Frontiere Is Vocal About Chorale

“What energy! What money!” So raved William Hall, artistic director of the Master Chorale of Orange County as he skipped onstage Sunday night at a benefit for his vocal group. That pretty much summed up the party.

The fund-raiser, attended by 200 guests, got a shot of energy after dinner when the Californians--a pop-singing offshoot of the chorale--harmonized standards such as “Happy Days” and “I Got Rhythm.” Then came a live auction that broke out in bidding skirmishes resolved with laughter.

Energy. Money. And a surprise: Mid-auction, L.A. Rams owner Georgia Frontiere and Richard Fredericks, a baritone with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, serenaded the black-tie crowd.

Georgia on Their Stage

Frontiere, who joined the chorale’s advisory board last year, agreed to sing for her supper Sunday after Hall conducted and 80 chorale singers backed up her Easter concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

As the party date neared, Frontiere suggested adding Fredericks to the bill. (The two will sing together again tomorrow night at a fund-raiser for L.A.’s homeless at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.)

With a nod to the chorale’s upcoming Gershwin program, Fredericks sang “I Got Plenty of Nothing,” Frontiere gave a heartfelt rendition of “Summertime,” then the two did a duet on another selection from “Porgy and Bess.”

“It’s always such a wonderful treat to have Georgia sing,” said Hall.

Bidding Frenzy

The crowd agreed with Hall. After Frontiere and Fredericks took their bows, auctioneer Jan Bendis climbed back onstage to start the bidding on the next item in the program.

“Hey! How about bidding on them? “ a guest shouted at Bendis.

With a nod from Frontiere--a tacit agreement to sing for the top donation--Bendis orchestrated a bidding war for a private concert by the Rams owner. That spontaneous combination of energy and money netted the highest bid of the night--$5,200 from Richard Engel.

Among the 32 scheduled items in the live auction were various trips and “culinary adventures,” and a few wild-card gifts--including a one-night shot as a clown during the Orange County run of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The benefit raised an estimated $50,000.

Who’s Who

Frontiere, Judie Argyros, Kay Brown and Bobbie Bent were honorary chairwomen. (Bent joined the party by telephone from her home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Throughout the two-hour-plus auction, Bent placed her bids on a lo-o-ong phone call to the ballroom; Richard Harsh, seated near the stage, kept the receiver to his ear.)

Among committee members were Jan Flanagan, Bobbie Cahill, Jody Robinson, Lynn Galt, Lorena Elston and Christine Monroe.

Para el Cinco de Mayo

Sunday was a big day for parties around the county.

Among the Cinco de Mayo-themed celebrations (honoring, at least in spirit, the Mexican victory over Louis Napoleon 129 years ago):

More than 300 friends of the Newport Harbor Art Museum boarded the Catalina Flyer at the Balboa Pavilion and cruised the harbor at sunset. The floating fiesta’s center of attention was Michael Botwinick, the museum’s newly appointed director.

The Providence Speech & Hearing Center hosted its annual benefit at Donna and John Crean’s home in Newport Beach. About 100 casually dressed guests enjoyed prime rib sandwiches and listened to testimonials by parents whose children have been helped by Providence (including one by hamburger mogul Carl Karcher).

Supporters of the Pediatric Center Research Foundation gathered at the Rancho de Santiago Theme Park in Orange for a Western party complete with a cowboy stunt exhibition, hayrides, shooting galleries and smoky barbecue. Nearly 700 guests showed up for the afternoon “friend-raiser.”

And getting a head start on the weekend festivities, the Olive Crest Treatment Center for Abused and Neglected Children hosted a Cinco de Mayo benefit on Saturday night, drawing about 400 guests in colorful Mexican costumes to the courtyard of the Metro Pointe office building in Costa Mesa for buffet dinner and dancing.