<P><BR>The Orange County Performing Arts Center, which has hosted some of the biggest names in ballet, including ABT, the Bolshoi, NYCB, and SFB, has received a US$40-million gift.<P><B><A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/editions/orange/ocnews/20000817/t000077319.html" TARGET=_blank>Read the LA Times article</A></B><P>[Stuart writes: Both the LA Times links in this topic seem to be dead already. Is this paper on a 1-day only basis now?]<p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited September 03, 2000).]

This is a wonderful thing to see. I wish it were happening in more places. Some areas, which will remain unnamed, vote to support a tax to build a new football stadium, but will vote down performing arts centers....

The mystery donor is revealed to be Henry Segerstorm, a 77-year old shopping mall magnate.<P>From the LA Times:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Henry T. Segerstrom had a simple reason for giving $40 million to help build a new concert hall at the overbooked Orange County Performing Arts Center. <BR> Progress on the $200-million expansion was stalled, building it was a "personal dream" too long deferred, and it was time to get going.<P>... the gift comes with no strings attached. It will arrive in three installments: $10 million this year to help finance the design phase, $15 million when ground is broken, and $15 million when construction reaches the midpoint<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><B><A HREF="http://www.calendarlive.com/theater/20000817/t000077646.html" TARGET=_blank>Read Mike Boehm's article in the LA Times</A></B> - <I>unfortunately also now unavailable.</I><P>What a true benefactor this man is!<p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited September 05, 2000).]

How wonderful! Aren't there more people like Henry T. Segerstrom around? <P>...only joking

I've moved Basheva's post here:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>OCPAC Vaults to Front of Line as a Principal Presenter of Dance </B><P><BR>By CHRIS PASLES, Times Staff Writer<P> In the '80s, dance aficionados had to get to the Music Center or the Shrine Auditorium to see American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet and other top-flight companies. <BR> But as the Music Center receded as a dance presenter and the Shrine Auditorium fell out of favor with ballet audiences, dance geography has changed. Since the late '80s, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, which is presenting the Paris Opera Ballet tonight, has emerged as the primary destination for dance in Southern California.<BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/editions/orange/calendar/20010508/t000038665.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><P><BR>I have had season ballet tickets to this theater for many years. It is a beautiful theater - with good sight lines and accoustics. It is modern without losing the charm one associates with an older theater. The sight lines for dance at the Shrine are not good - in the orchestra seats the feet cannot be seen at all. So, I am not surprised by the success of Orange County Performing Arts Center.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited May 09, 2001).]

No doubt I will continue to fly to Sou Cal often because of this. It's actually an interesting phenomenon that every time I fly down to catch ABT or the Bolshoi or other big dance companies at OCPAC, I will almost always run into <I>many</I> ballet fans from the SF Bay Area. Sometimes it feels like a pilgrimage.

I have a friend in the Joffrey who says the OCPAC is a wonderful facility to perform in, much better than the Opera House in SF. Should we be scared?

I am looking at OCPAC from my hotel window right now, waiting for tonight's performance by POB.<P>The dancers are not staying here - however, they are using the pool at this hotel (the pool is broken at the hotel at which they are staying). So.....the view from my window should get better and better as I am also overlooking the pool. hum.......<P>I well remember when the Danish Royal Ballet stayed here and used the spa and pool. Those Danish men are honed to a fine T. hmmmm

Basheva, behave. Maybe I need to stay in your hotel next time, just for the view.

LOL - Two Left Feet......as you saw I am an old lady - good behavior is FORCED upon me, I have no choice.....well, there is the husband....hmmmmmmm

Information on theaters in Orange County other than the Orange County Performing Arts Theater complex - <P>From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>Hoping the Show Will Go On<BR>Santa Ana: Lack of city funds and venues threatens dream of a downtown theater district.</B><P>By MIKE BOEHM, Times Staff Writer<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The performing arts are on wobbly footing in downtown Santa Ana, creating a challenge for city officials who dream of revitalizing the neighborhood as Orange County's urban bohemian hub, with arts, entertainment and dining as the main attractions. <BR> The city has spent millions to create a solid foundation for the visual arts as the key to bringing new life to a neighborhood where many buildings had been boarded up and abandoned. But little has been done to foster theaters and concert venues that might complement the galleries and studios. Each of the four small nonprofit theaters in the neighborhood has been too consumed with its own struggles to establish a unified front to promote downtown as a theater district. One theater has failed and two others are talking about leaving.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Theater-X!ArticleDetail-47746,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A> <BR>

More theaters for Orange County....<P>From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>College Proposes Soaring Venture<BR>Building: Irvine Valley seeks investors in office, theater plan thought to be unprecedented in state.</B><P>By JEFF GOTTLIEB, Times Staff Writer<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Irvine Valley College officials are quietly trying to find investors for a private hotel, entertainment and office complex on campus that could cost as much as $800 million, officials confirmed this week. <BR> As described in recent meetings among campus officials, the project would include a hotel, a multistory parking structure, two 2,000-seat theaters, office buildings, a sound stage and a lake, replacing orange groves and an athletic field at the southern end of campus. <BR> The scope of the privately funded, for-profit project--whose cost estimates nearly double Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles--is believed to be unprecedented, not only for a community college, but for any public university in the state.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Theater-X!ArticleDetail-62911,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A>

In the Los Angeles Times, Mike Boehm reports on a $13 million budget deficit due to poor investment performance in the bond market; ten staff members (out of 100) are facing layoff:

LA Times

that seems like not a bad number to be laid off. That's just trimming fat.