To paraphrase only slightly La Cieca’s dear friend Mrs. Lloyd Richards, “This beats all world’s records for running, standing and jumping Gaul!”

Yes, cher public, that day we have all dreaded will soon arrive, because, so La Cieca hears, the contracts have been signed for a new production of Norma in Zurich, to be televised and released on DVD. And it stars — oh, all right, La Cieca has put it off long enough — it stars Renee Fleming as The Beautiful Druid.

If you’ll excuse her, La Cieca is going to start drinking now, so she’ll be good and unconscious in time for the first interview using the angle “as a single mother with a demanding career, I can identify with Norma’s dilemma.”