Struthers delights at Montage Resort

She has big hair, an even bigger laugh and an infectious personality

that captivated the hearts of several hundred Orange Coast residents

who came together on a Saturday night to honor actress Sally

Struthers.

It was the 2005 Laguna Playhouse Gala, set at the chic Montage

Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach. The black-tie dinner ceremony also

honored Newport Beach attorney and restaurateur Ron Schwartz and his

wife, Sindi. The Schwartz family, proprietors of the very popular

Muldoon’s Dublin Pub in Fashion Island, have been staunch supporters

of Laguna Playhouse for many years. Also honored was longtime Laguna

staff member Jim Ryan, who delivered a heartfelt and tearful thank

you to an enthusiastic audience who applauded him with a standing

ovation, as they did for Sindi and Ron Schwartz and the indomitable

Sally Struthers.

The glamorous party was chaired with panache by Ilona Martin, a

playhouse trustee, Newport Beach resident and owner of the Design

Curve. The Martin family also donated the wine served at the gala

produced at their Central California vineyard. The evening began with

a cocktail reception and tropical martini bar hosted by Ketel One

Vodka. The crowd was ushered into the Montage ballroom as the music

of the Wayne Foster Orchestra livened the evening with its troupe of

singers and dancers moving with ease from Motown to rock to standards

and classics.

Prior to dinner service a number of toasts were made to Laguna

Playhouse, celebrating its 85th season in Southern California. The

mission of the Playhouse is, simply, to enrich lives through theater.

Funds raised at the gala and all throughout the year from generous

contributions “support world-class stage productions enjoyed by the

entire community, fund a youth conservatory which instructs young

people in the development of both life skills and theatrical

ambitions,” said Amy Larson of the playhouse. In addition, a program

known as Theater Reach is offered to some 25,000 area school children

on an annual basis, bringing live theatrical productions into the

classroom.

Embracing the crowd and expressing gracious thanks were gala chair

Martin, board of trustees president Sophie Hall Cripe, playhouse

president-elect and treasurer Westcott Price, executive director of

the organization Richard Stein, and artistic director Andrew

Barnicle. The 2005 gala committee included dedicated patrons Wendy

Aversano, Margaret Baldwin, Heather Colover, Lori Donchak, Kim

Herbert and the lovely and dynamic Suzanne Mellor. The Mellor family

hosted Sally Struthers for the affair. Jim Mellor, the former CEO of

General Dynamics, and his wife have created an artistic retreat of

their own on the Laguna oceanfront. “I have never been treated with

such warmth in such a magnificent home,” Struthers said. “This is a

wonderful tribute, and I am touched by the overwhelming dedication of

the community to the playhouse and very proud to be a part of it.”

Struthers was chosen for the honor, receiving the Laguna Playhouse

Lifetime Achievement Award for her starring role in the Playhouse

production of “Always ... Patsy Cline”. The Golden Globe- and

Emmy-winning actress set the room on fire with her 10-minute

monologue that followed a video presentation of her career

highlights.

The audience went wild when she said, “Suzanne Mellor told me

earlier this evening that she felt like she was at her Bat Mitzvah.

With all of this congratulating and shaking of hands, I feel like I’m

at my own funeral. I’m far too young to receive such an honor.”

She went on to say that life is about seizing rare and special

moments, holding onto them and treasuring the joy that they bring.

When asked what her special moments included she told the audience,

“Kissing Elvis.” It was only the beginning of a list of sentimental

remembrances that included growing up as the daughter of a physician

in Portland, Ore., and venturing to California as a teenager to

follow her dream of acting, and meeting the late Gregory Peck in the

pouring rain at the valet station of a Los Angeles restaurant, and

giving birth to her daughter Samantha, who now is working on a

doctorate.

Struthers is currently co-starring in the Warner Brothers

television show “The Gilmore Girls” and also appears on the CBS

situation comedy “Still Standing.” The star of the legendary TV show

“All In The Family” was honored by Laguna Playhouse not just because

of her career accomplishments but also because of her humanitarian

efforts in the United States and in many developing nations around

the world, where she is well known as a champion for both children’s

causes and animal welfare.

As a gourmet dinner was served, beginning with an appetizer course

of corn and spinach timbale with a petit grilled salmon medallion,

the crowd began table hopping as well as dancing to the beat of Wayne

Foster. Spotted in the crowd were Newport’s Pat and John Allen and

Laird Blue and Jean Macino of Bayshores. Also of Newport Beach, Laura

Lee Browne and Richard Browne, Mary and Ryan Gilmore, Maralou and

Jerry Harrington, Bill and Harriett Harris, Brian and Lori Hirth, Tom

and Nancy Wilson and Cristine and Peter LePort. The remainder of the

four-course dinner included a salad of island mango and papaya and a

mixed grill entree of skewered shrimp, chicken and filet minion. The

dinner created by Montage executive chef Matthew Leonard was

concluded with a dessert known as Sobremesa, a banana creme brulee

with dolce de leche garnished with mini-chocolate cake and raspberry

coulis.

Additional patrons supporting the playhouse included Mary and Tom

Murphy, Gretchen and Kurt Mulville, Jorge and Linda Mandelbaum, Betty

and Ken Potalivo, Bill and Barbara Roberts, Nancy and Jim Salomon,

and in from Los Angeles Pamela Sharp and Vincent Cirrincione, and

Christa Jackson, who co-stared with Struthers in the Patsy Cline

play.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.