Domingo marks Met debut anniversary
Placido Domingo’s eyes watered and his voice quavered. After portraying dozens of characters over half a century on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, he got emotional being himself.
“For us, the opera singers, it is just like Frank Sinatra said: New York, New York, if you made it, you made it everywhere,” the 77-yearold singer from Spain said Friday night when he was honored on stage for the 50th anniversary of his Met debut. Domingo’s career with the Met started Sept. 28, 1968. Domingo’s performance Friday in the title role of “Gianni Schicchi,” the third opera of Puccini’s “Il Trittico,” was his 52nd role and 695th appearance at the Met as a singer and conductor.
A tenor for most of his life, Domingo switched to baritone parts about a decade ago. He has sung 150 roles, by his count.
“The last 20 years, it seems to me like that they are five,” he said after the ceremony, “Time passes so quickly. One wishes that the time, maybe we can do it in a slow motion now the next years.” Domingo received a standing ovation of about two minutes when introduced.
Rose Byrne seeks joy in a troubled system
Late in 2017, as Rose Byrne blissfully cocooned with her newborn son, she was scarcely thinking about work. Then Sean Anders blindsided her with “Instant Family,” his semi-autobiographical comedy about foster care adoption.
“I read the script and was like, ‘Oh [expletive], oh no, ugh,’ ” Byrne said, Byrne and Mark Wahlberg play Ellie and Pete, upper middle-class house flippers who delayed having kids and, now hovering around 40, decide foster parenting is the solution. But Lizzie (Isabela Moner), the 15-year-old they invite into their home, comes attached to two younger siblings (Gustavo Quiroz and Julianna Gamiz). And the couple’s notion of familial contentment — just add love and stir — disintegrates. Sometimes humorously, sometimes not. “Sean was striving to make a joyful film to destigmatize these kids, because there’s been so much about the system, and it’s heavy and dark.”