THE CROWD:

The economy is not exactly rosy. Having said that, the 35th annual Candlelight Concert fundraiser at the Orange County Performing Arts Center broke all records last week, raising an impressive $1.4 million to help underwrite the center’s programs and functions.

Chaired by the super dynamic duo Pat Poss and Marta Bhathal, the evening was a glamorous holiday celebration filled with high-energy enthusiasm.

A passport to Candlelight is not inexpensive. Single tickets start at about $3,000 with some patrons paying significantly more for platinum seating. A table for 10 can go for as much as a couple of hundred thousand dollars.

Both corporate and individual philanthropists turned out in force for Candlelight 35, and it turned into a supercharged evening filled with dancing, dancing and more dancing.

Thanks to the legendary Diana Ross, who performed her one-woman tour-de-force concert act, including four glittering costume changes and a retrospective musical journey encompassing her phenomenal nearly 50-year career in the forefront of the American musical scene, the crowd went wild.

From the moment the musical introduction began until the final encore note was sung, the black-tie crowd danced with the spirit of teenagers as Ross sang such Motown hits as “Baby Love” and “Stop in the Name of Love.”

Perhaps it was just her act, but Ross seemed to be loving it as much as the crowd, talking with guests who had come up right against her stage, dancing. Ross blew kisses to the audience in the middle of routines, and in the end invited gentlemen up on stage to dance with her as she performed the appropriate finale “I Will Survive.”

Now for a personal note. As the social observer I try to maintain a policy of no dancing with the crowd. I established this rule many years ago after giving in to a very attractive married woman who repeatedly asked me to dance with her at a party because her husband refused to dance. I gave in, feeling it was rude to turn her down after six proposals. In the middle of the dance there was a hand yanking on the back of my tuxedo jacket pulling me away while another other hand was ready to pull a punch as the man yelled, “Get your hands off of my wife.” I try to remember that experience when asked to dance at social functions.

On this night, I gave in. The Diana Ross music was just too tempting and I was in good company with friends Sally Crocket and Eve Kornyei, both of whom had friendly husbands present and accounted for. Randy Crocket and Stan Hanson were not in the dancing mood, although Randy did eventually come out on the dance floor.

Guys, your ladies love to dance. Stop refusing, get up, and show them what you are made of. You don’t have to be Fred Astaire or John Travolta. You can even have two left feet. But if you dance the dance, your whole life just might change for the better. Ladies, show this to your husbands, boyfriends or lovers, or possibly all three.

The Candlelight Committee went over the top this year transforming Segerstrom Hall into a Vegas-style showroom right out of the glory days of the 1960s at the Sahara Hotel. They removed the seats in the orchestra level in Segerstrom and placed banquet tables on tiers perpendicular to the stage. The burgundy velvet walls of Segerstrom Hall were draped in shimmering silver curtains, shaded cylindrical chandeliers were hung from the rafters, and the setting was both a time machine and a drop-dead visual treat.

A wonderful holiday dinner was catered by Patina, featuring an entrée of rack of lamb. Champagne flowed, and guests shared holiday wishes.

In the crowd were Barbara and Jim Glabman, Patti and Jim Edwards, Catherine and Jim Emmi, Jean and Tim Weiss, Carol and Kent Wilken, Leslie and Dino Cancellieri, Eve Kornyei and Stan Hanson, Sally and Randy Crockett, Carolyn and John Garrett, and Deborah and Henry Mayhew. Also present were Dee and Larry Higby, Pat and Dick Allen, Vicki and Bill Booth, Mary and Al Crosson, Jane and Jim Driscoll, Maralou and Jerry Harrington, Susan and Tim Strader, and Debbie Simon in a glittering gold ball gown that Diana Ross wanted to borrow.

The following evening the crowd was back for more excitement at the center as Candlelight Encore unfolded in the Samueli Theatre chaired by Hope Miller and Cindi Morales. A seated dinner by Patina featuring a filet mignon entrée followed by a marvelous performance by opera star Deborah Voight and Broadway star Barbara Cook. The crowd felt like they were dining in the privacy of someone’s exclusive home prior to enjoying the concert.

Major support for both events came from Center Chairman Thomas McKernan and his wife, Judy, joining patrons including Wylie and Bette Aitken, Zee Allred and Drago Gligio, Sandra Segerstrom and John Daniels, Ben and Carmela Du, Carole and Robert Follman, Ellie and Michael Gordon, Roger Kirwan, Lilly and Paul Merage, William and Barbara Roberts, Sheila and Ygal Sonenshine, Gini and Bob Robins, Ruth Ding, Mary Philpott, Jan Landstrom, Kay Fukunaga, Beth Bidna, Caroline Jones, and Center President Terrence Dwyer and his wife Amy.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.