CHOC Up These Follies to Charity

Radiant and giddy, standing before friends and neighbors, 75 community leaders took their bows Friday following their appearance in A Night at the Follies, a benefit for the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Orange County.

Performing at Chapman University Theater in Orange, the cast--which included philanthropist Judie Argyros of Newport Beach and David Dukes, CEO of Ingram Micro in Santa Ana--turned out a show that had guests applauding for more.

Argyros and Dukes emceed the song-and-dance revue that praised Orange County--”My Ohhhh Ceeeeee! There’s something about it . . !”--and panned it--”Heard of the new ride, the Bob Citron Orange County Bankruptcy Experience? When you get off, they give you 78 cents on the dollar and you don’t remember a thing.”

From the rousing opener--”Let Us Entertain You”--to the finale--”That’s Entertainment”--community leaders such as former Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder proved they could break a leg.

They danced on platforms, paraded on stairways, sang Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein and did the hand-jive from the “Will Roger’s Follies” to perfection. They managed split-second costume changes, executed complex dance routines and spouted one-liners like pros.

“They worked hard--rehearsed the way professionals are required to do,” said director John Vaughan of Los Angeles. “Then they put themselves on the line. I respect them for that.”

Highlights also included a hula performance by Orange Coast magazine publisher Ruth Ko as a dozen dazzled men--dressed in shimmering grass skirts and coconut shell bras--swayed around her.

At intermission, Academy Award winner Claire Trevor Bren of Newport Beach--honorary chairwoman of the production--was presented with a bouquet of scarlet roses.

“I don’t deserve these,” said Bren, who won her Oscar (Best Supporting Actress) in 1948 for “Key Largo.” “This is a great show with a great cast, and I deserve no credit for it at all.”

From her front-row seat, she added: “Gloria [Zigner] asked me if I wanted to do a walk-on tonight. I said, ‘No thanks.’ But if I’d known I could have worn one of those sequin dresses, I might have said yes. One thing I have left are good legs.”

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It was Zigner--executive director of the Children’s Hospital Foundation--who came up with the idea for the show, which grossed nearly $200,000.

“We needed a way to reach out to more people, tell them that CHOC [Children’s Hospital of Orange County] needs help,” Zigner told the 700-strong crowd. “I thought of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and decided, we’ll have a show!”

Last fall, the House of Imports in Buena Park donated $100,000 to underwrite the production. After that, it was just a matter of getting the word out. People couldn’t wait to participate, Zigner said.

“Being in this show has blown me away,” said Dukes, whose stage poise and comic timing made him a natural for master of ceremonies. “I went into it thinking it would all be slapstick--a spoof. But there’s talent in Orange County that is unbelievable.

“The toughest part for me is keeping up with Judie Argyros. She’s terrific.”

Changing costumes at every opportunity, Argyros--who wore everything from figure-hugging glitter-gowns to biker leathers--poked fun at Dukes’ dull duds.

She smiled, finally, when he came onstage in white tie and tails. “I’m a little concerned that I look like a Q-Tip,” he quipped.

Theatergoers were impressed by Argyros’ professionalism. “She’s great,” said James L. Doti, president of Chapman University. “How does she remember all of those lines?”

Argyros chalked it up to a rigorous rehearsal schedule: “It has been practice, practice, practice,” she said. “I can see why actors and actresses are tired all of the time. The hours have been exhausting. But it has been a pleasure from beginning to end.”

She learned stage presence as a girl, performing at luncheons attended by her mother, Argyros explained. “Mother used to give readings at Kiwanis luncheons, that sort of thing.

“When I got to be 5 or 6, she started to take me. I would recite in front of 50 or 60 people. That’s where I learned not to be afraid, that it was fun to entertain.”

Cast member Olivia Johnson--who was a band singer during her college days--called her participation in the Follies “a thrill.”

“The spirit is the thing,” said Johnson, who will chair South Coast Repertory’s “Stage Struck” gala in September. “It’s that wonderful, the-show-must-go-on, keep-smiling, keep-moving, give-it-lots-of-energy thing that makes it special. It’s a major commitment. But I’d do it again in a flash.”

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The Doc is in: Jazz trumpeter Doc Severinsen popped into a $500-per-person backstage dinner at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Saturday night, wearing--you guessed it--a wild ‘n’ crazy jacket.

“I call this one Jurassic Park,” said Severinsen, who gained a reputation for outlandish fashion statements when he was music director of “The Tonight Show.” “I have names for all of my jackets.”

About 100 guests dined on maple-smoked filet mignon before watching Doc Severinsen and His Big Band perform in Cheng Hall. Proceeds from the dinner will help defray theater programming costs. Event co-chairs were Sally Anne Sheridan and Richard Rodner.

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Social scoops: Singer Harry Belafonte will speak April 15 at a breakfast sponsored by Circle 1000, a support group of the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach. The event--at which Belafonte will discuss how he has dealt with prostate cancer--will be at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach. Information: (714) 574-7217 . . . Angelitos de Oro, a support group of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Orange County, will benefit from the opening of Bloomingdale’s new Home Store in Newport Beach on March 11 . . . Shimon Peres, former prime minister of Israel, was supposed to join about 150 people for dinner at the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach on Sunday before giving a lecture at Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach. Peres decided to postpone his engagement to May 8, after learning about the recent helicopter crash in Israel that claimed the lives of more than 70 soldiers.