The 2015 “Flights of Fancy Opera Ball” transported guests back to the days when Howard Hughes and Amelia Earhart stayed at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport during layovers. Greeters at the door were dressed in red flight attendant attire, with all “wings and things.”
The steering committee included Co-Chairs Carol Hall and Ann Duffy of the Women’s Guild and Annie Machado of the Opera Juniors. Leadership of the Women’s Guild of the New Orleans Opera Association includes Women’s Guild President Betsy Dowling, Vice President Virginia Eckholdt, Fundraising Chair Melissa Gordon, Junior Committee Chairman Autumn Harrell, Opera Association President Dr. Ranney Mize, and Maestro Robert Lyall, Opera General Director and Artistic Director.
A patron party preceded the 1930s period attire ball with specialty cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment from The New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra, to which guests tapped their feet and demonstrated variations of the Charleston.
The ball followed in the Terminal with a silent auction, music by “The Yat Pack” and a seated dinner served by Messina’s at the Terminal. The dining tables were topped with tall glass vases sparkling with blue lights and vintage 1930s silver airplanes spaced high above the seated guests. A live auction featured an original painting by Mary De La Barre along with a Lee Michaels’ special piece of jewelry.
EVENT AT A GLANCE
What: “Flights of Fancy Opera Ball,” benefiting the Women’s Guild of New Orleans Opera
When: Saturday, January 17
Where: New Orleans Lakefront Airport
