Benefit for Children Proves Good Theater

In the style of old Hollywood, the Edwards 3-D Imax theater opened Wednesday night with a champagne reception and private screening at the Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Center.

With tickets selling at $100 and $200 each, nearly 500 guests sipped bubbly and plucked appetizers from passed trays before watching “Wings of Courage” on a 6-story screen. The benefit--including a post-screening dinner at Spectrum restaurants--raised $50,000, which was divided equally between the Orange County chapter of Childhelp U.S.A. and the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

For the Children

“This is the special evening we have been waiting months for,” said Patti Edwards, event chairwoman and president of Childhelp’s Orange County chapter. “It’s wonderful that we could have the benefit for abused and neglected children. I thank my father-in-law, Jim Edwards, for standing behind this cause and being willing to open this wonderful theater for the children.

“As president of the Orange County chapter of Childhelp, I thought it was only fitting that we share the opening with the Orangewood Children’s Foundation,” she said. “The two go hand in hand in the fight against child abuse. Orangewood takes care of the children on an emergency basis. Then, many of the children go from there to one of Childhelp’s village or group homes.”

During the reception, Edwards, who attended with her husband, James Edwards III, said she plans to organize a special Imax 3-D screening for the children of Orangewood and Childhelp.

Starry-Eyed

Guests--some in business suits, some in cocktail get-ups--spoke passionately of the Imax experience. “I love Imax because it is so exciting and educational,” Noddie Weltner said. “And, of course, with 3-D, you’re really going to feel like you’re part of it.”

Said Karen Hardin, who wore a dressy black ensemble: “We are so lucky to have this theater in the Orange County community. Going to Imax is like taking an E-ticket ride at Disneyland.”

As guests--many with cartons of popcorn in their hands--filed into the 15,000-square-foot theater, they were handed headsets, valued at $500 apiece. “We have sensors on the exit doors so nobody will take these,” noted a theater employee, as she handed out the PSEs (Personal Sound Environments).

Once they adjusted their headsets--”My hair! Oh well,” said Hardin--guests settled back on the new seats and watched a tale of heroism. “Wings of Courage” tells the story of three French aviation pioneers--Henri Guillaumet, Jean Mermoz and Antoine de St. Exupery--who make the first historic airmail flights across the treacherous, snow-covered Andes.

After the screening, Andy Crean described the film as “super.”

“I especially enjoyed the beginning, the initial shock of the 3-D opening,” he said.

His father, John Crean, wasn’t as enthusiastic. “I think the 3-D worked just about the same as it did with the cardboard glasses,” said the Fortune 500 businessman. “Maybe this was a little more dramatic.”

Donna Crean--John’s wife--laughed: “You know the movie ‘Grumpy Old Men’? John is becoming one of those.”