On the Seattle Ring backstage pictures, I originally had Greer Grimsley's picture listed as "Amfortas." An observant Trrill reader, Rosario Gennaro, pointed out my error: "Amfortas? in the Ring? That must have been after the grail healed his wound!" Thanks, Rosario! I had quite an Oh Shit! laugh when I got your email.

For the record, though:



I have a very special fondness for Greer as Amfortas, as this Seattle Parsifal was my first Wagner experience and the first production in the new house. I respect and look up to Greer as a fine actor and powerhouse singer. His portrayal was affecting often because it didn't contain any hint of pathetic-self-loathing-cripple but was more akin to a wounded lion, made all the more effective by Greer's physique, which is so imposing that I often thought he was taking up the entire width and height of the stage in the moment when he pulls off the bandages to reveal Amfortas's wound. I really hope Greer becomes more visible and more talked-about. An acquaintance of mine is convinced that, after this Seattle Ring, he will have stolen the Wotan mantle from James Morris. I have to agree; he's absolutely riveting.


P.S. Three guesses as to who's having an ecstatic Graal communion on his stomach behind Greer (in the first picture). Look ma, no shrooms! Or WAIT!