Les is More
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had a major impact on Janet Adderley’s Santa Barbara Youth Ensemble Theatre’s production of Les Misérables at the Lobero last week.
Max Corden, 7, was due to play the pivotal role of Gavroche, the young street urchin shot on the barricades, but at the last minute his mother, Julia, called and said they had to be in London “for some wedding.”
“They didn’t say it was the royal wedding at Windsor,” artistic director Janet tells me.
Max’s father, James Corden, 39, the British host of the CBS Late Late Show, and Julia attended the ceremony at the 14th-century St. George’s Chapel, and later James, reportedly dressed as King Henry VIII – who is buried in the chapel with his third wife, Jane Seymour – emceed the exclusive reception for 200 guests at nearby Frogmore House, hosted by Harry’s father, Prince Charles.
Santa Barbara Polo Club player and Ralph Lauren Polo model, Nacho Figueras, and his wife, Delfina, were among the select few invited, though TV talk-show titan Oprah Winfrey was among the 600 who attended the magnificent ceremony and party at St. George’s Hall, hosted by Queen Elizabeth, immediately afterward.
Max was replaced by another student, Christopher Von der Ohe, 7, who lives in Pacific Palisades.
“Julia said she might be able to stay behind with Max as he really wanted to play the role, but when James told her it wasn’t just ‘some’ wedding but the wedding, the Royals won out!”
Flame and Fortune
Despite the disasters that blighted our rarefied enclave just five months ago, the real estate market seems to be getting hotter and hotter.
TV talk-show host and serial house-flipper Ellen DeGeneres has made hefty $3.8-million profit selling an Ennisbrook estate, Rancho San Leandro, she bought just eight months ago from Tom and Heather Sturgess.
The former Oscars host has agreed to an off-listing sale of the handsome six acre property for $11 million, according to Variety.
Ellen paid $7,195,000 for the Spanish-style home, which boasts two separate residences, last September.
One is a hacienda built in 1845 and the other a 3,600-sq.-ft. home built in 2006.
The main residence features 4 bedrooms and 4.5 baths, and has stunning ocean and mountain views.
In the meantime, Dennis Miller, comedian and political pundit, has just listed his Stanford White Glen Oaks area home for $9,495,000 with Riskin Partners.
The 9-bedroom, 10-bathroom property on 2.81 acres was built in 1895 and totally renovated this year under the auspices of local architect Marc Appleton.
