Boston’s MassGeneral Hospital for Children launched its Storybook Ball in 2000. Dedicated to raising funds for the hospital’s research initiatives and patient service programs, the young-at-heart affair has taken on themes based on such books as The Wizard of Oz and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
In addition to constantly recreating the ball’s look and feel with an ever-changing theme, planners have kept the event fresh by using different venues from year to year. The event has taken place in spaces ranging from hotel ballrooms to Fenway Park, a tent on the Boston Common, and the raw spaces of the Park Plaza’s Castle.
“It is about the experience,” Kelly Snyder, senior director of special events for MassGeneral Hospital Development, said in 2009. “It’s a beautiful, fun gala where guests like to lose themselves a little bit.”
Bryan Rafanelli has handled the event’s production since its inception, and has been instrumental in creating fully immersive environments that reflect each year’s changing theme. In 2006, the classic fairy tale of Cinderella came to life, with dancers wearing old-fashioned, multi-tiered ball gowns and a carnival game that let guests attempt to grab plush pumpkins with a giant claw. In 2008, designers captured the spirit of Peter Pan with all-green decor and storybook-inspired paintings of Neverland lining the walls of the castle.
In 2009, planners moved the ball from the raw castle to the Westin Waterfront’s grand ballroom to accommodate a budget cut. The event still had an elaborate theme, channeling The Jungle Book with umbrella-topped frozen drinks, hanging vines, and projection screens showing images of animals.
The 2010 fund-raiser moved back to the Castle and had an Aladdin theme that was played out in everything from fez-wearing servers to palm trees lining the perimeter of the dance floor.
Marion Kassler, the hospital’s associate director of special events, currently oversees the planning process. This year’s October event will have a Batman theme, and will once again be hosted at the castle.
