The San Francisco Opera Experience 1946

Before the  Seattle Opera existed,the San Francisco Opera would come to Seattle to perform.
If the Opera included a childrens chorus, each city would hold  auditions. 
My Aunt Bena lived in West Seattle and was more in tune with what was happening in Seattle. She informed  my mom of the auditions for childrens chorus and thought we should try.

  On the appointed day,we walked down the road to flag down the Greyhound bus to Seattle. It was rather exciting as we lived in Earlington Flats ( between Renton and Kent) and didn't get to Seattle very often.( We had one big trip a year to buy school shoes.)

The ages were supposed to be 12 and under but kids of all ages showed up for the audition. My sisters Barbara and Judy were with me.

When we arrived at the audition hall there were young people practicing  arias. After hearing these experienced singers we didn't know what to think. Luckily, the conductor was interested in children with good pitch. We sang la, la, la to one of the songs from La Boheme.  We all passed.  Some of the children who auditioned were so cute but singing was not their thing so Gustav Stern had to send them home.
The costumes were for children 12 and under so my sister Barbara (age 14) didn't get to sing in the chorus. She was asked to be a super along with the snooty kids who were singing arias.
It was great fun and most of the stars were nice to us. Ezio Pinza was not one of them.
Judy and I were asked to do something extra and we felt really special. We had to run on stage to the fire and warm our hands.
We were in" Carmen" and " La Boheme". We learned to sing one song in Italian and one in French. It was a wonderful experience. 
At the end of one of the performances of "Carmen" the man with the cart full of toys let us take some home forgetting  there were other performances. Another man came out yelling at us so we put most of them back. I have one in my cedar chest.
We were given tickets to the show so our parents could attend. Judy and I have matching dresses. Barbara is to the right of Mr. Stern. She's wearing a scarf on her head.Judy has a bow in her hair.
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