Intermission Statement : O.C. Arts Groups Say Thank-You to Donors During Performance Breaks

Intermission--that welcome chance for theatergoers to stretch, people-watch or toss down a drink--is taking on new airs.

Arts promoters are turning it into an opportunity to pamper donors.

And not just those who give megabucks.

Whereas access to the Center Room at the Orange County Performing Arts Center is reserved for donors of $100,000-plus, $5,000 a year will get you into the new Opera Club--a screened-off area in the center lobby reserved for donors to Opera Pacific.

Here, along with appetizers and desserts, complimentary wine is served beside columns set with fresh flowers. The club, a refreshing alternative to traditional theater intermissions, was dreamed up by Patrick L. Veitch, general director of Opera Pacific.

“This is something I did at the Metropolitan Opera [in New York]--set aside an area for special supporters,” says Veitch, strolling into the club during a recent “Don Giovanni” intermission. “Then, when I was in Sydney, I did the same thing at the Opera House. We never had a room--so I used screens, the same way we are using them here.”

Since opening in 1986, the center has used its Center Room to honor major donors. There, supporters snack on salted nuts and quench their thirst in a space decorated with plump sofas and 3rd century Syrian mosaics.

The Opera Club marks the first time in center history that an arts group has been allowed to create a special space to honor donors.

“Our original idea was to set up a tent outside the center,” says Kevin Crysler, director of corporate support for Opera Pacific. “We decided that was entirely impractical--so we started thinking about the inside of the building, but just about anywhere, we were going to interrupt traffic flow,” he says.

“Then we came upon this area--an unused exit space required by the fire marshal. Perfect.”

The center agreed to the arrangement to assist financially strapped Opera Pacific, says Greg Patterson, a center spokesman.

“Patrick approached us, and, in an effort to help Opera Pacific in its time of need, we thought it was important to extend that courtesy to them.”

Among club members is Floss Schumacher, a founder of Opera Pacific. “This is wonderful--and a long time coming,” she notes during a recent club visit as she plucks a tumbler of water from a silver tray. “We need this kind of a meeting place. We don’t have our own opera house, but this is a great substitute.”

Says Gayle Widyolar, chairman of the Opera Pacific board: “This is a way we can thank donors for what they have done for this company.”

Opera supporter Sharon Lesk visited the Center Room and the Opera Club during the recent production of “Don Giovanni.” As a trustee of the Leo Freedman Foundation, she has made sizable donations to the center and the opera company. “Here, there’s a certain energy and a dynamic quality,” says Lesk, joining Opera Club members after her visit to the Center Room. “Here, everybody loves opera.”

Other performing arts venues have also designed special ways to honor supporters.

Over at South Coast Repertory, any intermission-goer can sit on the director’s chairs that surround the theater’s circular Gallery Bar. But only the season’s major donors get to have their names printed on those chairs.

SCR doesn’t have a special room for donors. During intermission, donors rub elbows with everyone else in the lobby or outside, near the fountain.

“For us, intermission is more of a theatrical event than a social event,” says Madeline Porter, theater spokeswoman. “Our intermissions are as much about changing a set as they are having coffee and talking theater.”

The Irvine Barclay Theatre has plans to honor its major donors with a founders room. But, due to lack of funding, the room remains unfinished. “At the moment, the room is just plain concrete,” says Karen Drews, marketing director. “We’re waiting for a donor to finish it off.”

During a recent benefit at the Barclay, about 100 corporate donors were invited to have sorbet and pastries in the “room” during intermission. “We wanted them to see it,” says Drews. So far, no takers on the opportunity to sponsor completion of the room.

Meanwhile, major donors mingle with the rest of the crowd at the Barclay, enjoying libations in its slate-blue lobby, or outside, near the Michael L. Lewis fountain.

“We also have a second-floor mezzanine where people can see the lobby below,” says Drews. “It’s great for people-watching. During our intermissions, people do everything from sip fruit juice to light incense--that’s what happened on our plaza after a February concert by Ravi Shankar.”

Having a special place to meet friends is a plus at any performing arts venue, says Crysler, of Opera Pacific. But it’s especially important in a building as large as the 3,000-seat performing arts center. “The Opera Club gives people an opportunity to find each other,” he says. “Here, you couldn’t find somebody with a divining rod if you didn’t know exactly where they were sitting.”