Black Tie & Tales

+ Unmasking the Opera Gala
The people and the place (the Hyatt Regency Sarasota ballroom) never looked better than at the Feb. 1 Sarasota Opera Masked Ball. Edie Chaifetz and Jacqueline Morton were even more glamorous than usual in red. Stephanie Shaw (left) was a lesson in good design with a large mask in an inverted V shape echoing the V of the skirt of her gown. Perhaps the most fun garb was a black mask, white hat, bolo tie and star badge on Bud Shapiro, who wisecracked, “Haven’t you ever seen a Jewish sheriff?”

Naming a “best mask” would be impossible, but Wendy Feinstein would have been a contender; she and hubby, Jerry, went mask shopping in New Orleans on their annual New Year’s visit. It was great to see Jerry cutting the rug as though his miserable summer of back surgery had never happened.

Many opera gala guests had been to the Sarasota Ballet the previous evening and raved about the premiere of Will Tuckett’s “Lux Aeterna” and Iain Webb’s post-performance party announcement that the troupe has been invited to perform at City Center in New York.

See more photos from the gala here.

+ Fierce, fabulous and 40
What do you do when you and your husband’s birthdays fall within weeks of each other? Throw a big bash, of course!

To celebrate their 40th birthdays, Wayne (Feb. 22) and Mindy Rollins (Jan. 26) enjoyed the company of 40 of their closest friends and family for a weekend of fun at their beachfront home. It kicked off Jan. 31 with a casual barbecue and then a beachside bash Feb. 1, which included a fireworks show by Firepower Fireworks and tunes spun by DJ Kuma.

Among those toasting the birthday couple: Chris Pinckney and Johanna Gustafsson, Brooke and Karen Misantone, Roger and Alisa Pettingell, Richard and Bianca Lawrence, Steve and Catherine Ellis and Mark and Aurelie van den Broek.

Also celebrating a 40th birthday recently was Amanda Morris. Husband, Rob, with planning committee Retta Wagner, Jamie Becker and Lesley France, hosted a party in his wife’s honor at Star Keeper Café. Special (and pink!) details filled the quaint restaurant, and more than 50 guests enjoyed the celebration, including parents Frank and Emily Buskirk, in-laws Bob and Pam Morris and friends Julie Dooley, Colleen Shoemaker, Ariane Dart, Ashley Carson, Heather O’Neill, Stephanie Kempton and Katie Hollingsworth, to name a few.

+ Super Bowl round-up
This year’s Super Bowl party was Joan Mendell’s 20th and the fourth co-hosted with beau Bob Coppenrath. Mendell had 26 guests at her first party; this year, there were more than 80. That’s called going-out with a bang because the couple has decided, “This is our finale.” … Howard Millman and Carolyn Michel hosted another longstanding get-together for the same guys who gather in their pool house on Sundays all season long. That gang includes Bruce Rodgers, Stan Jacob, Len Gumley, Jimmy Hoskins, Alan Kurland and more. For the Super Bowl, they bring their women, but they had to do without Michel this year — she was at the Asolo rehearsing “Grapes of Wrath.” Allen and Stephanie Hochfelder hosted a dual-purpose event to introduce local friends to visiting friends Iris and Marty Gradman as well as watch the game. At L’Ambiance, social committee Chairwoman Sylvia Pastor with help from Betty Ewing and food contributions from Marion Levine and Connie Cotros once again put together a full feast for more than 60 guests. This, too, was a double-header; it also celebrated the 60th wedding anniversary of Sherman and Joyce Cooper.

+ Tidbits
Some enchanted evenings … There was a handsome stranger recently seen at an Asolo Rep opening night, two circus performances, the Downton Abbey dinner at Café L’Europe and elsewhere around town. It was Ruth Tyler, here for three weeks visiting Ron Taub and his daughter Marcia Jean Taub. Now 85, Tyler joined the Taub family 56 years ago this month to take care of Marcia Jean, her siblings and the two grandmothers who lived with them. “It made us happy to do for her a bit as she has given so much to my family over the years,” said Marcia Jean Taub. Looks like it made Tyler happy as well … Not so fast there … Photographer Cliff Roles passed his citizenship test Jan. 29 and mentioned it to Sen. Nancy Detert at the Gulfcoast Builders Exchange awards banquet Jan. 30. She marched him up to Gov. Rick Scott, who not only congratulated Roles on his accomplishment, but also announced it to the crowd. Just one teeny problem: It isn’t quite true until Roles is sworn in at a yet-to-be-determined date … Blue suede shoes … Dan Babcock and Miqui Lora’s shoes were event appropriate at Child Protection Center’s Blue Ties and Butterflies preview party Jan. 30. Babcock brought out his blue Prada loafers for the event and Lora found these L.L. Bean duck boots in her car. “I had on my Gucci loafers but it started raining and so I put these on — and they’re blue!” she said. See more photos here.