The Super Party of 2003

Although the rumor was that Ulrica was not in attendance the night of November 23rd the truth is that she was, albeit incognito. Her heightened sense of duty brought her out of semi-retirement to cover the goings on at the 2003 Annual Super Party.

This year the party was held at the historic Fort Mason. Fortunately it was a very clear night affording us a wonderful view of the Marina and the Golden Gate Bridge. This venue had been suggested by Wendy Cook of Trademark Events in San Francisco, a friend of Super Committee member Priscilla Lore. Wendy was working pro bono and helped lay out the room with theater-style seating in front of the stage, which had an enigmatic still life consisting of a director's chair with a black hat on it for most of the evening. Over 130 guests had RSVP-ed and a good half of them arrived (as Supers are wont to do) half an hour before their �call time.� The party officially got under way at 7 p.m. but by then the wine was flowing�courtesy of Bruce McNaughton and his volunteer bartenders�and the party was nicely warmed up.

Within seconds of the food appearing on the buffet table a line of 130 people had formed, winding its way around the hall. Catering was once again by All Seasons, and committee member / Costco Queen Mimi Timberlake did an outstanding job of coordinating it all. Whoever selected the waiters, by the way, did an exceptional job. They certainly caught Ulrica's attention, though not enough to distract her from the gorgeous arrangements of flowers, donated by florist Linda Hoogasian and Super John Janonis, decorating that well-tended bar. In the spirit of Don Carlos and Lady Macbeth the tables were covered with startlingly blood-red linen, and F-Laurel (as in �Floral�) Winzler added contrast with beautiful virginal white hydrangeas and votives.

Sartorial highlights of the evening were Lisa Lorea's exotic and elegant, textured gold top (so Issey Miyake), bubbly Milko Encinas' kicky little ensemble, John F. �Digital� Martin's audacious pairing of white tie and sneakers, Jenny Jirousek's trademark vertiginous heels and baubled, bangled and bright shiny beaded blouse, and Bradly Hamilton's sassy Dolce & Gabbana outfit with just a touch of black leather.

Shortly after dinner had been served, makeshift emcee Andrew Korniej announced the entertainment segment of the evening and onstage bounced the indefatigable Sally Joe La Rue, wearing one of her signature ten-gallon hats and masses of auburn curls, which, Ulrica suspects, owe more to the SFO Wigs and Makeup Dept. (once again represented by everyone's favorite W&MU person Denise Guttierez) than to Mother Nature.   As enlightening and entertaining as ever, Sally Joe led us through the Season from Mother to Mtsensk .

The second part of the evening's entertainment was the Super skit �The Fractured Fedora,� moved forward on this year's program to avoid the massive, post-Hammy Awards evacuation that preceded last year's. Charlie Lichtman's verismo look at the hiring practices and management style of SFO was a riot, replete with in-jokes and much good-natured fun-poking. Although only the most sensitive of Supers could object to the comparison with �The Night of the Living Dead,� most were more than willing to find humor in the familiar whining of zombie-like Supers. Ulrica spent half of the night awake in bed hearing the plaintive cries of �Carrieeee� again and again. All those in the audience can certainly attest to the Super-b job done by Charlie and his talented cast and anticipate a Broadway opening very soon, though she doubts that it would be quite as well-received in that great city to the South. (Here is a full review of the skit, and here are some pictures from the skit rehearsal.)

More whining was in order as Stephanie Salter took the stage to present her annual Whine Award. This year she took up the cause of Supers Without Roles, observing how male Supers now know what it's like to be a woman, and by having everyone who was willing to super, but had not been given a role for the past three years, stand up. In a Reality-TV-inspired moment the person who was about to claim the Award for the longest run without a role was Ron Reich�until his wife, Mimi Timberlake, interceded and pointed out that he was not, and never had been, a Super. Such relief that the deception was exposed and scandal averted. Newly-blond Jim Miller was fittingly a Whine recipient and Stephanie again made a generous and much appreciated contribution to the Super Fund.

Then came the Hammy Awards, beginning with summer's La Cenerentola , presented by the ever-lovely Irene Bechtel. Further reality-TV drama ensued when the wrong John Martin stepped forward to claim the award. After a little onstage confusion (somewhat reminiscent of last year's awards) John F. Martin, who actually was in the production claimed it (his first) for being �fired� from the lineup that carried a drunken Don Magnifico (Kevin Glavin) offstage in one of the production's more amusing moments.

Up next was our Paul Newman presenting the Damnation of Faust Hammy to Gene and Pat Angell for looking old enough at an audition. Congratulations Gene and Pat, and if you ever want to return to ingénue roles, Ulrica knows of a very good cosmetic surgeon. I'm still resisting a visit myself but let me know how you get along!

Charlie Lichtman gave us a brief history of the origins of, and some anecdotes about, �the Scottish Play� superstitions and how it impacted one performance of Il Trovatore . After a (herein un-named but We Know Who You Are) Super challenged the Opera Gods by deliberately using the �M� word many times in the cafeteria that night, several fellow Super soldiers missed a cue during �Di Quella Pira.� Most were still missing when it came time to present the award but two of them did make it onto the stage, Paul Romito and Keith Bartel.

The first Fall Opera Supers to be honored were the animal covers for Magic Flute , Lisa Gelling (sadly not present), Robert Palma and the vivacious Yvette Rosedale. For turning up at every call and making it onstage at least once, each they were truly deserving of their Hammies.

In recognition of his long and continuing service as a Super, Tom Carlisle received a standing ovation as he went up to collect his Hammy for I Pagliacci . Tom had a highly visible role in that production: visible, that is, if you were seated in the Orchestra Right section. Other parts of the House barely got a glimpse of the tips of his fingers. Tom graciously acknowledged the tremendous applause in a succinct acceptance speech.

Mike Harvey then gave the Don Carlos Hammy to Bruce McNaughton for the stuck- sword snafu that enlivened a recent performance of that consistently ill-fated opera. Another Carlos   incident involving Valentina Simi, her wig, and Marina Mescheriakova went unacknowledged as Valentina didn't make the party and, like many a good raffle, one pretty-much-must-be-present-to-win a Hammy. Pity.

The final �official� Hammy of the evening was awarded to Steve Nye for the October 10th Barber of Seville substitution announcement which, in true operatic fashion, launched his Super career. Ulrica couldn't help but be reminded of her friend Astrid Varnay's unscheduled Met debut in December 1941 (can it really be that long ago?) as Sieglinde, substituting for an ailing Lotte Lehmann, or Gwyneth Jones' meteoric rise following a last minute substitution for Leontyne Price in a 1960s Covent Garden Trovatore .

But enough reminiscing! Ulrica is decidedly a woman of the present and as such applauded Lisa Lorea's brazen, last-minute seizing of an unclaimed Hammy for her performance as Carrie Murphy in the evening's premiere of �The Fractured Fedora.� Lisa managed to thank her agent before being gently escorted offstage. Ulrica is determined to follow Lisa's lead next year and sweep the Hammy board whether any roles are forthcoming or not.

A very special Hammy went out to Kathleen Edwards, leaving SFO after five years and heading for adventures unknown. Kathleen was visibly moved by the little clipboard-holding pink pig and gave a slightly teary, very heartfelt, speech. There are a handful of House personnel who make our lives as Supers so much better by their consistent kindness, efficiency and good humor, and Kathleen was certainly one of those. Good luck, Kathleen, stay in touch and be good to Supers wherever you go!

And finally, Super Coordinator (and great sport) Carrie Murphy came onstage to hand out her Achievement Awards to Supers who have helped her and the company throughout the year. Citing, amongst others, Nancy Huie for her sterling efforts, Carrie gave awards to �three individuals and a group�: the individuals were Production Super Captains Charlie Lichtman, Bruce McNaughton, and Larry Severino; and the group was the Spearhead web site team of Mike Harvey, Mark Burstein, Andrew Korniej, Kit Duane, Charlie Lichtman and Lynn Meinhardt. Bravi Tutti and look for a newly-engraved plaque by the bulletin board soon!

And so, with a final flourish of coffee, cake and cookies, the party was over. Supers called it a day and committee members past and present dragged leftover booze, dirty tablecloths, battered props and abandoned items of clothing to their cars and off into the night. As Ulrica schlepped a half-empty case of Bud Light and a handful of loose toothpicks into a dark basement later that night she couldn't help but reflect on the glamour of a Life in Opera.

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LOTS MORE PARTY PICTURES

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