A Starry, Starry Night For Emmy Attendees at the Governor’s Ball

This Sunday night, courtesy of Sequoia Productions, West Hall in the Los Angeles Convention Center will be transformed into the largest formal dinner in the United States for the 13^th year in a row. The annual Governor’s Ball, scheduled directly after the Emmy Awards, is set to be catered by famed L.A. restaurant group Patina, and will be decked out with meticulously sweeping grandeur courtesy of award-winning art director Dwight Jackson. I had the fortunate opportunity, on behalf of Poptimal, to sneak a preview of this year’s soiree on Wednesday afternoon, which included a sample of the decadent menu and a visual survey of the impressive site.

The concurrent themes for both style and atmosphere in Sunday’s ball are “Starry, Starry Night” and “Celestial Heaven,” including an ongoing nod to astrology throughout the décor. While this may sound like a high school prom, in actuality the scope of the artistry involved to transform a standard-issue convention hall into such a dazzling spectacle proves beyond impressive. Jackson himself was on hand to elaborate on the staggering detail and overwhelming visual presence the room has in person.

The focal point of the room is the massive, nearly thirty-foot-in-diameter sun surrounding a giant, revolving mirror ball hovering over an elevated dance floor. In the center, a spiral staircase leads up to a towering Emmy award statue live musicians will perform beside, giving them an aerial view of the 3,600 guests below. Additionally, 3,000 smaller mirror balls will suspend from the West Hall ceiling throughout the room to accompany silver table linens and thousands of lighted “stars” twinkling on the carpeted black walls. While an enormous sun and disco ball may seem huge sitting, say, in one’s garage, said Jackson, one needn’t worry about such flamboyant decorations overwhelming a room that’s larger than a regulation-sized football field – 124,000 square feet, to be exact.

“It’s an interesting design problem that doesn’t often occur in film and television – it’s more like a scaling problem, which is what makes this job fun,” Jackson mused, talking about the arduous task of outfitting such a glamorous event taking place in such a cavernous locale.

While I enjoyed admiring the truly remarkable design and decorative aesthetics this year’s Governor’s Ball has to offer, my main interest, as usual, fell squarely on the food and beverage portion of the evening. Patina Executive Catering Chef Alex Lestr presented the evening’s menu, consisting of a first course of a summer vegetable salad with avocado mousse, salsa verde, and heirloom tomato water gelee, a main course of lamb chops with dried fruit crumble, chickpea puree, and basil marinated grilled eggplant with summer vegetables and rosemary juice, and (excuse me while I wipe my drool) a Duncan Hines-partnered dessert course of “dark chocolate decadence” with smoked fleur d’sel, coconut pineapple cupcakes, caramel apple spice cupcakes, and brown butter toffee blondies.

In case you were wondering, I did indeed sample every one of these goodies, and, I must say, tasting the mouth-watering cuisine while immersed in the tremendously ornate surroundings gave me eye-opening, admittedly envious insight into how the other half lives. Did I mention Grey Goose vodka, Beaulieu Vineyard winery and Vitamin Water are sponsors of the event?

Chef Lestr explained the menu has plenty to do with the earlier date of the Emmys this year, in addition to his own  instincts as an esteemed culinary artist. “The Emmys has been moved from September to August, which really changes us from the beginning of fall to the middle of summer,” he began. “So, wow, heirloom tomatoes are just incredible right now, and we also have squashes and zucchini blossoms … we really designed the menu around that … We just came up with food that was delicious, that was seasonal, that we would be able to do very well for 3,500 guests in a short, 2 ½ hour period of time.”

Cheryl Cecchetto, founder of Sequoia Productions, thanked a seemingly endless list of people for assisting her in successfully executing such an impressive event year after year, but put her overall objective into plainly succinct words. “What we love about this venue is that we have the space to be safe and to mingle — and to socialize, and to drink, and to eat – and, as you can see, to dance,” she said.

Governor’s Ball co-chair Russ Patrick, on the other hand, couldn’t keep his composure as under wraps as Cheryl, as his wide-eyed stance rightfully accompanied his statement that surely mimicked what everyone else on the committee was thinking. “We look at each other and say,” he said, gesturing to the extravagant environment, “‘What in God’s name are we gonna do next year that can top the previous year?’” Judging by the bar set at this year’s Governor’s Ball, I’m glad I’m not responsible for answering that question.

For more coverage of The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, click here.