They’re calling it a miracle. And it unfolded with all the chaos, cunning and drama of, well, a good opera.
Just hours before the production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, the show’s lead, Stephen Costello, became ill.
“Well, the day really began with a phone call no general director wants on the day of a performance, especially when you don't have an understudy, or a cover, in Dallas," said Ian Derrer, the opera’s general director and CEO.
The race began to replace Costello.
That's a lot harder than it sounds. Who knows the role and can sing it well? Who was available to be in Dallas within a matter of hours?
The answer was Arturo Chacón Cruz, who was home in Miami at an early morning doctor's appointment when he received a call from David Lomelí, Dallas Opera's artistic consultant.
Meet our hero
Yes, Cruz can sing the four-act Italian version of Don Carlo. And yes, he could be in Dallas by that evening.
Luckily for Cruz, his bags were already packed. He was scheduled to fly to New York the next day to sing La Traviata at the Met.
“I went home, grabbed my suitcase, and went to the airport with my score in hand, trying to refresh it,” said Cruz. “It had been four years since my last four-act Italian Don Carlo, and it's like 400 pages.”
Then, another complication: He was scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale, but mid-day traffic meant he wouldn’t make it. So that flight was canceled and a later flight from Miami replaced it. That put him on the ground at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport at 5:30 p.m..
He didn't even bother waiting for his luggage at baggage claim. A Dallas Opera staffer handled that so Cruz could jump into the car. In the rain. At the peak of rush hour.
A mad dash
They headed straight to the Winspear Opera House. With no time to spare, Cruz used that commute time to start warming up his vocal cords.
“My poor driver, his name was Carlos,” said Cruz. “And I was like, Carlos, you're going to forgive me. And I started warming up in the car.”
Derrer sighed with relief when Cruz walked through the stage door at 7:02 pm., just 28 minutes before curtain.
“And then they threw the costume on him and it fit, which was another sigh of great relief," said Derrer. "There was just kind of a mad dash of assault by music staff, I would say, and production staff on Arturo. But I mean, he was unflappable. I've never seen anything like it.”
And here's another curveball. While Arturo has sung the role, he had never sung this production on this stage with no rehearsal of cues and staging.
Cues from stage
Enter Ryan Lescalleet, serving as assistant director for the production. He was not planning to be in the cast that night. But he was thrown into a costume so that he could cue Cruz from the corners of the stage.
During those big chorus moments, Lescalleet just tried to blend in with the other cast members and give subtle prompts to Cruz.
“But I was there as a knowing nod, you know, a couple different times there was, ‘Hey, you can you can travel here,’ or ‘That sword’s right there,’” said Lescalleet. “You know, things to make the scene happen. But honestly, Arturo just ran with it and he was incredible.”
Plenty of people in the performing arts have their own stories of how a show almost didn't happen, or of cast members falling ill at the last minute. But most agree that this is one story that'll be told for years to come.
“It was kind of one of those things that, if it magically lined up, it was going to be a miracle,” said Derrer. “And that's kind of what it turned out to be."
