Something Super

      More Letters From Paradise
          Something Super

Everyone who goes to a play or even a movie, realizes that the production relies on people around the stars called "extras." Their job is to make scenes realistic. In the production of an opera, those men who play a part on the stage are known as supernumeraries, or supers for short.  Sometimes they are jokingly called spear carriers.  They work with and around the major singers. They neither sing or have a speaking part. Dressed in the period of the opera, they play a vital role. But alas, they receive no recognition whatsoever.

Imagine my surprise to discover a man who works in our building named Karl Sofge,who was a Supernumerarie with the Metropolitan Opera in New York! The following is a conversation I had with him recently.

"Karl, how in the world did you become a super at the Met?"

"My sister sings in the chorus, she got me the job."

"How many seasons did you work at the Met?"

"Five and a half."

"In how many operas were you a super?"

"I guess at least sixteen, but there were many repeats."

"Old war horses, standard favorites I guess."

"Yeah, you're right."

"What opera do you  remember the best, and what did you do?"

"It was Puccini's "Turindot, the cruel Chinese princess.   I had to carry this big heavy thing that wanted to swing and sway. It was like a great big lollipop."

"Were you ever in my favorite, "La Boheme?"

"I was a guy who moved through the crowd during the end of act one, the Christmas scene, and made like I was picking people's pockets."

"I know that there are sometimes when things go very wrong.  Do you remember any?"

"Oh there were so many.   Like the super who was supposed to hold the scabbard for a sword which would be drawn by the singer, and when he did draw the sward he lost his grip and the sword went clattering across the stage."

"How about another one."

"Well, during the grand march across the stage in Aida, a super was wearing bright new white sneakers under his too short robe."

"Back stage a voice came over the intercom, "Bob call 244" "Bob was the guy who was the head of the supers.  And every super heard a call like that."

"You said something about  the super who was supposed to hold up something and his sleeve was too
short and showed a bright green watchband."

"Yeah that happened."

"How long was the Met season?"

"We began rehearsals in August and ended in late March."

"How were you paid?"

"I got only ten dollars an hour, because I was not a member of the union."

"The core supers who had been around for a long time were better paid and drew unemployment during the summer."

"That must have hurt."

"I think I made only $5,000. per season. But don't get me wrong, I loved the work."

"You said that there was some taunting by the stage hands."

"Yeah, some guy would say,"You look pretty in that costume, maybe you could take it home, things like that. They were all the time making cracks like that.  I came to call them the "Alien Race."

"Speaking of costumes. There are pictures of you in so many costumes. What was your favorite?"

"I was a devil in "Faust" and wore a custom-fit costume."

"You said that you lived in the Bronx, and received a phone call on 911 not to come in for work."

"It was pretty terrible. There was dust in the air and the smell. The subway shut down.  People where I lived placed candles on the doorsteps. One candle for each person who was killed. Sometimes there were many candles at the front of a building."

"But turning back to your life as a super, would you do it again?"

"I would do it again in a minute."

"How about another time you recall?"

"Well there were times when there was silence on the stage and someone farted.  It was difficult to keep from giggling. I have programs and more pictures I could show you"

"Thanks, Karl, I would like to see them."

     Aloha
     Grant