It’s Louisiana in L.A. at Mardi Gras Ball

Laissez les bons temps rouler. And the good times did roll at the 92nd Bachelors Ball, Bal Mardi Gras XCII, as more than 700 arrived at the fanciful “Big Easy” at the Beverly Hilton.

Everyone was there--via costume. The English patient (carrying Herodotus in his desert pack), Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn, Juan and Eva Peron, Renaissance scholars, carnival dancers, Musketeers, Lancelot and Guinevere, Vikings, cowboys, river gamblers and their flirty ladies. Moll Flanders was with Waylon Jennings.

“Ni hao” (“hello” and “how are you?”) said Eric Meyer, a Mandarin sultan with Queen Nefertiti, Helena Brioschi.

Emblazoned in Krewe of Rex’s traditional colors of purple, green and gold, the International Ballroom was costumed as a misty street scene reminiscent of New Orleans’ St. Charles Avenue, legendary parade site of that city’s mystic krewes.

Ball chairman Tom Blumenthal, a Mardi Gras king, escorting Hilary Crahan, and Bachelor’s President Steve Leland, a medieval knight with damsel Marie Joyce, didn’t miss a beat. Guests entered to Preservation Hall-style jazz. Under firefly-lit trees dripping with Spanish moss, party-goers dined and danced under giant gilded masks and a gold sunburst. Art Deco and His Society Orchestra played for eight hours.

Ball patronesses Patty Burschinger, Phyllis Hennigan, Kacey McCoy, Joni Smith and Barbara Fountain presided in the receiving line as 75 Bachelors repaid their collective social obligations. Initially, a white-tie dinner dance in 1905, the event turned “fancy dress” masquerade in 1925.

William Bessolo was Robin Hood, escorting Alyssa Walker, Maid Marian. James Porter Scott Shotwell and Leanna Sterios were an English lord and lady (he’s really the legal counsel for Southern California Edison). Derrick Coleman and Lisa Schinnerer were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

The Cajun dinner (sausage gumbo) with red beans and rice added spice before the entertainment--acrobats, unicyclists and gospel choir.

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Wedding Bliss: More than 350 well-wishers said “I do” as they relived their weddings at the Circle of Friends’ “Four Weddings & . . . a Fund-raiser.” The Circle always comes up with the most novel benefits for Pasadena’s Kidspace Museum.

This one, at Pasadena’s Pinot at the Chronicle, sent dozens to their closets locating wedding dresses. Wearing their own originals were event co-chairwomen Paulette Geragos, Scotti Strockis, Hilary Marble, Susan Ascher (after four children) and Jane Ettinger.

The other co-chairwoman, Emily Hancock, donned a vintage bridesmaid’s dress. So did Sally Dulin and Kathy Flaherty.

Bouquets were thrown, champagne was sipped and co-presidents Ascher and Dulin offered the toast: “To our friends and supporters, to the wonder of childhood and to the power of imagination.”

Cathie Partridge came in her antique silk wedding gown, Janice Bea as a mother of the bride with pillbox hat, Tricia McClaren with tin cans attached to the hem of her gown. Phil Swan, Rob Lyddon and Mark Talt wore traditional Scottish wedding kilts.

Funds will support the educational and scholarship programs at the museum, whose chairman is James Ellis.

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Provence: John Martens, vice president and general manager of Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, closed off the entire second floor for the Ungaro fashion luncheon feting the Music Center Blue Ribbon. On one side of the escalators, 270 Ribboners applauded Ungaro silks and tweeds. On the other side, surprise, the remainder of the floor looked like a French picnic with damask covered tables for 36. “What a great idea,” said Neiman Marcus Chairman and CEO Burton M. Tansky, who flew in from Dallas. “We should leave this setting up and just have parties here.”

All the chairwomen--Phyllis Hennigan, Geri Brawerman, Robin Parsky and Joan Burns--wore Ungaro, which seemed to please the couturier. Ungaro’s wife, Laura, was introduced to everyone, including Betsy Ulf, Faith Porter, Shelley Kadison and Barbara Platt, the latter of whom a $2,000 outfit.

The frozen mousse in frozen oranges topped with baked meringue was a big hit.

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Spring Blooming: Bloomingdale’s entry into Southern California blooms again March 12 when its newest fashion choice, at the Beverly Center, launches with an in-store gala benefiting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Bloomingdale’s Chairman and CEO Michael Gould is top planner. Demi Moore is honorary chairwoman, and the benefit committee includes Michael Ovitz, Peter Chernin, Paul Glaser, Jonathan M. Tisch and Donna Karan.

Elsewhere on the Social Circuit

Past Perfect: USC celebrated the opening of its Institute for Genetic Medicine research center and laboratories with a black-tie dinner dance at the Pasadena Ritz-Carlton, hosted by support group genesis. The $12-million facility bridges basic science and patient care research. Stanford professor Donald Kennedy was keynoter.

* Veronica Bulgari was in Beverly Hills for a champagne party at Bulgari.

* Friends of John Tracy Clinic, including Edie Frere, promoted the clinic at an open house.