A friend of mine attended the Dallas Opera's recent "simulcast" at Cowboys Stadium of a Turandot performance. She reports that she had a great time and didn't have to give a penny to Jerry Jones!
My correspondent also brought me a souvenir of the evening: the single-sheet program that was given to all of the casual opera patrons at the football stadium. It's not the booklet that's handed out at the Winspear Opera House, but it has everything you need to know about the cast, the characters, the production team and the performance.
And on the back is a handy synopsis of the plot, with the title, Turandot, in big letters at the top, and right next to that the words "By Giuseppe Verdi"!
Oops.
Of course, all but the last couple of scenes of Turandot was composed by Giacomo Puccini some 23 years after Verdi's death.
Now, I've been in the media biz for many more years than I care to admit, and I certainly understand that mistakes happen. And while those of us who proffer the written word to the public make every effort not to make mistakes, a typo here and there will not bring the world to an end.
But I know from experience how embarrassing an error in "display type" is. And while I'm sure the good folks at the Dallas Opera are embarrassed, they run the worse risk of losing credibility among the audience they're so prominently going after: younger, more casual than your average opening-night-at-the-Winspear crowd, smart and aware but who may not know precisely the difference between Verdi and Puccini, and are likely to be confused by a program sheet that lists two different composers for what they're watching.
So I'm offering my services to the Dallas Opera as a proofreader for anything they want to put before the public. I may not find every error, but I'd scream louder than Antonello Palombi if I saw something attributing Turandot to anyone other than Signor Puccini!
My salary requirements? A couple of tickets to the opera.
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