“You’ve seen her on the bench, now see her on the stage,” writes Anne Midgette in Friday’s (10/21) Washington Post. “The Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is making her official opera debut on November 12, playing the role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp on opening night of ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’ at the Washington National Opera. It’s not a singing role, but it does have spoken lines, which WNO has tailored for the justice for her one-night outing. Ginsburg’s love of opera is no secret, and this isn’t her first time on the Washington National Opera stage; she and the late Justice Antonin Scalia made a cameo appearance during the party scene of ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ in 2009, and she also was onstage in ‘Die Fledermaus’ and an earlier ‘Ariadne’ in 2003 and 1994 respectively. But she may be revealing a hitherto-unexplored interest in standup comedy. The Duchess has been played by everyone from Montserrat Caballé to Bea Arthur…. Ginsburg has also enjoyed the distinction of being an opera character herself. The short comic opera ‘Scalia/Ginsburg,’ which had its full premiere at Castleton in 2015, features a Justice Ginsburg who spouts long high-flying lines of coloratura.”
Posted October 21, 2016
