Everybody’s Eager to Get in Their ‘Rent’

“Rent” or buy?

Charities are having no problem deciding. They’ll do both. They’re buying into “Rent” by hosting gala previews of the musical--winner of a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize. It arrives in September at the Ahmanson Theater.

We’ve already told you about the Center Theatre Group’s Entertainment Council, which will stage a Bohemian-themed gala Sept. 19, following the show.

The CHIPS (Colleague Helpers in Philanthropic Services, supporters of the Friends of Children’s Institute) and the Lymphoma Research Foundation of America also plan benefits. Pamela Halle Konkal and Janet Lohman will chair the CHIPS affair Sept. 26, cocktails and a light supper at the Music Center before the performance. They’ve already rounded up benefactors, patrons and sponsors.

Then on Sept. 27, the lymphoma group’s supporters will use their “Rent” benefit evening to kick off support for the second annual National Lymphoma Awareness Week. The foundation has taken a large block of seats for a glittery gala chaired by Tracy Nelson. First, though, they mingle at the Kachina Grill on Hope Street for a pre-theater buffet. The committee is gathering up support with $10,000 benefactors, $5,000 patrons and $2,500 sponsors. Tickets range from $250 to $75.

Those are all preview performances. The official opening night is Sept. 28.

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Windsorian: At Sotheby’s in Beverly Hills, Angelenos got to see fewer than 300 of the 44,000 items belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor that will be auctioned in New York on Sept. 11-19.

It didn’t seem to matter. All they wanted to do at the preview opening was chat about romance and lifestyle. Former Ambassador to the Vatican William Wilson and Erlenne Sprague, both widowed in recent months, peered through the glass, discussing royalty with Jean French Smith, who was escorted by good friend Ross Barrett.

It was impossible for Diana Brooks, head of Sotheby’s USA, and Andrea Van de Kamp, Sotheby’s West Coast chief, to greet everyone. “We expected 1,000, but we have 1,250,” Brooks said.

Jimmy and Anne Murphy of Jimmy’s looked at a well-worn Chinese rug and commented, “They must have partied a lot.” Gail Feingarten and Helen Pashgian scanned romantic love notes. Laura Maslon recalled that the duchess always said, “If you accept a dinner, you have a moral obligation to be amusing.”

Dallas Price, who owns hundreds of golf courses, perused the duke’s old golf clubs. Stuart and Carrie Ketchum, and Ed and Clarice Ellis were captivated with the silver golf trophies; John and Jeanie Cushman, Clark and Jonie Smith, and Dody Booth and her daughter, Ashley McDermott, with the photographs; Marilyn and Harry Lewis by the silver candlesticks.

Shannon and Byron Tarnutzer scrutinized paintings they will bid on. “I look at the pug pictures, and I go soft inside,” said actress Jo Wilder. Feingarten and Pashgian perused Wallis Simpson’s tiny velvet gloves, and Carla Lenhoff and Joni Sawyer were amazed at the smallness of the duke’s morning suit. Overheard: “He must have been a size 2.”

Others in the crowd were Peter and Kacey McCoy, Mary and Boyd Marshall, Arletta Tronstein, and Marion and John Anderson. Over caviar, pate and wine, the chitchat was sometimes biting. One guest said of the duchess, “For such a fashion plate, she was not very pretty.”

Tony Duquette arrived late and noted that the necklace he designed that the duchess, purchased for $800 in Paris in 1952, had recently sold at auction for $145,000.

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Kudos: So you thought the Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle Campaign, which raised $1.4 million in the Southland last December, was the extent of it. Wrong. The army’s Southern California Division’s yearlong intake in 1996 was almost $70.6 million. Of that, $20,829,134 came from the kettle drive and other public support; $9,035,822 from government grants; $4,033,745 in program service fees; $1,347,818 from United Way; $29,977,024 in adult rehabilitation centers and another miscellaneous $5,375,379.

Not bad for a humble organization. The funds help support nine Los Angeles day-care centers, help homeless families with HIV / AIDS, provide camping programs for at-risk children and youth, staff residential units for low- to moderate-income seniors, provide numerous substance abuse rehabilitation programs, deliver hot meals to the elderly, help families of those in prison with emergency assistance and counseling, and help support a program that reunites family members with a missing person.

Lt. Col. Alfred R. Van Cleef is divisional commander. His wife, Lt. Col. Sheryl M. Van Cleef, is director of the women’s organization.

As the army likes to say, “Change goes in the kettle. Change comes out.”

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Voila: Hermes of Paris opened its first store in Orange County, at South Coast Plaza, this month. Now, Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermes, the dapper patriarch and worldwide chairman and CEO of the 160-year-old Paris-based fashion house, is planning to play host Sept. 16 to 1,000 guests, including members of the Hermes family, at the new 17,000-square-foot West Coast flagship store on Rodeo Drive.

Hermes celebrates its roots as a world-renowned saddler. Thus, the invitational evening will pay homage to “Horses in Hollywood” with a film montage capturing historical and whimsical moments with equine stars. Hermes also will salute the Film Foundation, founded by director Martin Scorsese.

Elsewhere on the Social Circuit

The Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena has designed the ultimate executive retreat, Clara Vista Cottage. General Manager Mark Hodgdon and George J. Lysak, director of sales and marketing for the hotel, are aglow with the newly restored, 5,500-square-foot mansion designed for business and pleasure. It boasts a 16-seat executive boardroom with catered meals by chef Denis Depoitre as well as A / V technology that pops out from the table. Four bedrooms, plush sofas, a fireplace, wet bars, meeting areas and terraces on two floors, a multitude of televisions and phone lines, and twice daily room service aren’t bad for $5,000 a day.