And the stars came out

Stefanie Frith

As Joanne Pavia -- dressed as Shirley Temple -- bounced around the

Four Seasons Hotel in a pink ruffled dress, her 56 curls bobbing, Sue

Cannon laughed out loud at the sight.

“Just look at her. She’s on a roll,” said Cannon, president of the

Divas, a support guild for the Balboa Theater, located in downtown

Balboa.

Pavia’s elaborate costume was definitely a highlight of the Divas

Academy Awards Premiere on Saturday night at the Newport Beach hotel. The

event raised almost $50,000 toward a $6.5-million renovation of the

Balboa Theater.

So far, the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation, along with the

Divas, have helped to raise more than $2 million, enough for the

groundbreaking in May. The theater, once a vaudeville palace, opened in

1927 and closed in 1992. That closing led some community members -- the

Divas among them -- to band together to reopen it.

More than 200 people -- dressed in everything from simple evening

gowns to specific couple arrangements such as Austin Powers and Felicity

Shagwell, and Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara -- came out for the

fund-raiser. Even Diane Keaton, Don Johnson, Peter Pan and Captain Hook

look-alikes partied the night away.

Spotlights and paparazzi greets guests as they walked down the red

carpet to the party at the hotel. As they strolled into the main room,

the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra serenaded them with movie themes

while clips from the Academy Awards were shown on a big screen. Cards to

nominate one’s favorite celebrity look-alike were passed out. Votes costs

a dollar.

Hoping to gain some favor, Pavia passed out pink lollipops to sucker

people into voting for her.

“I have been planning this for a long time,” said Pavia, a Diva

member. “I even spoke with the real Shirley Temple on the phone who told

me that the original wig I had didn’t have enough curls on it. I had 50

curls and she really had 56. This whole thing is so much fun.”

Later in the evening, Pavia’s investment paid off as she won “The Diva

Award” for best supporting actress.

However, Pavia said she thought that Debbie Newmeyer -- dressed to

mirror Judi Dench in her stint as Queen Elizabeth in “Shakespeare in

Love” -- should have won for best actress, and therefore, is going to

share her Diva award with Newmeyer.

“I thought she looked so great. So we are going to share joint custody

for a while,” Pavia said. “‘ I will admire mine on my mantle for a while

and then I will give it to Debbie. Sue Cannon looked great too, with her

blond hair and big fake (breasts). So funny.”

For Stanley Kafka, another member of the Divas, the party was just a

chance to take some time off from, well, more trying events.

“I am just taking a break from planning the fate of Russia,” said

Kafka, dressed as Napoleon. “So far, people are just cracking up at my

costume.”

Another costume that had guests pointing and giggling were Michael and

Sue Cannon’s version of Austin Powers and Felicity Shagwell. They won for

best supporting couple.

“I still don’t know if I can get away with wearing this outfit,” said

Sue Cannon, smoothing her hot pink short dress and fur coat. “I have

black hair normally and when we were going through the list of costumes,

I knew I just wanted to be blond.”

On Sunday, Sue Cannon said that she had already placed her Diva award

on her mantle.

“My kids are so proud. And they made so much fun of us originally for

our costumes. They thought we looked like geeks,” she said.

Meanwhile, Debbie Schweickert won best actress for her portrayal of

Elizabeth Taylor.

“Darlings, I brought my agent here with me tonight to make sure I

win,” said Schweickert, co-chair of the event. She alone raised more than

$5,000 in votes.

Pricilla Booy, a Diva member who came as Scarlett O’Hara, almost

didn’t make it to the party.

“Honey, Rhett and I just flew in on the red eye from Atlanta and we

are looking forward to some Southern California hospitality,” she said

with a strong southern drawl while trying hard not to laugh. “I do

declare, it’s simply been delightful.”