The elegant Daughters of Neptune run a tight ship, with no detail overlooked. The Masked Observer drew this conclusion at the very beginning of the Daughters’ 28th annual ball, when he and Dark Hallway noted the skillful and well-executed choreography of the ladies’ marshals.

“Hardest working and best rehearsed guys we’ve seen so far,” Hallway acknowledged, as the noble lads strutted their way through an opening number that had the crowd rocking before the principal characters took the stage at the Civic Center arena.

As Floral Headpiece astutely pointed out, the total devotion of the Daughters’ escorts was even more dazzling to contemplate when one reflects that the soiree unfortunately happened to coincide with the Super Bowl, arguably the biggest guy night of all guy nights. One escort was overheard telling a neighbor that he’d discovered one of the greatest Carnival hacks ever: an earpiece feeding him the football broadcast, betrayed only when he’d peek at his phone to watch the action.

“My responsibilities just got much easier,” the tuxedoed gent remarked.

Neptune’s Daughters pride themselves on creating unforgettable tableaux, and for 2023, the mermaids transformed itself into the Daughters of Oz, complete with a glorious Emerald City backdrop and all of the principal characters of The Wiz, from floats of Dorothys and munchkins to the much-anticipated winged monkeys and ruby slippers. The Tin Women were cute, Floral Headpiece noted, but her nominees for the Mellow MoonPie Award were the Cowardly Lions, who won major props for their theme song, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and for their furry leggings.

Dark Hallway, predictably, swooned over the flying monkeys of Float F, who sauntered through the procession in black feathers, blue ringmaster jackets and saucy boots, with the audience shaking the stands to the thunderous sounds of “Rock You Like a Hurricane.” And when the sexy Witches of the West strutted their stuff to “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” Hallway leapt up to proclaim, “I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!”

After emcee Gene Murrell announced the reign of radiant Queen Cathy and Emblem Becky, the ladies handed the crowded arena over to the popular Mardi Gras band Fly By Radio – and the elevated in earnest. Guest noshed on a feast of selections in the outer rooms and pranced on stage with the irrepressible DJ Matt McCoy.

Two of the more notable moments of the evening happened within feet of each other, which is a testament to the contrasts evident throughout the Mardi Gras experience on any given season. While gyrating on the dance floor, a radiant damsel was approached by an unknown woman dripping in sparkling stones. The lass couldn’t take her eyes off the young woman’s décolletage, proclaiming it “cleavage worthy of a plunging neckline.”

Smiling, the compliment’s recipient thanked her admirer, and said, “My boyfriend is obsessed with mammary glands, and I realized this may be the only way I’d make it on his Instagram feed.”

Puzzled, the Masked One’s faith in chivalry and affection was quickly restored when he noticed a young man take a knee on the pockmarked parquet to propose to his paramour within the din. And she said yes, which helped solidify the Oz-Fest as the Super Bowl of Carnival balls, although there’s still a long way to go before Ash Wednesday.