thomas h. connell iii; kept opera\'s divas, fauna on cue

NEW YORK —
That\'s not very special. Let Thomas H.
Connell III is on his toes, not the singing horse or the hobbling soldier, nor is it the strange event of the Dog \"Falcon\" and the seductive stump.
This is routine. the fire-
When the Rhine River spills, the dragon that will breathe, the indoor blizzard, Valhalla crashes in flames --
That night and night was the most real test of his technology.
Mr. stage manager of Metropolitan Opera.
Cornell has been engaged in an important but obscure job in the last 30 years, which requires the combined capabilities of musicians, linguists, magicians, computer wizards, psychotherapists and animal wrangler.
He has iron and divided nerves. The second decision.
He often said that he was capable in his previous career as a Navy pilot.
But, as he also said, landing the aircraft on the deck of the aircraft carrier is much easier than taking off smoothly from Wagner. Mr.
Cornell died at his home in Manhattan on April 18 at the age of 67.
Stephanie Pearson Cornell says the reason is not yet certain, he used to marry him.
From 1981 to his death.
It is well known that Connell is the production stage manager of Met and the chief stage manager of the company.
At the Metropolitan Theater, there are three or more stage managers working each time an opera is performed. Mr.
The Connell desk on the right stage is the nerve center of the Opera House.
There, through the headphones, he gave quiet tips on every change in the lights and scenery;
Special effects such as smoke, fire and flood;
The singer\'s entrance was sometimes very tight and he had to coax them from the locker room.
At the same time, he is carefully checking the monitors showing the whole stage and orchestra pit.
All along, sir.
Cornell, who knows several European languages, is tracking the printed sheet music to ensure a seamless flow of opera.
A goat, waiting for its entrance in a \"Boji and Beth\", once sampled
Before coming on stage, Cornell scored his personal score.
Thomas hilbel Cornell III was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Grew up in West Port, Connecticut.
As a singer, pianist and violinist, he was fascinated by the opera in high school, during a class trip in the metropolis. Mr.
Connell received a bachelor\'s degree in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in 1965.
He drove a Navy transport plane during the Vietnam War and later graduated from the University of Hawaii to work in music.
After managing the opera at the Graduate stage, he worked with several regional companies before joining Met as stage manager in 1977.
Although it was carefully prepared, even Mr.
Cornell couldn\'t have expected anything.
On 2002, at the Met premiere of Prokofiev\'s War and Peace, a redundant number fell into the pit.
When Napoleon\'s army fled Moscow in a snowstorm, night fell.
It is up to the gentleman.
Cornell stopped the show, appeased the audience, and continued blizzard after the fallen soldier was shown to be unhurt.
Then the dog and the stump almost collapsed, and more precisely, the dog and the child actor disguised as the stump.
The opera is Verdi\'s Falstaff, and the dog concerned is Mr Verdi.
Cornell\'s own Ollie, who plays the cameo role.
One day, in the middle of the performance, Ollie, responded with a deep
The sitting posture for the stump is a biological imperative.
He raised his leg when the audience laughed, but luckily he didn\'t do much more.
\"Fortunately, Ollie has some very small recessive occupational genes that prevent him from doing something worse,\" Pearson recalls . \".
Although opera seems to be the most memorable when things go wrong, as Joe Clark, retired technical director at the Metropolitan Museum in London, said last week, \"The main event was 99.
9% of the time, it\'s all perfect.
He added, \"it\'s always interesting to know that you press most of your weight on your shoulders and no one even knows you\'re there.
\"But none of the stage managers can have as much weight as a singing horse.
Pearson recalled that in the same \"Falstaff\", the soprano made an entrance on horseback.
One night, when she began to sing, the horse moved to Bray with a bold duet.
\"What do you do when the horse starts singing while the singer starts singing?
Asked Pearson.
There is only one thing about it. Mr.
Connell fired the horse.