The gala begins at the Opera House where there will be cocktail receptions, seated dinners, and a gala performance of among other things “Romeo and Juliet.” For the celebration, the Opera House will

"take on the air of an Italian villa and gardens, with a dining terrace, a grand gate and lush, jewel-tone flowers and golden linens on the table, by Mandy Scott Flowers and Michael Anthony Design."

From there, there will be a post-performance celebration at City Hall, which

"will be transformed into an Italian palazzo, with strolling mandolin players, a grand chandelier, and numerous candelabras on tables dressed in aqua linens for the benefactor party, and fuchsia and gold for the patron party."

All this for either $800 per seat for Patrons or $1,500 for Benefactors.

Who should be in attendance? Well, since there was no Evite that got sent out concerning the Masked Ball which would allow us to see whose going and whose not going, we don’t know. Expect that the next big Catherine Bigelow column, however, will features lots of fabulous photos of the Getty’s, the Tompkins-Bell's, the Swigg-Schultz’s and a whole lot of other people we’ve never run into at Zietgiest. We’re also guessing that the newly single Gavin will be in attendance, so ladies, get your masks ready!

Photo of Alison Carlson, the 2005 auxiliary gala chair (right) and auxiliary committee member Trish Ferrin courtesy of SFGate.