For the fourth year in a row, Boca’s wildest and most over-the-top Halloween party is upon us. Halloween at The Addison, in which the normally romantic and stately event venue transforms into a ghoulish freak show, returns tomorrow, Oct. 31, starting at 7:30 p.m. and probably wrapping up sometime prior to the witching hour.
“It really is something we’re talking about and planning for year-round, from the concepting to figuring out what the theme is,” says Melanie de Vito, marketing director for The Addison. “Then it’s a good solid two months of building props and getting the final details in order. We’re talking about next year’s Halloween during the current year’s event.”
The Addison works with a reliable stable of community partners such as Daniel Events, which handles the overarching décor; Fright Nights, which supplies some of the scare-actors; and Costume World, whose variety of attire is essential to the event’s success. All together, De Vito says, up to 75 staff members work to pull it off, at a cost of approximately $65,000.
Part of that expense lies in reinventing the horror-themed wheel every year. Tomorrow’s theme is “Neon Nights.” “It plays to that glow trend that’s happening with events right now,” De Vito says. “We’ve got four main spaces. One is our main dining room, which is all dressed up for Day of the Dead. Our Mizner Ballroom is going to be a neon clown rave with killer clowns and a lot of really great blacklight production. In our Solano Ballroom, we’re doing a dessert room that’s over-the-top like a twisted Candyland or Willy Wonka. And our courtyard will be New Orleans voodoo-style.”
While there won’t be a haunted-house attraction this year, the roving talent, the contortionists from Rainbow Circus, the custom DJs and an annual drag show ensure that the entire space will be filled to the brim with spooky entertainment.
De Vito says she feels the pressure each season to outdo the crazy hedonism from the previous year. “We always want to please our guests and surprise them, and we aim for that wow factor,” she says. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get creative think outside the box. We aim to please.”
As for the overall appeal of Halloween? “It’s such a great holiday,” she says. “People have an opportunity to be whoever it is they want to be, indulge in some really good food and drinks and sweets, and let loose, without the pressure of gift-giving that comes with the other holidays. It’s a holiday about fantasy and indulging.”
Tickets for Halloween at The Addison, co-sponsored by Boca magazine, run $110-$250 per person, which includes all food and an open bar. The address is 2 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton. Visit theaddisonofbocaraton.com.
