Gala Themes

Fotio brought in a vintage-style camera decked with a roll of carnival tickets. Guests posed with colorful balloons and signs that referenced songs from Carousel.

Sporting a festive red dress, "Mindy the Monkey" interacted with guests including the opera's general director, Anthony Freud (pictured).

The passed specialty drink was called the "Carousel Cocktail." It contained ginger, lemonade, and vodka and was garnished with fresh mint and a striped paper straw embellished with a miniature carousel horse.

Passed appetizers from Calihan Catering included miniature beef hot dogs with roasted tomatoes and oregano salsa verde.

Appetizers also included push sorbet pops with goat cheese custard and minted melon.

In the Graham Room, where dinner was held, thematic decor included carousel horses.

HMR Designs decked the dining room with colorful draping that loosely recalled the shape of a circus tent.

Flower arrangements comprised bright clusters of tulips.

Inspired by the Carousel song "Real Nice Clambake," the dinner menu offered mussels, clams, and poached lobster. For dessert, guests ate raspberry, lime, and white-chocolate-blueberry macarons plated with polka-dotted ribbons. At intermission, they returned to the Graham Room for more desserts including boozy snow cones and miniature cupcakes.