“And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain. …
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.”
With those words, Millie Brown kicked off the beginning of the end of her long-running Champagne Pops concert series in Laguna Woods.
The words are a fitting tribute to the woman herself, who took the last drops of what was once a pioneering entertainment series in the Village, replenished it, and turned it into the grand cru it became.
Brown read those lyrics, made famous by Frank Sinatra, on May 24 at the Performing Arts Center, packed to the rafters with season ticket holders, longtime fans of the concert series and some newcomers. It was the final show in the Champagne Pops series, with the band Four by Four bringing rousing tributes to the Beatles, Bee Gees, Beach Boys and Motown greats.
Still, she told the audience, “I wasn’t just doing this series my way. I was also doing it your way – what you wanted to see.”
Tribute shows were the essence of Champagne Pops. For 17 years, Brown brought to Laguna Woods Village acts that honored the legacies of artists such as the Drifters, Coasters, Platters and Supremes; the Rat Pack; ’60s acts like the Carpenters and the Mamas and the Papas; the Righteous Brothers; Carole King; the Eagles; and pop’s greatest piano men, Elton John, Billy Joel and Little Richard.
She also brought well-known performers each season, singers like Jeff Trachta, John Davidson and Peter Marshall.
“In my day, they were big names,” Brown, who is in her 80s, said in a recent interview at her home in Laguna Woods. “Nobody even knows their names now.”
In later years, she booked younger stars like Debbie Boone, Rita Coolidge, Melissa Manchester and Lucie Arnaz.
The shows almost always were sell-outs, appealing especially to residents 75 and older.
“I know my audience,” Brown said. “I don’t think 55-year-olds know half the people on this wall,” she added, pointing to the space above her desk in her home office that is covered with flyers from her shows. “The older crowd, they know these people.”
In all, Brown estimates she brought 80 concerts to the Village – around five shows each year, give or take.
And yet, transforming herself into an impresaria when she moved to the Village in 2002 was the last thing on her mind. The retired 30-year mental health therapist had never produced a concert, much less booked talent.
“I never planned to get into show business,” Brown said. “It just dropped into my lap.”
But as she came to find out, “I discovered something that I was good at and that I liked.”
It was on a 2004 cruise to Mexico where Brown caught the showbiz bug.
“I got triggered by Jeff Trachta,” a soap star and singer who performed on the ship, she said.
She was so impressed with Trachta’s show, she said, that when she arrived back home, she spoke first with the recreation department and then the Champagne Pops folks about bringing him to the Village.
It wasn’t an easy task, Brown learned. To try to make it happen, she joined the boards of Champagne Pops and the Chicago Club.
Champagne Pops was founded and run at the time by Seymour Rubinstein and Fay Dressler. Rubinstein, a concert violinist and college orchestra instructor, was booking what he knew best – classical music and opera.
His shows weren’t selling well, Brown said, so he looked to modernize the music.
“But Seymour didn’t know a darn thing about pop music,” she said.
In 2008, when Rubinstein died of a brain tumor, Brown took over the concert series. That’s when she started running Champagne Pops her way.
By now, Brown had racked up experience booking shows for the Chicago Club.
“She taught the club how to put on entertainment,” said Bernie Frogel, 82, a six-year season ticket holder and the publicity director for the Chicago Club.
For Champagne Pops, Brown decided to focus on pop tribute artists rather than classical music. But she also wanted to bring a variety of music styles in each season – Motown, folk, doo-wop, ’60s – “something for all tastes,” she said.
“My thought was that if people didn’t like one show in the series, they would most likely relate to other shows.”
Another goal was to bring quality shows. Brown spent many hours watching promotional videos of bands to find “not the cheapest acts but the best,” she said. And, of course, the price had to be within the series budget.
It was never Brown’s intention to bring shows for the younger demographic in the Village, she said. Instead, she went steadfastly for the older crowd.
“They were expecting something they could depend on,” she said. “And when I saw what started to be successful in the beginning, I did more of the same.” And, yes, she eventually did get Trachta to perform at the PAC.
Loretta Sheppard, 91, was a season ticket holder to the Champagne Pops series since 2008 and saw “every single show,” she said.
“Millie brought the top music of our era,” Sheppard said during a farewell dinner before the final concert. “Champagne Pops was the best that we had. I feel sad because I love the series, and Millie has always brought wonderful shows.”
Sandra Rosencrans, 92, agreed.
“Millie had an outstanding selection of performers,” said the 15-year season ticket holder. “I don’t think any other group (in the Village) attracted that consistently.”
“It’s the kind of music we all group up with,” said Geri Horton, 90, a 17-year ticket holder.
The end of the series is “a big loss to the community,” Horton added. “Millie brought togetherness with the shows. It’s going to be hard to find entertainment next season.”
Champagne Pops’ end came sooner than Brown had wanted. In April 2024, the recreation department deemed Brown’s contract to be a violation of Golden Rain Foundation policy, which states that residents cannot have a business and earn money and that reservations of venues by individuals may only be for private or social gatherings.
When asked by GRF directors at a board meeting, Brown said her net profit typically came to roughly $5,000 a year.
The board gave the concert series one more year, after which, Brown said, she would retire.
“I love show business,” she said in the interview. “I’m going to mourn because it’s my passion, and how do you give up your passion?”
She said she has no clue what she will do next.
“I hope that the recreation department will allow me to at least do one show a year,” she said.
Still, Brown vowed she would find something to do. “Someone with my energy doesn’t just sit around and twiddle their thumbs.”
Inscribed on her cake at the farewell dinner: “When one door closes, another one opens.”
The applause was great at the PAC on May 24 after the final notes were played, no doubt for the band as well as for the woman behind the music.
“Millie earned it,” said 10-year season ticket holder Mike Gorsky. “She deserved it.”