By La Cieca 
A spy informs La Cieca, “In the question and answer segment of tonight’s evening honoring Jessye Norman at National Sawdust, this guy stood up and asked the diva what it felt like getting trapped inside the stage pyramid during the Met’s premiere of Antony and Cleopatra.”
Cooed La Norman (who was, after all, born to play Vera Charles), “Oh dear, I was still in middle school. That was Miss Leontyne Price!”
James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.
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Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
