Khovanschina November 1990

During the late 80s and early 90s, photographer Dottie Dean, then part of the Women’s Chorus, would take group photos of the Supers. It was a remarkable logistical achievement to gather 64 Supers in costume in the Ballet Studio during an intermission -- but here they are, neatly divided into subgroups.
The 1990 revival of Khovanschina was on an epic Russian scale and starred powerhouse singers Nicolai Ghiaurov in his last (to date) appearance at SFO and Dolora Zajick at the beginning of her career. Apart from the usual popolo and guards it included three lovely Super Persian Slaves from the famous ballet sequence (bottom row center), a fearsome executioner (third row center) and a mystical Cleric (second row center). The red bearded Cossack at lower right was one-man bake sale Keith Kamrath, who is fondly remembered for the truckloads of cakes which he would deliver to the downstairs breakroom at every performance. He drove for Just Desserts and the treates were damaged items that were not saleable. Keith was another Super loss to AIDS a few years after this photo was taken.

It’s hard to tell who everyone is but in there somewhere are (among many others) Chris Patnoe, Joan Imbeau, Dottie Brown, Tom Carlisle, Joe Kelley, Karen Goodwyn, Dick Pallowick and Renee DeJarnatt.

(Click on the photo to see a larger image)

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