SpearheadNews: Ulrica 20

Youth-in-Age-ia?

A few weeks ago Ulrica emerged from her usual Winter Hibernation to a new Opera Administration and a Soprano Götterdämmerung. Having recently celebrated a half century of loveliness, she opened up a copy of The New York Times to read about what had been going on in the world whilst she caught her much-needed beauty sleep. She smiled superciliously at the headline “Justices Remove Hurdle to Suits Alleging Age Bias.” “Old as I am,” she thought, “the world of the performing Super is still at my feet. No one would dare to age-discriminate against this old hag now.”

Her confidence was shattered a few minutes later when she perused her email and came across the startling bulletin listing Super ops for the coming seasons. Being as old as the sum of the age parameters, she feared that there was no hope for her continued presence on the operatic stage and immediately flew to her telephone to contact her attorney.

Could this be a cruel joke, a bad dream, another of those drama-turgid directorial conceits, or are middle-aged men the new Super Women?

Age-specific nonsense invites the question “Why do we have wigs and makeup?” And since when has this most fanciful of performing arts cared that its participants be the person he or she is playing? We have, after all, seen African-American geishas, 300-pound Chinese princesses, midwestern Ethiopians, and senile Salomes, so why not deliver over-30-year-old military men and pearl-fishing Ceylonese in good makeup and hair dye? (Although, as Paul Szczesiul remarked, “We would have to stop eating now to fit into those costumes.”) After all, Simon Elliott-LeBohn can do only so much. …

And besides, isn’t it a theatrical rule of thumb that things are designed to look good from a distance? One hopes so, because some of those sets look pretty grim from close quarters. So given that, who in the Grand Tier and beyond can see our wrinkles and gray hairs? Certainly the old codgers dozing off in the first three rows (and we’ve all seen them) couldn’t care less about the age of those dim, dark figures at the back of the stage.

Anyhow, the Pearl Fishers audition is on May 10, and Ulrica, although in her dotage, will be there, undaunted, and hopes some other seniors will make it too. And, hey, how about casting some women en travesti in young male roles? Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen operatic gender confusion. Not to belabor the point, but will all the choristers in these productions be under thirty? I think not. I do think, however, that most twenty-somethings won’t want to work all summer for a mere 125 bucks.

Meanwhile, getting into character for the audition, Mike Harvey was out fishing for pearls and this is what he found:

Speaking of good wigs and makeup, beloved Honorary Super Denise Gutierrez will have the scoop on Super ops for the excellent Festival Opera in Walnut Creek and promises to share it with us soon. Festival O is doing Un Ballo in Maschera and Candide this summer. I haven’t heard of any Super age restrictions attached, but the masks at the ball should hide most of our wrinkles.

Gorgeous Hope Briggs, the under-utilized soprano from last year’s Doktor Faust, will star as the Ballo Amelia and should be fabulous. A Super contingent will be there with bouquets, led by this correspondent, anxious to see her Act 1:Scene 2 namesake.

Speaking of bouquets, several designed by the lovely florist Laurel Winzler were featured on the front page of the SF Chronicle a few months ago. The occasion was MTT’s sixtieth Birthday Bash (I hope he doesn’t have any aspirations to be an SFO Super), and Laurel used yards of ribbon to to embellish the presentation bouquets for the maestro and his stars, including Thomas Hampson and Audra McDonald. As Laurel remarked, “If you can’t make it onto the front page yourself, at least get your work on it.”

A Gated Community

During the bleak winter months, not only did Ulrica celebrate that Large Birthday (with a lovely bash attended by many generous Supers), but she also headed to New York with her loved one and with fellow Super Charlie Lichtman (below). The city hosted Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s newest creation, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005: 7,503 saffron-colored gates stretching over 23 miles of pathways.

The work of art was truly an awe-inspiring sight: each gate was a proscenium, each an opportunity for a curtain call. New Yorkers rose to the occasion, and even mink-clad Park Avenue matrons were giddy with the excitement of it all.

SpearheadNews.com Super News 2003-2003

Home What's New Auditions Events Rehearsal Schedules Interviews Photos Reviews More Fun Stuff! The Super Handbook Tips, Tricks, and FAQs San Francisco Opera Links Classifieds Contacts Archives Members Only Spearheadnews.com is not officially affiliated with any performing arts organization. All photographs remain the property of their copyright holders. ©2003 SpearheadNews All Rights Reserved	Super Humans by Ulrica PAGE TWENTY
	Youth-in-Age-ia? A few weeks ago Ulrica emerged from her usual Winter Hibernation to a new Opera Administration and a Soprano Götterdämmerung. Having recently celebrated a half century of loveliness, she opened up a copy of The New York Times to read about what had been going on in the world whilst she caught her much-needed beauty sleep. She smiled superciliously at the headline “Justices Remove Hurdle to Suits Alleging Age Bias.” “Old as I am,” she thought, “the world of the performing Super is still at my feet. No one would dare to age-discriminate against this old hag now.” Her confidence was shattered a few minutes later when she perused her email and came across the startling bulletin listing Super ops for the coming seasons. Being as old as the sum of the age parameters, she feared that there was no hope for her continued presence on the operatic stage and immediately flew to her telephone to contact her attorney. Could this be a cruel joke, a bad dream, another of those drama-turgid directorial conceits, or are middle-aged men the new Super Women? Age-specific nonsense invites the question “Why do we have wigs and makeup?” And since when has this most fanciful of performing arts cared that its participants be the person he or she is playing? We have, after all, seen African-American geishas, 300-pound Chinese princesses, midwestern Ethiopians, and senile Salomes, so why not deliver over-30-year-old military men and pearl-fishing Ceylonese in good makeup and hair dye? (Although, as Paul Szczesiul remarked, “We would have to stop eating now to fit into those costumes.”) After all, Simon Elliott-LeBohn can do only so much. … And besides, isn’t it a theatrical rule of thumb that things are designed to look good from a distance? One hopes so, because some of those sets look pretty grim from close quarters. So given that, who in the Grand Tier and beyond can see our wrinkles and gray hairs? Certainly the old codgers dozing off in the first three rows (and we’ve all seen them) couldn’t care less about the age of those dim, dark figures at the back of the stage. Anyhow, the Pearl Fishers audition is on May 10, and Ulrica, although in her dotage, will be there, undaunted, and hopes some other seniors will make it too. And, hey, how about casting some women en travesti in young male roles? Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen operatic gender confusion. Not to belabor the point, but will all the choristers in these productions be under thirty? I think not. I do think, however, that most twenty-somethings won’t want to work all summer for a mere 125 bucks. Meanwhile, getting into character for the audition, Mike Harvey was out fishing for pearls and this is what he found: Speaking of good wigs and makeup, beloved Honorary Super Denise Gutierrez will have the scoop on Super ops for the excellent Festival Opera in Walnut Creek and promises to share it with us soon. Festival O is doing Un Ballo in Maschera and Candide this summer. I haven’t heard of any Super age restrictions attached, but the masks at the ball should hide most of our wrinkles. Gorgeous Hope Briggs, the under-utilized soprano from last year’s Doktor Faust, will star as the Ballo Amelia and should be fabulous. A Super contingent will be there with bouquets, led by this correspondent, anxious to see her Act 1:Scene 2 namesake. Speaking of bouquets, several designed by the lovely florist Laurel Winzler were featured on the front page of the SF Chronicle a few months ago. The occasion was MTT’s sixtieth Birthday Bash (I hope he doesn’t have any aspirations to be an SFO Super), and Laurel used yards of ribbon to to embellish the presentation bouquets for the maestro and his stars, including Thomas Hampson and Audra McDonald. As Laurel remarked, “If you can’t make it onto the front page yourself, at least get your work on it.” A Gated Community During the bleak winter months, not only did Ulrica celebrate that Large Birthday (with a lovely bash attended by many generous Supers), but she also headed to New York with her loved one and with fellow Super Charlie Lichtman (below). The city hosted Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s newest creation, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005: 7,503 saffron-colored gates stretching over 23 miles of pathways. The work of art was truly an awe-inspiring sight: each gate was a proscenium, each an opportunity for a curtain call. New Yorkers rose to the occasion, and even mink-clad Park Avenue matrons were giddy with the excitement of it all.	Other Contemporary Art mavens, including Spearhead editor Mark Burstein's beautiful wife, sculptor Llisa Demetrios, and Martin, their son, also headed East for the art event of the decade. Opera was at a premium, with the NYCO on hiatus and the Met serving up an unremarkable series of greatest hits. However, our merry band managed to catch their Super-intensive Zefferelli production of Turandot (never have so many popoli been seen, for so long, and from so far away). But the real discovery was a small company, Gotham Chamber Opera, whose U.S.-premiere production of Handel’s Arianna in Creta. Proving that it really is a tiny world, the three of us took our seats in the small theater and found ourselves sitting right next to Hammy Award-winning Super and lightwalker Ursula Grunfeld! Ursula was there to support her Adler Fellow sponsoree Katherine Rohrer, who was outstanding in the challenging role of Teseo. The cast was universally excellent, and director Christopher Alden gave us some unforgettable imagery, not least of which was Kat singing one very difficult passage while actually brushing her teeth. The production was New York’s operatic event of the month, and deservedly so. Christopher Alden is an extraordinary director, although his recent Opera Center triple bill (What Fools These Husbands Be!) at the Cowell Theater didn’t strike Ulrica as being quite as well resolved. Perhaps the time constraints of a one-act work fight against the overall development of an image. It was sold out, though, and definitely had its moments. The SFO Royalty were out in force on Opening Night with OC Director Sherri Greenawald applauding ferociously and the usual Super supects hanging out in the foyer, as only Supers can. Katherine Rohrer returns to SFO for a handful of performances in Cosi fan Tutte and will be the subject of an interview by Tom Carlisle. I’m told that Nathan Gunn will also be making a very welcome return in Cosi. If SFO knows anything about its audience, it will provide him with the opportunity to bare his chest. But the Cosi highlight will, of course, be getting another chance to see Super redhead and Spearhead team member Lynn Meinhardt looking hot in her WWI nurse’s uniform. . My sources tell me that Supers at the Houston Grand Opera get much better reimbursement for their efforts than do we. One would push for a pay raise if there were any work for One. As things stand, it’s a moot point, unless the directors happen to be looking for Albert Einstein look-alike mad scientists for the atomic bomb opera. And what happened to La Fanciulla Del West? Can it be true that it was dropped from the season so late in the day that they had to reprint the brochure? Shame on them for not making it happen (despite being set in Northern California, and despite being one of Puccini’s most exciting operas, it hasn’t been performed at SFO in over 20 years). NY Times critic Anne Midgette reviewed the new Glimmerglass/NYCO production and praised its “wonderful, rich, dense score.” But if a substitute was required, did it have to be Madama Butterfly for (I think) the sixth time in a dozen seasons? Don’t they realize that Oliver Pollard left town? And as for that Soprano Götterdämmerung, we should mourn the recent passings of Victoria de los Angeles and Renata Tebaldi; true artists, both. Although I never had the opportunity to see Tebaldi perform, one of my most cherished operatic memories is of Victoria de los Angeles singing a recital, as a last-minute substitution for Caballe, at Davies Symphony Hall about ten years ago. It was a truly magical evening. As these things happen in threes (Pope John Paul II, Prince Rainier III and Terri Schiavo, for example), if I were Licia Albanese, I would be very worried. P.S. - Yesterday's mail brought my copy of the new 2005-2006 SFO season brochure. Ulrica understands that opera is really all about sex but did it have to be so ..er... Sapphic? La Forza may have a heroine in drag but it is really about the love between two men who are, unknowingly, enemies. Odd to see Joan of Arc depicted as one of the Dykes on Bikes, but it is interesting to note, given recent dictates, that the only lady of "a certain age" shown in the brochure is behind bars! Page 19 MORE ULRICA Page 21

Super Humans by Ulrica PAGE TWENTY