Food for Body, Music for Soul

Armed with blankets, bubbly and an assortment of gourmet items, fans of the Pacific Symphony enjoyed a special summer treat Saturday: the pre-concert picnic.

For the price of a concert seat, thousands of music patrons dined on the grounds of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine before hearing the orchestra perform a program of Gershwin music.

Symphony buffs who anted up $3,600 for the Summer Concerts series--per table of four--sat next to the orchestra pit and enjoyed poached salmon and lemon tarts catered by the Hyatt Regency.

“I think being in the open air, having a lovely dinner and listening to the symphony is one of the most pleasant experiences we can have in Southern California,” said Ted Smith, who shared pit seating with his wife, Janice, and friends Bill Thomas and Jim Carter.

Symphony board chairman Doug Freeman and his wife, Lynn, hosted their version of a pre-concert picnic in a tented area near the stage.

“This is our welcome-to-friends-and-donors picnic,” Doug Freeman said. Guests--who included Mark and Barbara Johnson and Tom and Joyce Tucker--sipped cocktails from an open bar and dined on ahi, top sirloin and fruit tarts.

The buzz: the recent $40-million donation by retail developer Henry Segerstrom to build the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s new concert hall--the orchestra’s permanent home.

“The donation has totally galvanized, electrified, the symphony,” Doug Freeman said. “We now have a real-life project; we really have a hall.”

John Forsyte, executive director of the orchestra, said the group is entering one of the most interesting periods in its history.

“Assuming the new hall opens in four or five years, that will be just prior to our 25th anniversary--our 2003-2004 season,” Forsyte said. “Imagine celebrating an anniversary and opening a new hall--we will have the opportunity to massively expand our audience base and bring the attention of the community to the orchestra.”

The new facility, to be named the Henry and Renee Segerstrom Concert Hall, will have additional naming opportunities for its interior space, said Mark Johnson, chairman of the center’s capital campaign for expansion.

“You’ll have an orchestra section named for a donor and boxes as well,” he said. “The boxes, which seat eight, are going for $1 million each.”

Belle of the Ball

Actress Julie Harris--who is to star in a revival of her signature role as poet Emily Dickinson in “The Belle of Amherst” beginning Tuesday at the Laguna Playhouse--was feted at a private dinner in Laguna Beach last week.

Welcoming Harris into their beachfront home were playhouse trustees Suzanne and Jim Mellor. He’s the retired chief executive officer of General Dynamics who serves on the board of the Smithsonian Institution and Ford’s Theatre in Washington.

About 20 guests, including Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom, dined on filet mignon and baked halibut whipped up by chef Michael Kang. Henry Segerstrom, managing partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons--owners of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa--was honored at the dinner for helping provide the playhouse grant to sponsor “The Belle of Amherst.”

The production, which will continue at the theater through Oct. 8, marks the launch of a national, 25th anniversary tour of the play by William Luce that made its debut on Broadway.

Harris attributes the play’s continuing popularity to the genius of Dickinson, a reclusive, 19th century poet who had keen insights into life, love, nature and death.

“Miss Dickinson never goes out of style,” said Harris, who has won five Tony Awards for her work on Broadway. “People are always glad to be introduced to her. I’m thrilled to be the one standing up there onstage to say her words.”

How has the role influenced her life?

“Dickinson is a messenger for love, compassion and understanding,” Harris said. “I think, when you hear that voice, it’s like hearing a Mother Teresa or a St. Terese of Lisieux or an Albert Schweitzer and all the rest of the humanitarians of the world. Of course, that has had an influence on me.”

Playhouse executive director Richard Stein called Harris’ work some of the finest on the American stage. “She is completely focused as an actor, mesmerizing,” said Stein, who attended the dinner with his wife, Alison.

Guests also included playhouse board president Kim Herbert, trustees Barbara and Otis Healy and Hillary and Bill Price, and playhouse artistic director Andrew Barnicle and his wife, Sara. For information on “The Belle of Amherst”: (949) 497-2787.

Craft Art

Textiles, jewelry, metal, ceramics, wood, glass--all will be up for sale Sept. 15-17 at the the Orange County Museum of Art’s annual Pacific Craft Show.

The crafts of artisans throughout the West will be featured at the show, underwritten by Wells Fargo and co-chaired by Janice Johnson and Nancy Snyder.

“It’s the most upscale craft show on the West Coast,” said Johnson, of Laguna Beach. “We plan to eventually expand it, make it like the Smithsonian show in Washington, which is world renown.”

Wells Fargo will host a gala preview reception Sept. 14.

For show information: (949) 759-1122.

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Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at ann.conway@latimes.com.