The limestone used on the exterior was brought from Bedford, Indiana and carved by a team of stone carvers at Ingalls Stone Company under the direction of Harry Liva. As they did on other occasions, the architects commissioned Henry Hering to produce architectural sculpture for the building. Insull selected the architecture firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White who were responsible for numerous buildings in the downtown Chicago Loop (including the art deco Merchandise Mart and the former Morton Salt headquarters building next door to the Civic Opera House at 110 N Wacker, constructed in the 1950s). The building has been seen as being shaped like a huge chair and is sometimes referred to as "Insull's Throne" or "Insull's Folly." Some 550 guests attended, and the final take was $484,000.Samuel Insull envisioned and hired the design team for building a new opera house to serve as the home for the Chicago Civic Opera. Beginning with a cocktail reception featuring tasting stations from local restaurants, the evening also included dancing to a live band and a cabaret performance by Lyric Opera singers. Servers and guests donned the thematic accessory, and the specialty drink-a blend of cassis, blackberries, and Veuve Clicquot Champagne-was known as the "Royale Unmasked." Calihan's three-course dinner ended with a chocolate-almond cake topped with a tiny edible mask.Īpart from the preponderance of masks, the event remained relatively unchanged from previous years. In keeping with theme, masks showed up in everything from Richard Remiard Event Design's centerpieces to giant gobos in the foyer, which illuminated columns with grinning pink faces. This year, the Saturday-night event at the Civic Opera House was dubbed "Masked Ball." Monica Pedersen was chair, and Patrick Bitterman co-chaired. From diamonds to hearts, the Lyric Opera's Fantasy of the Opera benefit never shies away from a theme.
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