Ballet Pacifica was recently liquidated, but another local arts group appears to be off of the endangered list. This year Opera Pacific will eliminate $4 million of debt, get its Santa Ana building out of hock and balance its budget, says Executive Director Bob Jones. He’s creating an endowment, planning corporate events and seeking 10 “CEO types” to add to his 30-member board: “Opera Pacific is in as good a place as it’s ever been.” OP was bleeding red when Jones, a former honcho at the Kennedy Center, took over in December 2004. He reorganized and downsized. Instead of going ahead with a planned fifth opera each season, he cut back to three. Angel Paul Musco’s conversion of a $2 million loan into a matching gift has wiped out the debt, and Henry and Susan Samueli have given $1 million a year toward operations. On stage? Jones points to “our best-ever reviews in the L.A. Times” and a record gross for “Carmen” starring OC transplant Milena Kitic (Mrs. Milan Panic). He says the ’08-’09 season will feature OC-raised, acclaimed soprano Deborah Voigt and the exclusive Cali-fornia showing of a hot new production, “The Grapes of Wrath.” Artistic Director John DeMain “has a bigger world to imagine now.” The ensemble visits schools, does a cabaret-style “Opera in the Raw” and on Sept. 15 performs “Under the Stars” at the Irvine Bowl in Laguna Beach to mark the 75th anniversary of the Festival of the Arts. But no immediate plans to restore a fourth opera,Jones wants to build a reserve first …
The above-mentioned Henry Samueli nailed it: His Ducks in six over Detroit. His prediction for the Stanley Cup finals against Ottawa: Ducks in seven …
Scott Dunlop and Douglas Lute have each come a long way since they were buddies and class officers at Elston Sr. High School in Michigan City, Ind. Dunlop lives in Coto de Caza and produces “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” Lt. Gen. Lute inhabits the Pentagon and was recently tapped by President Bush as “war czar” …
Barack Obama will be here June 11. Local Dem Party Chairman Frank Barbaro heads the host list for the fund-raiser at the Newport Coast home of Sholeh and Michael Chegini … Folks listening to Jimmy Hopper at The Island Hotel’s new Palm Terrace Lounge also got an impromptu performance from Kenny Loggins. He happened to be staying at the hotel prior to his gig the following night at the Great Park …
Driving on the expansive former El Toro Marine base to reach the Great Park party tent, the Insider observed mountains of scrap from demolished base housing, but only a couple of mounds of torn-up runway. There’s a lot of jack-hammering still to be done before the world’s largest parking lot is transformed into “Central Park West.”
