I mean details like the tiny carnival lights and fleurs-de-lis patterns that run around the periphery, and the way the bottoms of the carousel pieces were inserted through slits in the facing sheet and glued in place to the back sheet, obscured from prying eyes. I don’t just mean the perfect way that it opens to create the carousel or the hyper-realistic look of the horses captured mid-prance. That’s because the only way to fully appreciate the level of detail that went into it is to see it actually opened in real time. Quite frankly it is the type of project that I started making these videos for in the first place.

Accent Opaque Smooth Cover, the carousel is a masterpiece of folding, scoring and laser die cutting. What I wasn’t expecting was the invitation to transform itself into a gorgeous, three-dimensional carousel! I was expecting a nice layout of images from Houston Grand Opera productions past, maybe the clichéd horned helmet or two. All right, enough of this delayed-gratification stuff – it’s time to open this puppy, er, horsey up. Already you can feel the pulse quicken a little – these are people who sweat the details.

Look closely and you’ll find that the subtle, diamond-like pattern behind the horse is repeated more forcefully on the inside of the envelope. How apt, then, that the invitation for its 2016 Opera Ball fundraiser that was slipped unassumingly into select letterboxes throughout the city, opened to reveal something that sprang gloriously and unexpectedly to life.Ĭrafted by Lavandula Design, the piece arrived in a distinctive oversize envelope boasting a parchment-like pattern and strikingly designed logo for the ball’s theme that year: “Carousel.” Upon opening it recipients were greeted with a delightful image of a merry-go-round horse on the cover of the invitation.

From its choice of operas to the way they are staged, it never fails to surprise. But those who frequent and support the Houston Grand Opera know better. For the uninitiated, opera might seem a stale, stodgy affair better suited to some bygone era.

Houston grand opera carousel