The Crowd

B.W. Cook

The Newport Beach Arts Foundation, led by the dynamic Joy Curtain, is

planning a very special summer cocktail reception on the coast Aug. 18.

Calling their inaugural fund-raiser “An Evening in Serenissima,”

Curtain and her able crew are creating a fabulous cocktail reception with

an art show set in a new 10,000-square-foot Italian villa atop Pelican

Crest on the Newport Coast.

On display will be the art of painters and sculptors such as Tony

Bennett, Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Richard MacDonald, Martin Mull,

Leroy Neiman, Jonathan Winters and more. The event, which will last

through the weekend, begins with a sunset cocktail party on Friday

followed by two days of villa touring and art perusing.

Tickets to the party are $100 and tickets for the weekend romp are

just $15.

Proceeds will benefit the Newport Arts Foundation and its art program

for children in the community. Call Curtain at (949) 574-3593 for

reservations and more information.

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That same weekend is also the time for the upcoming and

much-anticipated summer jazz festival featuring musical legend Chuck

Mangione. The Hyatt Newporter Amphitheater will be the site for the Hoag

Hospital Sandpipers summer concert. Mangione, best known for his hit

single and album titled “Feels So Good,” will headline the summer jazz

concert that will feature an array of artists.

The Sandpipers, Hoag’s longest-running support organization, is led

this year by Newport’s Marsha Orlin. The Aug. 20 jazz event was launched

at a recent summer dinner chaired by Barbara Shapiro, and attended by

devoted Sandpipers, including Patti Estabrooks, Jessica Duma, Sotera

Townsend Brakesman and Roseanne Levan.

Also attending the kickoff dinner will be Robert and Valerie Zwerling,

Ariu Levi, Emily Bergman, and Hoag president Mike Stephens. VIP tickets

to the jazz festival are $100, while general admission is $40. Call Hoag

Hospital’s Foundation office at (949) 574-7208 or the Hyatt Newporter at

(949) 729-1234 for more information.

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Now if you’re really looking for a wild evening of summer fun, don’t

miss the local reprise of the touring off-Broadway show, “Joey and

Maria’s 25th Wedding Anniversary” set for Aug. 11. The Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation of Southern California is planning the event at the Quality

Hotel, Anaheim.

“If you loved the wedding, then you better not miss the 25th,” say the

organizers of the soiree. It is actually a show that reveals for the

audience just what it means to be married for 25 years.

“This show pokes fun at the trials of marriage, the trials of raising

a family and the court trials of Uncle Vinnie,” adds co-event chairs Greg

and Karen Castro and Joe and Vikki Etter.

The local foursome are very busy planning the final details of the

celebration, which they add will “revel in the celebration of marriage,

mayhem and mafioso madness.”

David Mount is president of Southern California Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation, with Helen Johnson, Gary Green and Ginney Gonzalez working on

this special event.

Tickets are $75 per person and can be reserved by calling (714)

938-1393.

Golfers mark your calendars as Sept. 11 is the day for the 11th annual

Bob Hope and Dr. Howard House Golf Tournament. This is one of the major

social/charitable events on the Newport golf schedule, benefiting the

House Ear Institute Foundation, founded by the legendary Dr. Howard

House, who by the way stopped by my office today to remind me about the

tournament.

The 90-something House is healthy, wealthy and wise. Quite a

combination.

“Age has gotten in the way of my social life a bit,” he said. In fact,

you’d never know that age has gotten in the way of anything for House.

The former varsity tennis player at USC reports that his long and healthy

life is attributable to common sense and good genes.

“I’m a very lucky man,” adds the good doctor who has pioneered so many

remarkable techniques to advance the medical field.

As for exercise, House, who still plays nine holes of golf frequently,

says: “I have a stationery bike at both of my homes in Newport and Los

Angeles. It is very much a stationery bike. I look at it and it sits

there.”

The Hope/House tournament is a ladies’ and men’s scramble at Pelican

Hill Golf Club, Newport Coast. Gloria Osbrink will once again pull out

all the stops to provide a first-class event with a marvelous

talent-driven dinner to follow the tournament. For more information, call

(949) 643-9260.

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* B.W. COOK’S column appears Thursdays and Saturdays.