It's called the S.F. Opera House's "great golden curtain," but Jennifer E. Norris says there is no gold in it. Norris is assistant managing director of SFWMPAC (translation coming up) and she knows all about the curtain — and about the various components of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.
SFWMPAC includes the War Memorial Opera House, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall (with the Harold L. Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall), the War Memorial Veterans Building (with Herbst Theatre and Green Room, plus the future Wilsey Center for Opera).
Norris was the logical source to contact when I heard the great curtain covering the 52-foot-wide proscenium opening has been removed. She confirmed the rumor and provided details, to which I am adding some additional information.
The curtain figured prominently in the report about the reopening of the War Memorial on Sept. 5, 1997, after the building's 21-month-long, $88.5 million, seismic renovation:
The new curtain, an exact reproduction of the former gold curtain [which was first raised on Oct. 15, 1932], rose to reveal soprano Deborah Voigt standing alone center stage to sing "Dich, teure Halle" (Beloved hall, I greet you) from Wagner's Tannhäuser. Voigt is one of the many graduates of the SFO's famed Merola Opera training program who has gone on to international stardom."
So why was the curtain removed? It was the result of an accident, but something that couldn't have been timed better if was planned carefully in advance: a large and spreading rip was found in the lining — Norris says caused by the weakness of the fire-retardant sprayed fabric — at the very last performance of the Opera's summer season, the July 20 Traviata matinee.
The curtain was not needed for the balance of the opera, and the gold velour split drape, already in the air, was used in its place. This same drape will be used for the Merola Grand Finale on Saturday, Aug. 16, which is the only public performance prior to the repaired curtain being reinstalled.
The 1,500-pound main curtain was taken down (that must have taken some doing!), boxed, shipped out for repair, at the cost of $7,000. It will be returned to the Opera House with a new lining in time for the opening of the company's fall season on Sept. 5, with Norma.
Why not just fix the rip without shipping the whole thing out? The curtain lining was already scheduled for replacement in the summer of 2016. "We decided that while the curtain was down for repair it made sense to conduct the lining replacement now rather than waiting until 2016," Norris explains, "so the whole curtain was shipped out to get a new lining.