9/3/91

�add opera sightems: some 300 Russian soldiers in dress uniform parading on Franklin Street between the Opera House and Zellerbach Hall. They're rehearsing in both places for the premiere of War and Peace Sat. night. Director Lotfi Mansouri found the lavish uniforms in Rome, where they were last worn in the 1956 Audrey Hepburn-Mel Ferrer version of the Tolstoy winner � a real loser.

9/25/91

 Inside Out: There's more war than peace at the SF Opera's smash hit, War and Peace . The 135 supernumeraries � spear carriers � were asked by the management to give up that pittance as their contribution to �budget reduction,� and they willingly did so. After all the opera is perennially in the red and one supposes every bit helps� Where the story begins to get murky is here: Some of the supers tell me angrily that in return for their gesture, they could buy two tickets in the �dog� sections (impaired view of the stage) at $20 each so that family/friends could see them in action. Then, they say, when it became apparent that the opera had a major hit on its hands, the offer was withdrawn and the �dogs� were sold at full

price� Opera management denies that the $20 tickets were ever an option � quote �We did allow the supers to have two guests at the final dress rehearsal� � but the troops are sore anyway. And since a lot of them wear Russian Army uniforms and carry guns, perhaps Gen. Dir. Lotfi Mansouri should think about wearing a helmet.

10/2/91

In the interests of journalistic balance � why are you laughing? � at least half the supers in the SF Opera's War and Peace tell me they are delighted to work for nothing (their piddling fees were withheld because of the tight budget) and weren't miffed at all that the management reneged after offering them two $20 seats so their friends/family could see them onstage. Good soldiers!