A Great Day at the Auto-da-fé

Records were broken at yesterday's steamy Bake Sale Español, held during the opening of Don Carlos, with a staggering $885 taken in! As memory serves, the previous high was $700+ at last season's Turandot. Buyers were clamoring for baked goodies half an hour before the official opening time and by noon a line stretched out the door, along the corridor and possibly into the auditorium. Supers excelled themselves with contributions including beef stroganoff, Tom Carlisle's paella, Lisa Lorea's meatball tapas, Larry Hunnicutt's corn bread fiesta and Joan Kwansa's crisp green salad.

Thank you to everyone who contributed, donated, bought and volunteered. It will be a hard one to beat but we have the chance next month for the final Bake Sale of 2003 on Sunday November 16th, at another Don Carlos matinée. Proceeds from both will, of course, help underwrite the Annual Party.

Although a warning to this effect was omitted from the Bake Sale poster design, there is never to be any eating in costume at these events; but we all knew that, didn't we?

It must be the habit...

What is it about "Twisted Sister" that makes everyone open up their hearts to her? I opened my mailbox yesterday to find the following, written in her characteristic, flowery handwriting:

I also had a chance to catch up with Sam Ramey backstage at Davies Hall after his performance there in the Berlioz Romeo et Juliette. He sounded great, and was in good spirits afterwards. The famous Ramey hair is grayer (a new baby can do that to you!) and more controlled, but he is as trim and lively as ever. He confided that he has no upcoming bookings with SFO, which puts his name on a verrrrrrrrrry long list of stalwarts we will be missing in the coming years�sigh.

Addio, Marco, and Ciao, Sam.

Love,
TS

Thinking only of herself, Ulrica was just thrilled to learn that she would be appearing on Opening Night, 2006.

First, �Buffy,� now this�

Sorry to hear that another backstage favorite will be missing from the ASM line up next season. That would be Kathleen Edwards, whose patience, humor and attention grabbing, backstage gyrations will be much missed. Kathleen will surely be going on to great things elsewhere but she has been a great friend to us Supers and we hope to be able to bid her a fond farewell at the Annual Party next month.

Super Sacrifices

Some of us go to great lengths to fulfill our obligations as Supers. A few years ago Irene Bechtle turned down an offer of a nun's role in the Disney mega-hit �Sister Act,� which was filming in Noe Valley, to be a Super. Irene had a part in that year's outing of Carmen alongside her husband and her son, Richard. Not wanting to break up the family group, Irene forfeited the chance to bop along with Whoopi Goldberg, instead waving from a balcony, half-hidden behind the supertitles, during the brief Act IV parade. That is devotion to supering.

A Hair-raising Tale

Susan Anderson's own devotion to the opera extends far beyond buying the occasional standing room ticket. If you have ever wondered where our fake beards and moustaches originate it could be from red-haired Susan. The wig department regularly �harvests� her hair for just that purpose. Not only is Susan being austere in Don Carlos at the moment but she is up all night taking care of her ailing saluki dog, Wiley. Wiley came to Susan from an animal rescue with a heart problem, and couldn't have landed in better care. Get well soon, Wiley.

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