You Can Wear A Kimono To The Princeton Festival Gala

PRINCETON, NJ — Guests who attend the annual Princeton Festival preseason Gala are encouraged to wear kimonos instead of conventional formal attire this year in recognition of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” the festival announced. “Madama Butterfly,” is the festival’s featured opera for 2018.

The event, billed as “a magical evening of dining, dancing, and fluttering fans,” is set for Saturday, April 21, at the Cobblestone Creek Country Club in Lawrenceville. It will include entertainment by cast members of “Butterfly” and this year’s musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Reservations are open through April 13 at www.princetonfestival.org/event/2018-gala/.

Themed as “Fanfare for the Festival,” with dress specified as “Black Tie Preferred – Kimonos Encouraged,” the event will start at 6 p.m. with cocktail piano music by Harry Fini. Janara Kellerman, who will take the role of Suzuki in Butterfly, and Jordan Bunshaft, last year’s Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha, who plays Lycus and Erronius in this year’s Forum, will then entertain the guests. The Courtney Colletti Band will provide after-dinner dance music.

Japan-related objects will be offered in the Gala’s popular silent auction, including an Imari dish, a turquoise kimono, cloisonné boxes, paintings, and a miniature Japanese house. There will also be a live auction featuring such items as a five-day trip for two to the famed Santa Fe Opera, including tickets to two operas; a private dinner party with celebrity chef Jose Cintron; and a painting of a 16th-century Japanese fan.

For more information, visit www.princetonfestival.org.

The attached images were provided