48 Hours on Blue Bayou Pt. 27: Julie

This rings wrong in my mind. A former boyfriend had recounted his college exploits in the play production extra-curricular activity. He'd described a continuous activity, with an Opening Night every fourth Wednesday. The plan was for the local population to show up for Wednesday and Thursday performances, with the college students and their dates on Friday and Saturday. Sunday would be "strike the set" day, and Monday would start production on the next play, with Opening Night in 23 days. OK, that was with college kids whose only other jobs were going to classes and writing papers.

Ping explains that all the Opera workers have other jobs. The salaries the Opera could afford are just not sufficient to sustain a family. With only a dozen or so performances a year, ticket sales do not generate a large budget. As the former OBS had remarked, the recent Gala had put the current budget reasonably in the green. Butterfly and I exchange glances; this would be a major problem for our Owners.

Ping shows me a bit more about the financial and public affairs situation. A look at recent bank statements shows that the Opera is solvent, with a balance that should cover about two months' expenses. By then, the lady states, we should be receiving revenue from ticket sales for the next production. With a grin, Ping remarks that our Bank is "friendly," by which I guess she means they won't object too much if we run a bit overdrawn every so often. Butterfly matches her grin and adds that this is one of the perks from having the government want your business to survive.

I manage to identify the "real sharp kid" the former OBS told Butterfly and me about during the Empress' "familiarization tour" of Hong Kong institutions. He's a bit older than a "kid" with the self-assurance of a young adult who has worked well in his position for several years. His name is Harry Brown and he tells us he learned to love opera while in school, has worked for many operas, including Europe, Japan, and the US, but he loves the Hong Kong Opera best: "It's the one that gave me the most opportunity to spread my wings and contribute to building a world-class institution."

My intuition tells me this man is too smooth, that his presentation is too finely tuned. He is a bit evasive about his schooling and avoids naming his country of birth. He doesn't mention the operatic companies he'd worked for, just a list of world cities. Of course, each of them would have several operatic companies, but his palaver seems to suggest he worked at the premier company in each city.

As Butterfly accompanies me back to the Enterprises, I mention these oddities, but Butterfly shrugs them off and I push my intuition to the background. Perhaps, I think, this is just the way staffers in Hong Kong are used to talking.

Pat greets me in the lobby, and I get the feeling that this is a "handoff" from Butterfly. Not a word has been spoken about anybody at the Enterprises not trusting their slave, but I can understand how I am, at least somewhat, "on parole." I offer to give Pat a summary of what I learned on this first trip.

"Actually, Julie, I have you on Master's schedule for just such a report in a half-hour. You've got some time to freshen up and then I'll take you in."

I am not really surprised by this appointment. Ever since my Master asked what lessons I had learned that first day, I've been aware that his "high standards" include being aware of events and experiences.

My Master seems happy to see me, that nice smile lighting up his face. He takes my arm and guides me to a kneeling pad near his conference table, rather than before his desk, and moves a chair so he can face me. I notice a pad and a few pencils on the table, ready for notes and decisions.

He lets me get comfortable in Position One and looks inquiringly at me. I do my deep breath thing and start. With a Big One. "Master, I don't think the Opera is going to become a major cultural institution here if it continues on the way it is going. Now, that has to be modified by what kind of 'major cultural institution' you want it to become. If you want to have the western opera canon become familiar to the Chinese, doing an opera every three or four months, a dozen performances a year, and by mostly local artists, won't make much headway.

"The problem is that there is no impact, nothing to make folks 'sit up and take notice,' so to speak. Every production uses different artists, basically whoever is available at the time, and none of them has developed into a star, someone with drawing power. And, every production is mounted based on a budget for just three or four performances. There is no way that this can give our audience a feel for the opulence of Grand Opera like they get at La Scala in Milan or the Lyric in Chicago."

I miss a beat here: the performance I saw one winter at Chicago's Lyric Opera was musically magic, but far from opulent or "Grand." Another breath and I plow on. Master is sitting, as relaxed as at first, with no sign of irritation or worry.

"I understand that we've managed to stay solvent and afloat with the present Business Plan, but it means, each year, relying on an extraneous factor: how much do we raise at the Gala? How can we raise enough to push the Opera to the next level if we just keep doing what we've been doing?"

I've just about wiped out the favorite institution of the Empress. I come to a full stop and wait for my Master's reaction, hoping the explosion won't be too big.

He shifts in his chair and proceeds to surprise me. "The Empress hooked me into the Opera with almost the same pitch. She said it was doing a nice job, but it wasn't becoming a major player in this part of the country.

"OK. Now, do you have a new Business Plan in mind? Something that will surprise our audience, generate more impact for the institution, and get it to whatever is the next level?"

I have to giggle a bit here. Of course, my Master's question should be expected. It's what any boss would say when his current Business Plan isn't bringing in the results he desires. I have a bit of an advantage, however, because the Opera's current Plan is not his, so he has no emotional link to "the way we've always done it." I get another breath and fire my Big Idea.

"The productions we've been doing," I say — using the inclusive "we" to build an attachment to the institution — "have been good enough for young people, not experienced in what Grand Opera really is. We import one or two internationally known singers for a week or so but, with a short time horizon and most of their time spent in rehearsals, they can't give many Master Classes to aspiring artists. What we need to impress businessmen and professionals, people who know a bit about music and opera, is a whole cast of principal singers and musicians, a magnificent production, and enough time to give the classes our local talent needs for its development. What we need is to import an entire opera company, like New York's Metropolitan or The Royal Opera at Covent Garden in London. We set them up for, perhaps, two weeks. They give several performances of one or two operas plus a whole series of Master Classes. The company has a chance to develop a real link to Hong Kong. It is an intense display of opera at its best. And we do this every other month for most of the year. And we don't focus on just one Gala for the year. We have Opening and Closing Night parties for each opera company. Perhaps not as formal as a Gala, but just as much fun and with ten times the stories in the press and TV."

I have outlined something like I recall one of the law partners calling "a big case." He was doubtful that the jury would "get" all the points we were going to make, but the sheer size of the presentation made the case better than speeches from the lawyers; we won the case handily. Now, I wait to see how my Master will take to the idea.

"These world-class opera companies," he asks, "do they travel much?"

I have to hedge my answer. "Sir, most of them do go 'on tour,' as they say, but each is very carefully planned. The logistics of moving an opera production, together with the artists and technicians, is huge. The man we were told about by the former Opera Boss Slave — his name is Harry Brown — says that he worked on one tour for months before they made it logistically and economically possible."

"And coming to Hong Kong?"

"Sir, the Opera schedule is set up for the next year. We are talking about a schedule for two or three years away. We can continue with the present plan, but work on the new plan until we see just how possible it is. We can sound out different companies. We can check with the Pearl River Development Plan, the one Charles was telling me about. It can't hurt to be part of a big government operation."

My Master is quiet and I see him doodling on the pad. I have never seen him do that before, so I am just a bit concerned. Then, he slaps the pencil down, looks sharply at me, and gives me some marching orders. "OK, Julie. The first one to clear this with will be the Empress. I'll set up an appointment for next week. By then, you'll need an outline of the logistics of moving one of these opera companies half-way around the world, some idea of what we can do with them here for a week or so, and how Hong Kong — and even this part of China — is liable to respond. If you can get some reactions from potential visiting companies, that would be helpful. Work with this Brown guy; use his experience as a guide. Be sure to search for traps and land mines. One of these visits could go wrong, but we don't want it to blow up on us. And, let's keep this within the Opera staff as a pretty tentative idea. Premature publicity is worse than no publicity, I've found."

Pat's arrival signals my appointment is over. Master grins at her and says, "Pat, Julie has some ideas for this Opera thing the Empress has snagged me into. She is going to work up a presentation for next week. Please set her up with a computer, probably a laptop she can take with her to the Opera offices, so she can keep things properly sorted out."

I don't see any reaction on my trainer's face, but follow her to the kitchen. There, she turns and I see a broad smile wreathe her features. "Julie," she fairly squeals, "you've landed a Project! Do you realize what this means?"

I have no idea what she's talking about. Of course, I realize that getting the Royal Opera to Hong Kong is going to be a big job, but there are staffers here at the Enterprises that do that sort of thing, aren't there? At least, I now realize, I hope there are; I have no idea how to move an opera company around the world!

Pat rushes onward. "Julie, the tipoff was the computer. For any simple job, Master would figure you could do it with just a few pads and file folders. He realizes how big this is, so he's ordered a computer for you. You're going to be in charge of a Project, just like those Charles and Edward help manage around the world, like the ones you heard about on the plane."

Crap! This means budgets, personnel decisions, and reports! Reports that will get scrutinized by everyone, especially Charles and Edward! And, if the reports don't show progress against a Timeline somebody has drawn for me, I get fired!

Well, I don't suppose a slave can really get fired, can she? Master wouldn't "sell me on," would he? The worst would probably be a "reassignment" to the Intake Unit Slave Corridor, where I'd be — again — back to Square One, right?

My Inner Goddess gives me a spank and warning to stop such thoughts. Quit the Negatives! Focus on the Positives! Try not to say anything stupid!

Now, my Master has shown his slave more of his trust and acceptance. The warmth of this feeling is immediately swamped by my apprehension: I cannot, just simply cannot, let him down! For an instant, I get a glimpse of what it really means when I think that Pat and Anne would "walk through walls" for our Master.

Pat must see these thoughts and emotions run across my face. She laughs a bit and adds, "So, you're getting the point about being the Opera Boss Slave? Congratulations, and welcome to the club!

"Julie, think back to how you felt at that Festive Dinner for the Round-up Week, when you got to wear the Plume de Chanel. You felt like a Queen, right? Well, that was from something the Master gave you. This Project, when you pull it off successfully, will give you that same feeling, but this time it will be from your own accomplishments. It's like something from inside, rather than something from outside."

My Inner Goddess is grinning at me. Now, I think I understand what Igor and Edward were telling me about "happiness," the inside-outside thing. I just barely remember the "happiness" at getting a bonus each year at the law firm. This Project is going to be so much bigger! Without giving it much thought, I promise myself that I'm going for a Big League portion of happiness with this Project. A shiver of doubt tries to slow me down, but I push it away. Indeed, I'm not going to say anything stupid!

Author's Note: On the one hand, it's nice that Master trusts Julie again, right? But, on the other hand, he's handed her a Big Project, one that can't miss having traps and catastrophes, right? And, who — really — is this Harry Brown character? As always, your Authors look forward to your insights and suggestions.

Please note: Your Author will be out of Internet contact until early August. The next Part of Julie's Story, therefore, won't be up until about the second week in August. Sorry about that, but it's the first time a vacation has been possible for some time. [I'm sure you know why I've got such bony fingers: it's not arthritis, it's because I've been working my fingers to the bone.]

In the meantime, as they say: "Please keep those cards and letters coming!"

— J Spe

P.S.: Please excuse the terrible pun a few lines back.