Life <i> Is</i> a Lot Like ‘Cabaret’

Relevance was the watchword of the evening at a party given in honor of the cast of “Cabaret” by the Performing Arts Fraternity, an all-male support group of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“ ‘Cabaret’ was extraordinary 20 years ago, and it’s just as relevant today,” said Thomas R. Kendrick, Center president, who with Fraternity members on Thursday night watched the musical that had opened two nights before at the theater in Costa Mesa.

“It’s sad in a way, incredible you would open a show in Orange County that deals with the rise of Nazism and have that very element in the newspaper this morning,” Kendrick said during the after-theater party at the Center Club in Costa Mesa.

He was referring to anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi slogans that were painted last weekend on the walls of Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa.

“I’m told there are (anti-Semitic) incidents going on here right now,” said “Cabaret” star Joel Grey. “What more do you need to say?”

After praising the Center as “magnificent, one of the most imaginative auditoriums I’ve ever seen,” Werner Klemperer--who plays Herr Schultz in the sold-out production--called the graffiti incident, which he’d read about, “absolutely frightening.”

“I say, shame, shame, shame,” he said.

Regina Resnik, who plays the conscience-stricken Fraulein Schneider in the musical, said that people must speak out against such activities.

“When we decided to do the show, people said, ‘Will it be relevant?’ Well, it’s 20 years later, and the subject (the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism during pre-World War II Germany) is not dated at all,” Resnik said. “It’s never been forgotten and it should never be forgotten. It’s a very present play. And powerful.”

In a lighter moment, Grey offered a champagne toast to 60 Fraternity members and guests and praised the 11-month-old Center as the “most human-size theater,” he has seen. “As large as it is, tonight it felt intimate and very warm.”

After a welcome by Fraternity president Larry Hoffman, Grey sat down to sample the lush, apres theater buffet--baron of beef, sesame chicken, cheeses, fruits and pasta--with “Cabaret” producers Fran and Barry Weissler.

Fran Weissler, who counts actors James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer among her best friends, wasn’t hungry because she’d lunched heavily at Copa de Oro with Grey and dined with Kendrick and his wife, Judith O’Dea Morr, general manager of the Center, at the Center Club before the show.

“I love living in New York,” she said, sipping ice water. “And I can hardly wait till we open on Broadway with ‘Cabaret’ in October, but it’s marvelous here in Orange County. Wonderful to see something immaculately clean and beautiful and well planned.”

She and her husband “were very excited” when Fraternity member Timothy L. Strader decided to invest in their production of “Cabaret.”

Barry Weissler added: “I hope this is a good experience for Tim. I know he saw ‘Cabaret’ in Los Angeles and liked what he saw.” He said every show had a minimum investment but would not disclose what Strader had invested “because it was a private placement. And I keep that knowledge confidential.”

Strader, a Newport Beach attorney and vice chairman of the Center, was in London for Sunday’s L.A. Rams-Denver Broncos pre-season game.

The Weisslers, who are also producing the musical “My One and Only,” which is due to open at the Center in October, said they had no worries about bringing other productions to Orange County. “Any community that can raise the kind of money Orange County has raised to build a Center is already committed to it.”

Guaranteeing commitment to the Center’s future is what the Performing Arts Fraternity is all about, Kendrick said.

“This is a very important group because it ties us to a broader segment of the community,” he said of the 130-member support group. “It’s a younger group of professionals, men who are chief executives of major corporations. They’re going to be the patrons of the arts in 10 years.”

Members, who must be sponsored by an existing member to join, pay dues of $1,500 a year, Hoffman said.

“We hope to eventually have 200 members,” he added. “Our goal is to support Center operations and learn about the various artistic disciplines.”

Also serving on the Fraternity’s executive committee are David Threshie, Richard Frost, Barry Gross and Thomas Santley.

Directors include Bruce Birkeland, John Cashion, Donald Christeson, Otis Healy, Kenneth Heintz, Vin Jorgensen, John Miltner, Barry Roberson and Reed Royalty.