!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Streamline Training & Documentation: Thomas H. Connell III, 1942 -2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Thomas H. Connell III, 1942 -2010

One of the most charming obituaries I've ever read is that for the Metropolitan Opera's chief stage manager, Thomas Connell, published in today's edition of the New York Times.

Thomas H. Connell III
(Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

Here is the closing portion of the Times obituary:

... no stage manager can take the weight of a singing horse. In the same “Falstaff,” Ms. Pierson recalled, the soprano made an entrance on horseback. One night, as she began her aria, the horse was moved to bray along in bold duet.

“What do you do when the horse starts to sing at the same time as the singer starts to sing?” Ms. Pierson asked.

There was only one thing for it. Mr. Connell fired the horse.

The full text of the obituary is here.

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