The Crowd: ‘Encore’ — SCR opens social season in style
South Coast Repertory did it again. It launched the 2015-16 social season on the Orange Coast in style, with the opening gala, titled “Encore,” held Sept. 12 at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel in Costa Mesa.
Chaired by the charming Socorro Vasquez, the colorful black tie event attracted a sold-out assemblage of dedicated SCR donors who raised upward of $400,000 to benefit the theatrical company’s educational outreach efforts. It is important to note that SCR’s outreach serves some 23,000 Orange County students annually, exposing them to theater, something that might otherwise be absent in their lives.
Socorro joined her husband, Ernesto Vasquez, in welcoming the elegant crush, including VIPs Bette and Wylie Aitken, Yvonne and Damien Jordan, Barbara and David Cline, Olivia and Andrew Johnson, and Elaine Weinberg. Board president Sophie Cripe and her husband, Lawrence Cripe, were on hand, joining SCR Artistic Director Marc Masterson and SCR Managing Director Paula Tomei on the elegant royal purple carpet fronting the Westin.
SCR co-founders Martin and Wendy Benson and David Emmes shared the spotlight, receiving well-wishes from fans of their decades-long dedication to theater in Orange County.
O.C. heavyweights on the SCR underwriters roster include Carolyn and Bob Klein, Olivia and Alan Slutzky, Tracy and Roger Kirwan, Patricia Ellis, Joan and Andy Fimiano, Steven Weber, Laurie and Steve Duncan, and Julianne and George Argyros, to name only a few.
The doors of the plaza ballroom opened to reveal a dining room transformed in sparkling silver with accents of deep purple, blues and pinks. Costumes from SCR productions along with theatrical props and design elements added to the atmosphere, as the bossa nova rhythms of Nova Music LA had the crowd moving.
Westin’s executive chef, Paul Gregory, and his culinary team prepared and served a three-course dining experience. It followed a lavish cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception that featured caviar-topped purple potato crisps and superb petite lamb chops.
Dinner service began with a butter lettuce wedge drizzled with stilton cheese, dried cherries and port vinaigrette. The crowd table-hopped in the ballroom, catching up on long-held friendships.
Nancy and Victor Dahan, Sue and Don Hecht, Yvette and Larry Mandel, Sarah and Thom McElroy, Carl Neisser, Trish and John O’Donnell, Barbara Roberts, Gail and Ron Soderling, Barbara and Jack Tingley, and Brigette and Mark Vinci enjoyed a main course of filet and rosemary grilled shrimp. For dessert, a chocolate lover’s overload included a flourless chocolate cake, white chocolate truffle and a white chocolate ice cream dome made of pomegranate sorbet. The wine selection flowed with every course, courtesy of Jim and Julie Ann Ulcickas of Newport’s Blue Water Grill.
Following dinner, the gala moved to the roof of the Westin, which organizers had turned into “Club Encore” for a little midnight dancing under the stars. A group called Bling Divas, attired in black fringed burlesque costumes, raised the temperature with a hip-hop version of the song “Bang-Bang.”
Sponsors of the event included Linda and Tod White, David Yurman, Diptyque, Tito’s Vodka, Le Grand Courtage, Room & Board, ‘lette’, Mangamo and South Coast Plaza. To learn more about SCR and the upcoming season, visit scr.org.
