The executive club level of Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, underwent a transformation on December 21 from a mere stadium seating area to a fantasy land of vivid colors and bizarre entertainment, all so that the staff over at local company, BIGgross Inc., could celebrate the holidays in memorable fashion. The transformed environment was named Jardin Mysterieux—French for "the mysterious garden"—by event coordinator Cheryl Cook.With conceptBAIT—and, more specifically, Cook—at the helm, more than 300 workers and their guests showed up to enjoy fashionable club music—thanks in part to Thom Mickelson, who was handling the event's sound quality—and to chomp away at a menu prepped by Jackie Van Sant of Center Plate Catering, the stadium's in-house caterer. The food began with a display of garden-fresh crudités with peppercorn Parmesan clip. After that, butlers passed six different hors d'oeuvres: crabmeat stuffed cherry tomatoes; caviar and sour cream bouchees; spanakopita; chilled crab claws with cocktail sauce; breast of chicken sate with peanut sauce; and an assortment of mini quiche. There were also a pair of chef-attended stations from which people could choose to eat either citrus-marinated boneless pork loin and peppered shell of beef with mini cocktail rolls; cheese tortellini and bow tie pasta with sun-dried tomato aioli and pink vodka sauces, freshly grated Parmesan, and sliced bread with butter; or just a simple Caesar salad. For dessert, guests consumed an assortment of mini pastries and cookies.
CircX performers, hired through the New Century Dance Company, entertained in various ways, including everything from two fire jugglers, a stiltwalker, a hula-hoop artist, and a body balance team to a DJ, a sitar player, a belly dancer, and a magician who doubled as the "Keeper of the Garden."
"The 'Keeper of the Garden' stood at our redesigned entryway with an ancient-looking Moroccan lantern lit by an LED light, and his task was to guide both attendees and performers toward the performance stage, which was also decked out in LED lights," Cook said.
By "redesigned," she means they built up the cirque-type atmosphere. Creating a thicketed archway, adding the greeter, and concocting a tree—by wiring James Story orchids to curly willows and hanging Spanish moss—to later place on a rotating stand, were just some of the company's creative ideas for this redesign. They also brought in Bay Stage Lighting to place upward-pointed spotlights whose colors changed from green to purple to red, so as to illuminate the canvassed (and Devil Rays-branded) walkway for guests.
Inside the stadium, the conceptBAIT staff draped rooms in chocolate fabrics, added stretch spandex sails and copper linens, and created two beautiful centerpieces—the first featuring submerged chocolate cymbidium orchids in "sexy-looking" vases, while the other formed hedge boxes out of deep red and chocolate florals. Chocolate roses and red berries could also be found throughout the executive club level.
—Albert del Toral
Costumed CircX performers hired by the New Century Dance Company defined the night's entertainment.
The Jardin Mysterieux entryway featured a thicketed archway, a rotating tree, changing lights, and the "Keeper of the Garden."
These dark-colored hedge boxes made for beautiful centerpieces.
Objects like florals, candles, and pebbles helped to create a mysterious atmosphere.
Most of Jardin's events took place in executive club rooms like the one pictured here.
Evident on everything from the furniture to the centerpieces, deeper reds and chocolates were the decorative colors of the night.
