Paper was the primary decor at the New York City Opera’s opening night gala, produced by Bowen & Company and overseen by the opera’s special events director, Sarah Denton, giving the fete a decidedly romantic look. Following a performance of Capriccio, guests had dinner and danced to the Peter Duchin Orchestra on the grand promenade of the New York State Theater, where the decor played on Capriccio’s words-and-music plot, in which a widowed countess chooses between the love of a poet and a composer. Designer Avi Adler commissioned high-end calligrapher Bernard Maisner to draft love letters that were reproduced on thousands of red, white, and gold-toned leafs, which formed massive canopies soaring 10 feet above the tabletops. At their bases, the paper centerpieces also featured luminaries in various sizes and heights. On alternating tables, squat displays of red roses and dahlias in vases were wrapped with sheet music and love letters. Two 25-foot-high, 18-foot-wide curtains made from 10,000 similar pages flanked the dining room. (By the way, all that paper was treated to make it less flammable.)
—Alesandra Dubin
Photos: Patrick McMullan (dining room, luminaries), courtesy of Paul Wilmot Communications (centerpiece)
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—Alesandra Dubin
Photos: Patrick McMullan (dining room, luminaries), courtesy of Paul Wilmot Communications (centerpiece)
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City Opera Has Romantic Arrangements
Opera Opening Brings Stage Design to Dinner
Calligraphy-covered paper was the primary decor at the New York City Opera’s opening night gala at the New York State Theater.
Red, white, and gold-toned leafs comprised massive canopies that soared 10 feet above the tabletops.
The paper centerpieces also featured luminaries at their bases, in a variety of sizes and heights.
