She’s Got What It Takes to Lay Out the Welcome Matters

It was an assignment for a diplomat: Oversee the events surrounding the Orange County premiere of the Vienna Philharmonic and give each a dash of European style.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, decided Eva Schneider of Fullerton, when she agreed to assume the task on behalf of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

Not only would she get to coordinate the welcoming festivities for “the finest orchestra in the world,” she says, but her 30 years as a Philharmonic volunteer had prepared her for the job. She’d chaired several events for the organization, served as its board chairwoman, headed its volunteer committees. She knew about diplomacy.

And when it came to international style, she knew about that too. Twice annually, Schneider heads for Vienna with her husband, Fred, to relish the city’s music, art and food.

So far, there have been a few happy surprises: Costa Mesa officials have agreed to fly welcome banners 19 days longer than the usual 30-day limit to welcome the orchestra; and Austria-born chef Wolfgang Puck will dispense with his standard $10,000 fee when he cooks dinner for donors to “Vienna Philharmonic Week,” which begins March 1.

Still, Schneider tosses in her sleep. She frets that the orchestra’s instruments will get lost on their way to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, that the ambience of the Viennese Ball will fall short of perfection, or that it will rain the night music buffs must walk from a restaurant dinner to a theater lecture.

Not to mention the recurring dream about John Benecke’s kitchen.

“If you want to know what really wakes me up in the middle of the night, it’s John Benecke’s kitchen,” Schneider says, laughing.

Benecke, a Philharmonic society supporter and Newport Beach interior designer, has offered his French Country manor for the March 2 repast--cooked by Puck--that will honor donors to “Vienna Philharmonic Week.”

“John has been putting in a new kitchen for four months, and nothing is in place yet,” says Schneider with a sigh. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

(Says Benecke: “It’s driving me crazy, but my contractor says it will be done. Right now, it’s a big, empty space.”)

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On Thursday, Schneider met with Philharmonic staff member Christal Schar, Viennese Ball chairwomen Mary Kay VanderMolen and Dorothy Taylor and Philharmonic President Jane Grier to choose the cuisine for the March 1 gala.

Among the items up for sampling at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis Club: mushroom strudel, sturgeon with orange essence, roasted venison loin, veal roulade, and a groaning board of pastries, including Linzer and Sacher tortes.

Course after course was delivered to the linen-draped table in Salon 5, as the Vienna Philharmonic--on audiocassette--played Brahms.

The biggest challenge: choosing the entree.

The pan-seared game hen?

“Too difficult to manage,” Schneider observes.

The veal roulade?

“Tough and a little fat,” she says.

The tenderloin?

“Lovely.”

Schar, a European, votes for the venison with raspberry and sage sauce.

“It is the classic European dish for festive occasions,” she says.

Schneider says it makes her think of “Bambi.”

“Venison is not about little Bambi’s running through the woods,” Schar says, smiling. “This is farm-raised deer.” (Indeed, the venison was purchased from a ranch in Texas, says hotel chef Keith Schlosser.)

Finally, the women decide to serve both venison and beef tenderloin to the 500 guests expected to attend the $250-per-person gala.

Other events surrounding the concerts in Segerstrom Hall include a reception at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel on March 5, where music lovers can hobnob with members of the orchestra for a mere $30 per person.

Bringing the Vienna Philharmonic to Orange County is a landmark occasion and commands all the celebration, Schneider says.

“The Philharmonic presents their only concerts on the West Coast, then they are off to Carnegie Hall in New York.”

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Golden night: It may have been premature, as one insider suggested, but the buzz following the premiere Friday of “Golden Child” at South Coast Repertory was about the play being nominated for a Tony Award.

Several theatergoers said they thought the play by David Henry Hwang was so strong it would be considered for theater’s highest nod.

Even David Emmes, SCR’s producing artistic director, was hopeful: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see it nominated,” he said.

Hwang, who won a Tony in 1988 for “M. Butterfly,” was conservative in his remarks, saying only that he would be happy to see the play get to Broadway. “We had our out-of-town tryout for SCR off Broadway, and from here we go to the Kennedy Center in Washington,” he said. “There are some plans afoot to take us to Broadway. We’ll see if that happens.”

The play, about one family’s conflict between Eastern and Western traditions--commissioned by SCR and directed by James Lapine--weaves an absorbing tale about a young Chinese American and the stories told him by his grandmother.

Hwang’s own grandmother inspired the play. “She left a lot of Chinese traditions behind to embrace Christianity,” he said. “The play is about change, about some of the decisions we have to make when we think about the next generation--what to keep from the past, what to leave behind. That’s the dilemma the characters in this play face.”