Just three more performances of Falstaff at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion remain this year, and if you haven’t seen the brand new production, this is your last chance.
A few days before its opening, I got a chance to go backstage with other media and see the staging, a bit of rehearsal and results of all the effort that goes into the food in the comic opera, which was also Verdi’s last. Yes, the food. A whole turkey is prepared for every single performance of Falstaff – Act II, Scene 1, to be exact – requiring 5 hours of preparation that precede it. Mistress Quickly, played by Ronnita Nicole Miller, also has to deal with taking a bite of a big turkey leg immediately before singing verse.