Rock Opera

The Grammy awards lure many of the biggest stars in the music industry to sit in arena seats in one of the hugest, most mass-market venues in Los Angeles, Staples Center. And it can be said that the Recording Academy's official Grammy after-party is like that, too: massive, but still with an air of exclusivity, and with months of detail-oriented production behind the execution. On the 50th anniversary of the Grammys, the academy's bash for 6,000 took to the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Center last night with a look that evoked the opera houses of old-world Europe, with a surrealist bent.

Recording Academy vice president of production and process management Branden Chapman, along with academy staffers Rex Supa and Clay Upton, worked with the Mary Micucci-helmed Along Came Mary to produce the spectacle, backed by a giant team, including Wolfgang Puck for vast dinner and dessert spreads and Angel City for the dreamlike decor. Organizers estimate that more than 450 production crew members and more than 600 servers—plus kitchen staff—were on hand for the event."We knew the 50th was going to be tremendous for us," said Chapman of the look he conjured, a major departure from last year's clubby, Asian-inspired motif. Micucci, who has worked on the party for 11 years, added, "You always try to upstage [the previous year's production] every year. This year is edgier."

At the red-dominated party, more was more. Giant crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and large-scale projections that rotated through scenes of vintage-European-looking opera houses, streets, and gardens enveloped guests.

Fresh from her Grammy presenting duties, Cindy Lauper performed, as did Natasha Bedingfield and DJ Chris Cox. And a small army of about 50 costumed dancers and performers from the troupe Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque took to multiple stages throughout the huge party space to mimic acts such as serving tea and preparing in the boudoir.

Puck catered an eclectic mix of international buffet offerings, including English stations (bangers, carved prime rib, fish, and mugs of ginger beer), which advanced the European theme. When the doors opened at 8:30, crowds immediately formed deep lines for the buffets, although they were plentiful—but a three-and-a-half-hour food-free telecast had taken its toll on appetites. The menu took two months to plan and test, and five days to prepare.

With all the planning that goes into an annual event of this size, the Recording Academy's Chapman said that his group never considered axing the party in light of the writers strike (which will apparently come to an end this week after more than three months) and that the cancellation of the Golden Globes earlier in the season may have in fact led to "the energy and the excitement being there even more so" for the Grammys.

But did the Recording Academy significantly increase its event budget on the occasion of the big 50th anniversary? Not exactly. "Our budget is approximately the same," Chapman said. "This party is on the same huge scale."

And that scale is undeniable. "People never want to leave this party, because there is so much to do," Micucci said.