Enter Madame
One of La Cieca’s intricate network of spies has been keeping his ear to the ground in San Francisco where a supernumerary friend whispered to him that “there was concern amongst the SFO backstage ranks that since La Gheorghiu had yet to show up for any La rondine rehearsals, that she may go the route of of her recent Lyric Opera contretemps and be dismissed as a no-show.”
Signor Spy assured his super friend that Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna “were merely enjoying a personal idyll in NYC … that once Mr. Alagna finished up with Pinkerton last Saturday, she (or both) would probably be winging to the West Coast to keep the SFO commitment.” He then passed along to La Cieca a report on the soprano’s “first rehearsal appearance.”
UPDATE: Well, now it seems our original spy has reconsidered the hearsay he shared earlier and asked that the “Super” quotes be removed. Fair enough, La Cieca thinks, since she’s not entirely clear on whether Super gave Spy carte blanche to share the “insights” in the first place.
La Cieca does not plan on making a habit of putting the toothpaste back in the tube, but this appears to be a special case. Okay with you, cher public?
This is to be expected. I work as an usher at San Francisco, and I can say this, that La Rondine is the only opera this season not to have an open dress rehersal, at La Angela’s request/demand.
If I were the complaining chorus member I would just go backstage and slap the shit out of her, even if they arrested me for assault it would be worth it…I don’t know honey, she is just rude…she has proven time and again that she is an asshole and she needs to be horsewhipped…
Well well.
This anecdote doesn’t really illuminate much, does it? Oh yes, that’s right: some supernumeraries were “inconvenienced”. Big deal. Ms. Gheorghiu may well be an idiot for all I know (never met her), but come on. Nobody gives a damn about a “complaining chorus member” – nevermind a simple supernumerary. Please let us get some perspective here.
Angela is known to be and act like a prick. She, apparently, learned nothing from the CLO lesson. I hope other opera company managers have the guts to put their foot down like Chicago. The time of warshiping and yielding to cantakerous prima donnas is over.
Don’t forget that Angie George comes from the land of Vlad Drak and Mrs. Ceaucescu (and Mr.) so maybe it is a Cultural thing the way she acts. Too bsd she and Nellie Melba never got to meet one another. The fur would fly. And Emma Eames would probably have punched her out. Hate to think what Mr. Bindernagel or Gesualdo would have done.
It is a little difficult to feel much sympathy, or belief in this whiney -sounding “super”…he was miffed to start with , since there hadn’t been much “bonding” going on btween the other dudes…awwww!, poor baby…
Yeah, Ms. G. might possibly be unprofessional, sometimes, ..but not much more then some back-stage” snitch”, telling fluffed -up backstage rubbish
As a longtime San Francisco Opera supernumerary, I have to agree with everyone who’s sniping at the whining super. “La Rondine” is about the Diva, dude, not your stupid super business. I have a neighbor covering one of the singing roles in the production, and she reported that Ms. Angela was quite gracious with the other singers last night, so take this entire account with many grains of salt.
just for the record … it’s LOC … not CLO.
Maybe we should be careful in here about backstage stories. We went through that posting war a while back about who very famous was either gropin’ or chugaluggin’ in the dressingroom area. Also, in my previous comment I probably should not have inferred that Angie needed to actually be murdered. I apologize.
Dear all,
Miss Gheorghiu was not the singer who was singing offstage during post-rehearsal notes, one assumes, at the request of the conductor, who may not have known what was happening onstage.