Hot tickets—Ariadne at Lyric. American Apollo at West Edge. Tolomeo at Philharmonia Baroque.

The Archive

Receipts

Programs, posters, curtain calls, gala tables, merch hauls, and the occasional accidental color-coordination with the marquee. Vissi d'arte — for everything else, there's MasterCard.

Parsifal

5 frames

Houston Grand Opera Parsifal lobby poster — Russell Thomas as Parsifal in chainmail holding a spear, gold Grail halo behind, run dates January 19–February 4 — I heard many good things about Whattaburger. But here's the real reason I'm in Houston.Houston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · January 2024

Diptych of HGO Parsifal curtain call — left: two bare-chested grail attendants in bandages on a metal disc; right: two robed knights bowing before the chorus — Luxury casting for the grail brotherhoodHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · January 2024

Diptych — left: Kundry in a red sequined scale-mail gown with a red veil at her face; right: Gurnemanz in a long shaggy fur coat with hand over heart — Parsifal bowsHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · January 2024

Solo curtain-call bow of bass-baritone Gurnemanz in a long fur coat, hand to chest, children's chorus and an angelic white-suited figure behind — Ryan McKinny as AmfortasHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · January 2024

Parsifal program held up from a balcony seat at the War Memorial Opera House, the gilded proscenium and starburst chandelier filling the frame above — Parsifal at SF OperaWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco · Oct–Nov 2025

Porgy and Bess

4 frames

Curtain call of Porgy and Bess with a large ensemble cast on a two-story Catfish Row set — Porgy and Bess, curtain call — closing night for the post-pandemic revivalMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2021

Sportin' Life taking a solo bow in an electric blue suit and gold waistcoat, Crown beside him in salmon shirt, Catfish Row chorus behind under a red sky — Demetrious has a big night as Sportin' LifeHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · 2025

Bess in a red dress and yellow heels striding out for her bow beside Crown in olive shirt and gunbelt, full chorus applauding behind — When you know you nailed itCurtain call · 2025

Porgy with his leg brace and Bess in her red dress, hand in hand at the front of the stage, the chorus beaming behind under the red corrugated sky — Dream cast, dream productionCurtain call · 2025

X

3 frames

Selfie in N95 mask and an opera-eye scarf next to a Seattle Opera lobby banner for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Feb 24–Mar 9, 2024 — Thrilled to be hereMcCaw Hall, Seattle · February 2024

These Aubrey Bergauer 'nice touches' really do workMcCaw Hall, Seattle · February 2024

Pre-show projection of a pixelated blue X on the McCaw Hall curtain, audience filing in — XMcCaw Hall, Seattle · February 2024

Innocence

3 frames

Self-portrait in a wool cap and flannel shirt outside the SF Opera house, beside the framed Innocence poster — Caught this streaming from Aix and knew it would be unforgettable liveWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco · June 2024

Instagram story selfie outside the SF Opera box office before Innocence, captioned 'Off to see Innocence again' in red script over a window reflecting the Innocence poster — Off to see Innocence againWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco · June 2024

Innocence program held up in front of the gilded SF Opera proscenium before the show begins — I made everyone see thisWar Memorial Opera House, San Francisco · June 2024

Florencia en el Amazonas

3 frames

Metropolitan Opera house view of the green floral show curtain for Florencia en el Amazonas, gold proscenium and antlered chandelier above — Florencia en el AmazonasMetropolitan Opera, New York · December 2023

Open Met Playbill page for Florencia en el Amazonas with the credits panel — Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting, Mary Zimmerman directing — held over the green show curtain — Making a bit of Met historyMetropolitan Opera, New York · December 9, 2023

Florencia en el Amazonas curtain call — principals in jewel-toned costumes (red fringe, butterfly, peacock-feathered river spirit) bowing against a green jungle cyclorama — The exuberant cast of FlorenciaMetropolitan Opera, New York · December 9, 2023

Santa Fe

13 frames

Three friends in jackets and ties posing under the illuminated Stravinsky Terrace sign at the Metropolitan Opera — Stravinsky Terrace, opening night of M. Butterfly. Chi al par di me contenta?Santa Fe Opera · Undated

Met Titles seat-back screen displaying 'M. Butterfly — English Titles Selected' before the performance — M. Butterfly on opening night. An unforgettable A+ performanceSanta Fe Opera · Summer

Selfie in front of a Santa Fe Opera poster for Orfeo with production text and dates visible — Made it back to Santa FeSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2023

Curtain call on a giant green domed set with the cast lined hand-in-hand above the orchestra pit — Curtain call on the green dome — the cast holding a horizon line togetherPerformance stage · Undated

Three friends smiling in front of a Santa Fe Opera Tosca poster for the 2023 season — Tickled pink to see Leah Hawkins in this roleSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2023

Santa Fe Opera, in full rainbow #prideSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2023

Selfie in a Santa Fe Opera zip-up hoodie with a friend in a tan blazer, audience filing into the open-air house behind — A downpour before the show leads to some emergency merch purchasesCrosby Theatre, Santa Fe · Summer

Full company of The Picture of Dorian Gray taking a bow on a black-paneled set hung with multiple framed portraits of the title character in a red brocade robe — 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥Santa Fe Opera · 2024

Principals of The Picture of Dorian Gray at curtain call, the title character center in red brocade dressing gown, surrounded by portraits of himself — Ryan Speedo Green delivers as Don GiovanniSanta Fe Opera · 2024

Singer in a green dress and dark coat taking a bow with uniformed castmates applauding behind her — Leah Hawkins as ToscaSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2023

Interior of the Crosby Theatre at Santa Fe Opera with the audience settling in, the open back of the house framing a pink-and-blue desert sunset — Santa Fe Opera, curtain at sunset — the desert doing its own overtureCrosby Theatre, Santa Fe · Summer

Curtain call principals of Smetana's Dalibor — a woman in a magenta gown and black cape beside the title character in a brass-buttoned military coat, chorus in 19th-century dress projected behind — Marriage of Figaro delivers the goods in Santa FeSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2025

Bald man in a denim shirt printed with white birds, navy blazer over his arm, smiling beside the 2025 Santa Fe Opera Die Walküre poster mounted on adobe wall — A return visit to Santa Fe, for WagnerSanta Fe Opera · Summer 2025

Los Angeles

4 frames

LA Opera house with audience filing in and a black-and-white mountain scrim onstage — Eurydice at the Dorothy Chandler — Matthew Aucoin, Sarah RuhlLA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · February 2020

Man in a red-and-rust shirt posing in front of the LA Opera Otello poster, 'A searing and overdue interpretation' quoted from The Guardian — Accidental coordinationLA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · Spring 2023

LA Opera Performances magazine for Akhnaten, March 2026, held up in the house with a red cover, gold geometric foil, and a silhouetted pharaoh figure — Akhnaten at LA Opera with John HolidayLA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · March 2026

Three friends taking a seated selfie inside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion before the performance, surrounded by rows of orange seats and the audience settling in — Three across at LA OperaLA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · March 2026

Fisher Center at Bard

2 frames

Stacked Le Prophète postcards in a mirrored lobby display at Bard's Fisher Center, white-marble shrouded figure with a red veil — Le ProphèteFisher Center at Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson · July 2024

Bard SummerScape 2025 program for Smetana's Dalibor held up in the house, cover showing a silhouetted figure under a barred prison window — Dalibor at BardSosnoff Theater, Bard SummerScape · July 25 – Aug 3, 2025

Programs & playbills

13 frames

Program insert announcing tenor Pene Pati replacing Bryan Hymel as Romeo — A star turn performanceSan Francisco Opera · Roméo et Juliette, 2019

LA Opera Performances magazine for Eurydice, February 2020 — Opening nightLA Opera · February 2020

San Francisco Opera Encore program for Billy Budd, September 2019, cover showing dark sea and sky — Billy Budd, before the lights went downSan Francisco Opera · September 2019

Two friends smiling in front of the Antony and Cleopatra world premiere poster at San Francisco Opera — Antony and Cleopatra, world premiere — John Adams, gold frame, opening night grinsSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · September 2022

Stack of Encore programs for Dialogues of the Carmelites at San Francisco Opera, centennial season — Dialogues of the CarmelitesSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · October 2022

Metropolitan Opera Playbill for Terence Blanchard's Champion held up before the act-drop, a boxer painted in blue above — Champion at the Met, opening nightMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2023

Black and white photograph of a Madame Butterfly program held up against the gilded War Memorial proscenium and house curtain — Everyone asked if I cried. I did.San Francisco Opera, War Memorial · June 2023

Die Frau ohne Schatten centennial program held in a marble lobby, with a glowing doorway and chandelier beyond — This opera is crazypantsSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · 2023 centennial season

Il Trovatore program held in the War Memorial house, gilded proscenium and curtain behind — Verdi is so verySan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · September 2023

Lohengrin program with a swan-and-sword cover, held in front of the War Memorial curtain, a Beyoncé-as-swan sticker in the corner — Tagline: You had one jobSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · October 2023

Opera San José Rigoletto program for the 40th Anniversary Season, illustrated jester in red curled up against a pale-blue libretto background, held in the California Theatre — Edward Graves role debut in a tight, deeply entertaining production (with some deeply entertaining marketing)Opera San José, California Theatre · February 2024

Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera La Traviata program held up in the hall, cover shows Violetta in a red gown beside a candlelit table — La Traviata at Sacramento Philharmonic & OperaSAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, Sacramento · March 2026

Houston Grand Opera Messiah lobby poster — Handel arranged by Mozart, Robert Wilson production, figure poling a black boat across a pale blue sky, bald man in orange tee and black blazer standing beside it — Messiah with an all-star cast and Robert Wilson's staging. A grand finale for Patrick Summers' tenure.Houston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · 2026

Houses

11 frames

Tristan und Isolde banner hung between the arches of the Metropolitan Opera House — A Mary Weatherford rose, six stories tallMetropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center · September 2016

Gilded proscenium and chandelier of the War Memorial Opera House before curtain — The Ring beginsSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · 2018

Lincoln Center plaza at night with crowds outside the Metropolitan Opera — Intermission at the plazaLincoln Center, New York · September 2016

Translucent opera scrim with a singer's portrait, seen through an arched window with City Hall behind — Gimme an I — WotanSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · Summer

Close-up of the Metropolitan Opera House facade at night, with Chagall murals and chandelier visible through the arched windows — The Met's Chagalls, glimpsed through the arches — chandeliers as a second sunMetropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center · Undated

War Memorial Opera House proscenium with a projected film of a singer's back, performing Fidelio during the pandemic — SF Opera re-opens with FidelioSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · May 2021

War Memorial Opera House lit blue at night with banners for Dialogues of the Carmelites, La Traviata, and Eugene Onegin, Davies Symphony Hall glowing pink alongside — Van Ness at nightSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · Fall 2022

Looking straight up at the Metropolitan Opera lobby ceiling, gold leaf scalloped coffers framing the Sputnik chandelier — Looking up — the Met's Sputniks suspended in their gold-leaf skyMetropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center · Undated

Looking straight up into the Met's gilded scalloped dome, central oculus with the starburst Sputnik chandelier suspended in it — Look upMetropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center · December 2023

Three performers in glittering red and gold monkey masks with long pheasant-feather plumes bow downstage, robed chorus in cloud-painted white behind them — The Monkey KingSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · 2025

Three-person selfie in the California Academy of Sciences atrium beneath the T. rex skeleton lit blue, one in mask and turtleneck, another in a suit, a third laughing in glasses — Everest at the Cal Academy — Opera Parallèle in the planetarium dome, T. rex chaperoning the lobbyCalifornia Academy of Sciences, San Francisco · 2024

Socials

3 frames

Tweet from soprano Christine Goerke in full Turandot crown and costume wearing a black surgical mask, replying 'Oh hai!' — Christine Goerke, Turandot crown and surgical maskTwitter, backstage · 2021

Selfie in an N95 mask from a Met Opera balcony before Act 1 of Der Rosenkavalier, with a social caption: 'Smiling a super big invisible duck smile for Act 1 of Rosenkavalier' — Smiling a super big invisible duck smile — Act 1, Rosenkavalier, mask onMetropolitan Opera, New York · Pandemic-era

Memoji selfie in a blue mask in front of the Metropolitan Opera's wall of black-and-white artist portraits — I have made it to my secret undisclosed locationMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2023

Opera and chill

5 frames

Dallas Opera streaming Everest, a graphic novel opera by Joby Talbot, on an iPad — Everest as graphic novel opera, streamed from a Dallas server — July 24, 2021thedallasopera.tv, at home · July 2021

Boxed set of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by Anthony Davis on a wooden table — Anthony Davis's XAt home · Undated

Laptop streaming Terence Blanchard's Champion presented by SFJazz and Opera Parallèle — Champion at home — Terence Blanchard, SFJazz, Opera Parallèle, October 2020Pandemic-era streaming · October 2020

Selfie wearing a black-and-white face covering printed with Klaus Nomi's iconic made-up face, in a living room with an SF Opera poster on the wall — Pandemic merch, Klaus Nomi edition — wearing the face while keeping mine coveredAt home · Pandemic-era

Hand holding the C major Blu-ray of Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto from Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Pene Pati on the cover in samurai armor with a katana — Mitridate, re di Ponto on Blu-ray — Pene Pati in Miyagi's samurai staging, Minkowski conducting Les Musiciens du LouvreAt home

Curtain calls

10 frames

Baritone Michael Chioldi at curtain call with arms thrown wide, red marble set with tall black-and-gilt doors behind, colleagues applauding — Michael Chioldi as RigolettoMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2022

Wide curtain call line at the Metropolitan Opera with cannons and gun carriages upstage, full principal cast bowing in tsarist-era costume — Dream cast for Der RosenkavalierMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2023

Bass-baritone Otello in white robe and sash, alone on a Persian rug at curtain call, hand to chest, gauze curtain behind — Russell Thomas as Otello. Slay.LA Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion · Spring 2023

Soprano in a strapless floral-painted gown on a recital stage, hand to chest, smiling out into the hall after a song — Erin Morley, radiantRecital hall · 2024

Singer and pianist bowing in matching blue suits beside a Steinway grand, abstract gold-and-purple projection behind them — Lawrence Brownlee and Kevin Miller earn their bows. Kevin did not sing... this time.Recital hall · 2024

Three singers in white kilts and gilded Egyptian collars standing on a green tennis-court set, orchestra visible below — Birds and Balls, an opera two-fer from Opera ParallèleSFJazz, San Francisco · 2023

Principals of X joining hands at curtain call in front of the seated orchestra, smiling broadly — Don Giovanni in SacramentoSacramento Philharmonic & Opera · 2023

Tenor in a tan zip-up sweater on an orange-walled set, hand to chest at solo bow, colleague in grey suit applauding — Jonathan Pierce Rhodes shines in Fellow TravelersOpera Parallèle, San Francisco · 2024

Dancer in a pale blush dress taking her bow at the Innocence curtain call, principals in white applauding beside her on a black-and-white diamond-tiled set — Il trittico with Corinne WintersHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · 2025

Two men in tall gold helmets and crossed bronze armor plates over chainmail, standing on stage in front of an orange backdrop with painted yellow flora — Edward Graves in his Met debutMetropolitan Opera, New York · 2024

Etc.

6 frames

The author in front of the San Francisco Opera Nixon in China poster — News! Nixon in China has returnedSan Francisco Opera, War Memorial · Summer 2012

Oil portrait of Leontyne Price as Leonora in La Forza del Destino, in a gilt frame — Leontyne Price as LeonoraMetropolitan Opera, lobby · Undated

Opera Parallèle gala table at the Regency Center — wine glass, votives, and a program for 'A Night at The Overlook Hotel' — A Night at the Overlook Hotel — Opera Parallèle's gala, no work and all playRegency Center, San Francisco · April 2023

Two embroidered baseball caps on a mint-green table — a burgundy one with a gold X and a pink AMOC* cap from the American Modern Opera Company — Pre-performance fashion crisisThe real opera is off-stage · Undated

Man in a navy suit and pale blue patterned tie speaking into a handheld microphone at a daytime reception, a colleague listening behind him — Jake Heggie at the Pocket Opera galaPocket Opera, San Francisco · 2025

Two friends in dark blazers grinning for a selfie inside the Wortham Center, red seats and starlit ceiling behind them, audience filing in — Messiah at Houston GrandHouston Grand Opera, Wortham Center · 2026

Videos

1 clip

In the room where it happens #livinglegends