L.A. Opera season starts with gala honoring Zev Yaroslavsky

The event: Saturday’s Opera Ball kicked off the L.A. Opera season in lavish art deco style, in keeping with the night’s Roaring 20s version of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, starring Placido Domingo, Nino Machaidze and Arturo Chacon-Cruz.
The reception: Kate Walsh of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice” and the upcoming series “Bad Judge” served as official hostess of the pre-opera cocktail party, where she talked of growing up with opera. Coming from a family of opera aficionados, which included a grandfather who sang light opera, Walsh said, “We’re all such big opera fans that my mother named her dog, ‘Puccini.’ ”
The gala dinner: As the band played a mix of pop music and 1920s classics, guests dined and danced on the Music Center Plaza, all done up in crystal chandeliers and centerpieces dripping in feathers, flowers, crystals and pearls. Between courses, an explosion of fireworks heralded Domingo’s appearance onstage. Domingo — the opera’s general director — then introduced the cast and creative team.
The crowd: Among others attending the opera were Stana Katic of “Castle,” Emmy Rossum of “Shameless,” Bruno Bichir and Stefanie Sherk of “The Bridge,” L.A. Opera president and chief executive Christopher Koelsch and opera supporters Eva Stern and board chair Marc Stern, Carol Colburn Grigor and Murray Grigor, Claude and Alfred Mann, Marilyn Ziering, Selim Zilka, Kathy Baxter and former ambassador Frank Baxter, and production underwriters Milan Panic, Barbara Augusta Teichert and Joyce and Aubrey Chernick. Mary Hayley, Catherine Marcus and Jill Baldauf headed the gala committee.
“I’m so happy I’m here,” said Bichir at the gala, particularly enthusiastic about the opera’s second act, noting Domingo’s “power” and “energy.”
Quotes of note: The evening honored outgoing county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and Stern brought him to the stage, calling him “one of the greatest stars in the galaxy of the Los Angeles Opera.” (Yaroslavsky earned the title "maestro" for conducting the national anthem at the start of the program, before passing the baton on to opera conductor James Conlon, and he appeared as an extra in a crowd scene in the opera.)
“Thanks to you, Los Angeles is a more beautiful place,” Domingo said.
The numbers: With 500 guests, tickets priced from $2,500 and tables ranging up to $100,000, the opera tabulated $1.5 million in proceeds.
The production: “La Traviata” is scheduled to continue through Sept. 28. For further information, call (213) 972-8001.
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