After playing host to more than 90 performances during the summer concert season, the
Wolf Trap Foundation transformed the Filene Center stage complex into a visual tour of Canada for its 39th annual Wolf Trap Ball. Per the tradition of partnering with a new host country each year, the foundation teamed up with Canada for 2010 and attracted more than 750 people for the evening black-tie affair that went on to raise $880,000.
Working with the theme of “Canada: Keep Exploring,” Wolf Trap director of special events Melanie McCarty and the Wolf Trap Opera Company set designers created a variety of backdrops and set pieces. “Each year we do our absolute best to work with the host country and highlight what the country has to offer," McCarty said. “In the case of Canada, we wanted to showcase the [country's] four major regions and what is unique in each, so we separated the stage, backstage, and the rehearsal hall into four sections and created a different look for each.”
Guests arrived through the artists' entrance into the middle of the complex, which housed the dance floor, stage, and a wall-sized mural of the Toronto skyline. The rear rehearsal hall was decorated as the Atlantic Provinces of Canada with a seascape mural and centerpieces that incorporated real fishing nets, while the 115-foot stage was split into sections: the arctic circle and British Columbia. Carved ice centerpieces highlighted the all-white tables in the Arctic Circle section while the nature-based colors—chocolate and light green—dominated the British Columbia section.
Canada was also well represented in the evening’s menu, catered by Design Cuisine Caterers, via the Nova Scotia lobster appetizer, the bison tenderloin, and the trio of maple flavored desserts, with each dish showcasing a different product of Canada.
