The Canadian Opera Company paid tribute to Cinderella and Rossini’s La Cenerentola with silver pumpkins, chocolate mice, and Glass Slipper cocktails at the Operanation benefit Friday at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. "With Operanation, we always theme the event around one of the season's operas, and this theme is so much fun to play with," said special events manager Tracy Briggs. (The company presents La Cenerentola from April 23 to May 25.)
Briggs, who planned the event in conjunction with an executive committee co-chaired by Fayaz Dossa and Claire Kennedy, explained that organizers called the evening "Operanation VII, Cinderella: Rock the Ball" to bring an indie-rock element to the familiar story. "We have a great lineup in terms of our entertainment. Clara Venice is acting as the Cinderella of the evening," said Briggs, who scheduled that performance (described as a combination of electro-pop-meets-cabaret) for midnight. "Instead of turning into a pumpkin, we are going to 'rock the ball.'"
The evening began with a V.I.P. dinner for 136 guests in the venue's Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge followed by a party at 9 p.m. About 1,100 guests attended in all. Broken Social Scene took the stage at 10:30 p.m. for a mash-up performance with company ensemble stars Wallis Giunta and Ambur Braid. Additional entertainment included three drag queens who mingled with guests while playing the parts of Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters.
To further play up the theme, event organizers placed a white carriage outside the entrance to the venue and dressed bars and catering stations with silver-painted pumpkins and sparkling stiletto heels. Davids provided a collection of designer shoes, from the likes of Kate Spade and Christian Louboutin, for a display in the main lobby.
Catering stations provided by Rose Reisman Catering also had a fairy-tale feel, with a Baron of Beef Station in the main lobby, a cheese and chocolate station on the second floor, and a dessert station—with bittersweet and milk chocolate mice, mini pumpkin cheesecake lollipops, and pink and white ball-gown cupcakes—on the third floor.
Guests could visit Mural makeup stations for touch-ups throughout the evening, and brand ambassadors from Calvin Klein offered hand massages and samples of the new fragrance, Beauty, at two displays. Attendees could also pose for photos at a photo booth sponsored by Hello! Canada. An after-party took place on the rooftop of the Thompson Toronto following the event.
Event sponsors included TD, E-L Financial Corporation Ltd., Calvin Klein Beauty, Scotiabank, Health With Care, Gateway Home Healthcare, CTV, and The Globe and Mail.