Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SPRING 2017 • PAN PIPES 19 D E I J K O P T U X Y Z By Jayne I. HanlIn On a recent trip to California, I walked by the building that houses the San Francisco Opera and wondered if I could peek at the auditorium or take a general tour. I entered the foyer and walked to the box office. e woman inside shook her head from side to side. Seeing my disappointment, she then asked, "Have you ever seen the photo exhibits next door?" I hadn't but decided to go there. Located in the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera in the Veterans Building (401 Van Ness Avenue), both the North Gallery and South Gallery of photos are free and open to the public on weekdays from 9-6. e official name of the permanent exhibit on the fourth floor is Looking rough the Lens, e Glory of San Francisco Opera. On display in two hallways are 135 framed photos from the Edward Paul Braby San Francisco Opera Archives. e David Gockley Gallery has black-and- white prints, including one from the company's 1923 inaugural season in the Civic Auditorium. Also hanging on the wall is a Tosca photograph from nine years later at the inauguration of the War Memorial Opera House where the opera company still regularly performs. I recognized names of famous divas and enjoyed seeing images of the debuts of several American prima donnas. e exhibit also has photos of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Dance Corps, as well as supernumeraries — extras who appear onstage but don't speak. e Hume Family Gallery has vibrant digitized color prints that are quite dazzling. One of my favorites was from the company's 1995 premiere of Dvořák's Rusalka, showing Renée Fleming in a stunning long-sleeved blue gown. e other was a dramatic onstage pose from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (See page 1). Opera involves more than music, and I was interested in exactly what happens in the costume room, closed to the public, but visible at the end of each hall through glass doors. ere was nobody working there at the time. Later I asked Costume Director Daniele McCartan: "On any given day, you will find the artisans of the costume shop surrounded by quilted petticoats, hoop skirts, huge turbans, jeweled crowns, plastic armor, lizards and bears, mud and blood — all in the service of grand illusion." And this photo exhibit shows how grand it has been in San Francisco! Jayne I. Hanlin is an initiate of Alpha Omicron and current member of the St. Louis Alumnae chapter. Mrs. Hanlin, the sister of famed pianist Malcolm Frager, is the co-author of Learning Latin Through Mythology (Cambridge University Press, 1991). Unexpected Operatic Treasure — Free and Priceless A WORLD OF MUSIC FOR MORE INFORMATION visit gsfopera.com/about-us/ diane-b.-wilsey-center-for-opera/ The San Francisco Opera costume shop. Cory Weaver

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