Lyric Opera Opens Season With Forest-Themed Decor, Dagger-Shaped Desserts

On Friday night, the Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 56th season with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth. The evening began with the blood-soaked, tragic show at the Civic Opera House, and continued with the Opera Ball—which offers dinner and dancing—at the Hilton Chicago.

To underscore the evening's Shakespearean theme and the opera's scenes set in the woods of Scotland, Heffernan Morgan employed forest-themed decor. In the opera house, buffet tables offering pre-performance (and during-intermission) snacks were topped with twisted gold branches and leafy camellia topiaries.

The theme continued at the post-performance ball, where designer Bill Heffernan employed 4,000 more golden branches and 1,000 candles to "reflect the timeless and eerie production of Macbeth onstage at the opera house," he said. The creepy theme seeped into the dinner menu, which offered a dessert of crème brûlée and chocolate-espresso tarts with dagger-shaped chocolates on the side.

Despite the evening's tone, the hosting women's board was determined to add some whimsical touches. New to the ball this year were risotto stations and cordial bars during the cocktail hour. Cupcake buffets offering the colorfully frosted treats complemented the plated desserts.