In Ring 3, the Rhinedaughters fly and are painstakingly rehearsed over the course of a year. They are covered vocally, but at first the covers were not rehearsed in flying, only in singing, because I thought that the only bad thing that could happen would be a cold. At 2 PM on the opening day of a cycle, some years ago, I received a call from stage management saying that the Flosshilde (the low mezzo) had eaten fish for lunch and was at that moment throwing up. She got sicker and sicker as the afternoon progressed. I came to the theater to see her, and she said, “I will go up.” Seeing her pitiful condition, I said, “No you won’t. It won’t add to the show to have you throwing up as you “swim” through the air.” Suddenly it was solved. Gina Lapinski, the associate director in charge of the three Daughters, was almost exactly the Flosshilde’s size and could wear her harness. She volunteered, suited up, flew brilliantly, and the cover sang from the orchestra pit. It was a story that made the New York Times.

-- Speight Jenkins