing things like prostitution and drug dealing.”

Typically, the youths are referred to the shelter by police officers, schools or concerned individuals. The shelter provides counseling to the youths and their families.

“We try to deal with the problem at hand so they can be a family again,” Klein said.

If the counselors determine there is abuse in the family or that the home is unsafe, they’ll try to arrange other housing, such as foster care.

“We try to make the kids understand they don’t want to live on the streets,” Klein said.

Among the guests were: Bruce and Kathy Highstrete, event co-chairwoman; Carol Kanode, shelter co-founder; Jack and Sally Lawrence; Jim and Cindy Franklin; Edward and Janis Carpenter; Bill and Eve Thompson; Jonathan and Jo Woolf-Willis; Norm and Barbara Weaver; Marilyn Bohle; and Don McGraw.