Hollywood icon Sharon Stone, known for her tour de force performances of female power in movies like “Basic Instinct” and “Casino,” will attend this year’s Vienna Opera Ball.
She will grace the red carpet as the guest of confectionery entrepreneur Karl Guschlbauer, the man known as Austria’s “cream roll king,” when the gala is held on February 12.
The actress expressed her anticipation for the traditional event, which is the crown jewel of the Austrian social calendar and draws around 5,000 participants.
“The Opera Ball is a world-renowned event, and the opera house is a magical place. I am very much looking forward to immersing myself in this world,” Stone said in a statement released by Guschlbauer’s team on Wednesday.
Guschlbauer’s invitation marks a strategic move to fill a void left in the wake of Richard “Mörtel” Lugner’s death in 2024.
For decades, the businessman and Vienna society figure was famous for inviting high-profile US celebrities – from Kim Kardashian to Jane Fonda – to accompany him to the ball, often generating significant media buzz.
Ahead of the ball, Stone plans to hold a press conference and sign autographs on February 10 at Guschlbauer’s company headquarters in the small Austrian town of St Willibald.
“Her charisma, elegance and social commitment fit perfectly with our brand and our understanding of culinary culture,” Guschlbauer said in the statement.
Guschlbauer runs a chain of eponymous bakeries that specialize in breads and traditional Austrian coffee-house cakes. But the shop is perhaps best known for its puff-pastry spirals filled generously with cream and finished with powdered sugar.