Under the Royal Tent on the grounds of the New Orleans Country Club and with the Robert Maxwell-led Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra playing, the tableau for the 131st anniversary ball of the Krewe of Nereus developed. Recalling the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing,” His Majesty’s Tableau Players entered a transfer portal that took guests to the film’s iconic ballroom at Kellerman’s Vacation Resort. Fused within this frolic was some pigskin playfulness.
The formality was that of Carnival royalty. Gracing the pageantry as the queen was Miss Madeline Frances Kessels, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John Sellers Kessels. She made a sunning picture in a trumpet-silhouette gown designed by Suzanne Perron St. Paul. Fashioned of silk satin, silver tulle and re-embroidered lace with crystals and sequins, it featured a lace pattern that captured the aquatic theme of Nereus. In classical mythology, the sea god Nereus “was father to half a hundred sea nymphs.” He was also known for his love of justice and truth.
Maids of the court, nine in number, were Misses Devron Blais Barreca, Adelaide Elizabeth Benzman, Ellen Margaret Daly, Taylor Lee Elliott, Catherine Carlisle Martin, Ellie Eugenie Menszer, Sloane Alexandra Paysse, Kathleen Brewer Ready and Lillian Margaret Roussel. Two had already worn Carnival crowns for this season: Miss Daly, Olympians, and Miss Paysse, Caliphs of Cairo.
Masters Cornelius William Booher IV and Hayden West Janke served as pages to their majesties. The identity of the king, Nereus, was not revealed, but he reveled in his royalty and the comeliness of his consort Madeline. Mr. Stephen Henry Schonberg chaired the court committee with assistance from nine vice chairmen. The occasion was also the first with a new ball captain, who acquitted himself in fine style.
Miss Madison Elizabeth Hales reigned in 2025 when the Nereus ball commemorated the 125th anniversary of the world’s first electric parade: the krewe’s! She was presented to the monarchs of this year and received a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses. For the recent bal masqué, she was seated with her mother, Mrs. Stephen Benjamin Hales, who as Kendall Goodier, was honored years ago as a Nereus maid. Joining them was Mrs. Glenn Gill Goodier, the mother of Kendall and grandmother of Madison.
The queen’s mother, Therese Kessels, chose a design by La DoubleJ. The name Kessels appeared within a royal framework in 1992 when Miss Margaret Maddix Kessels held the krewe’s scepter. Additional former queens were in the 2026 audience. All were regaled by Kirk Redmann, who opened the formalities with the robustness of his operatic voice for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Later, the Maxwell orchestra played the Crescent City favorite, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Among the other ladies applauding him were Mmes. Thomas Kessels, Jeff Richards, Pieter Kessels, Marvin Talbot Richard, Anne Comarda, John Hills, Ralph G. Breaux (the 1994 queen as Miss Gretchen Patricia Schonberg), Kenneth C. Butler, Stephen H. Schonberg, David T. Ventola and Patrick A. Schonberg. Also, Ms. Joyce Delery, Miss Renee Elizabeth Breaux (her majesty of 2022), Miss Marguerite Lisette Breaux, and Ms. Elizabeth C. Schonberg. Many wore the krewe favor: a three-dimensional rhinestone-encrusted jellyfish to further the aquatic motif. It was introduced on the ball invitation (and later, the program) by artist Tim Trapolin.
Both sea and land lovers then headed to the New Orleans Country Club when the masked ball concluded for the joys of the Queen’s Supper. Seashells and seahorses bedecked the tables, as did white roses and gold crowns. Traditional breakfast fare fueled the late-night throng, who gravitated to the band in the club’s main ballroom. There BRW, which set the night to dancing, picked up on the dance-sport theme. A krewe member got up and sang Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” and the whole throng sang along. No one, and certainly not Baby (in any incarnation) was put in a corner when the decibels revved up.
As for queen Madeline, she had the time of her life! “The whole experience has been amazing,” she commented, adding how grateful she was and honored. During the ball, she captured every eye as she sat on the throne or processed in a grand march. In the course of the supper, she ascended the stage with the band, who played “Sweet Caroline,” but sang, in her honor, “Sweet Madeline.”
“I was so surprised,” said Miss Kate Faulkner Bensel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Charles Bensel, as she related the news that she was to be the queen of Osiris. “I found out in March,” she continued. The honor of majesty and appreciation of all that it entailed was further expressed. She had also issued a royal request: that select guests attend a reception at her family home, where she was the conversational cynosure, prior to the ball in the Royal Tent of the New Orleans Country Club. At the ball, queen Kate joined his majesty, who took to the royal role with brio, within an impressive Egyptian setting in the Palace of the Sun, befitting the name of the Carnival krewe and the deity, Osiris.
Included within the eye-catching court were the maids, Misses Madeleine Odette Black, Mary Roberts Favor, Lillian Lair Hooper, Annabel Katherine McCarthy, Madeleine Paige Morrison, Kathleen Brewer Ready, Georgia Kathryn Scott and Helen Claire Thompson. Also, princesses Madeleine Rose Adatto, Campbell Grace Banta, Caitlin August Brennan, Florence Virginia Dupuy, Elizabeth Helen Fitzpatrick, Emily McKay Guider, Caroline Ann Kogos, Evelyn Anne Lauscha, Livie Freret Montgomery, Riley Helyn Ralston and Elizabeth Grace Taylor. The page threesome included Masters Thomas Gordon McLeod Jr., James Rowan Williams and Thomas Jackson Bethune V. Further focus tapped the 2025 queen, Miss Melanie Kathleen Talbot, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brent Arnold Talbot, and Martha Stephens Johnson, who reigned 50 years ago. Messrs. Christian Gibbs Hooper and Ralph Owen Brennan chaired the court committee with assistance from eight vice chairmen. For the majestic music, Robert Maxwell led the Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra.
Refulgence was to the sartorial fore in the queen’s gown of silver lamé, woven with shimmering metallic threads and overlaid with custom beaded embroidery. It was created by Katie Johnson of Royal Design House in a refined A-line silhouette. The monarch garnered effusive applause from her subjects, many in choice seats. Noted were the royal mother, Jane Bensel, along with Mmes. Beau James Box, Charles Edouard de la Vergne III, Patrick Ryan Gambel, William Cabell Nelson, Eric Wayne Hoffman, John Peter “Jack” Laborde, Conor Thomas Lutkewitte, Christian Gibbs Hooper, Justin Burton Schmidt, Edouard James Kock III, Andrew Bell Wisdom, Tom Benson (Gayle Marie Benson), William J. Goliwas, Joseph Sanders Mann Jr., James Joseph Reiss III, and Miss Emily Johnson. They, and others, were delighted recipients of the krewe favor ostrich pin. More design came from Katie Rafferty for the ball program’s Egyptian-themed artwork.
As is tradition, a lively Queen’s Supper followed. Rooms within the New Orleans Country Club accommodated arrangements of festive flowers; a breakfast with requisite king cake; and the lively sounds of The Mustache Band from Oxford, Mississippi, which kept the dance-floor gyrating well past midnight. Thus the night closed, but the sun will never set on the memories of her reign held by Osiris queen Kate.