Local 706 - The Artisan

20 • THE ARTISAN SUMMER 2021 SAN FRANCISCO OPERA'S RETURN TO LIVE THEATER The San Francisco Opera has performed many live simulcasts over the years. This most recent experience bloomed into having live simulcast screens as viewing options for our drive- in audiences, while showing a live stage performance at the same time. A lagoon divided the two viewing areas. On one side of the lagoon, the singers performed live on our stage that included large screens with video projections as part of the set, and on the other side of the lagoon, there was a large screen showing the live feed of the entire show. This allowed 200 cars to view the stage show, and 200 additional cars to view the live simulcast on our second screen on the other side of the grounds. We were also then able to offer two different price options for tickets in order to reach a larger audience. At night, the LED screens and the stage lights brightly lit up the lagoon. It was such a special moment after a year of shelter in place and the uncertainty of the future of live arts to see show business up and running again. Standing and watching the geese fl y over the sparkling lagoon while opera fl oated on the breeze brought tears to our eyes. This was what we have been waiting for. The San Francisco Opera was able to contract the same artistic team from our postponed production of Fidelio (due to premiere A fter COVID-19 hit the world, and then the Bay Area, the San Francisco Opera began thinking about how to create grand opera within the parameters of a pandemic environment. Knowing the organization wanted to keep moving forward, created a sense of hope and eagerness within me. As a company, we were more than ready to help create live shows as soon as we got the green light to do so, but COVID-19 safety was at the forefront of everyone's minds and questions of how to produce a new production in such times were prevalent. I felt confi dent that we could still provide the same quality of work with all the new procedures. My hair, wig, and make-up crews were excited to tackle all the new challenges, as were all the other departments. I was proud to stand beside members from so many local union affi liations. Alongside our regional members of Local 706 were Local 16, 784, 800, 829, AFM Local 6, Local B-18, and AGMA. in 2020) to create the vision for the drive-in live Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini in Marin County. Alex Nichols' set design for Fidelio worked perfectly to facilitate the new Barber concept. Costume designer Jessica Jahn worked with director Matthew Ozawa to create a costume storyboard that worked beautifully within the concept of the new production. Once that was created, we got to work building the hair, wig, and make-up designs for each character. Every character had two looks: a contemporary look and an 18th-century period look. This allowed us to deal with COVID-19 safety protocols head on by making it a part of the story we were telling on stage. Erik Walstad, the SF Opera technical director, is also our company safety manager. He, along with all the department heads, worked to put all the safety procedures together. Once we all felt we had taken every safety precaution into account, he took the proposal to our state government and Marin County offi cials. With their approval of our new safety policies, live performances during this pandemic were allowed to resume. I was asked to review the fi nalized mandatory safety procedures and apply them to my department. Luckily, we already follow strict sanitation procedures in place, so it wasn't extremely diffi cult to shift into the new guidelines. We viewed it as an added layer to work within. As employees of the San Francisco Opera wig shop, Christina Martin and I were able to enlist Chri Holmgren Greene to help assemble individual station setups for each performer. Each setup had to contain everything an artist would need to perform hair and make-up plus everything a performer may need for prep and removal. In times past, one may fi nd many single-use application items at an artist's station. For example, a pin tray and a box of cotton swabs. That station was then only used by one artist, but many singers would sit in that artist's chair in one night. This exact situation was now deemed to be unsafe and go against our new health and safety procedures. Even single-use item containers could no longer be

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