I love the Opera. The intensity, the grandeur, the music, the sets, the costumes, the drama; and the Diva, around which many a story line is centered. The adoring public awaits her entrance, yearning for the moment she transports us from heights of pleasure to the depths of despair. The Diva transfixes us and after that, nothing is ever the same; especially if she cracks on a high note.

Opera is often about pomp and circumstance and it’s no surprise that the spectacle offstage at the Opera House can be equally dramatic.

 

The Opéra Garnier in Paris; is the stair for the space or the space for the stair?

 

The staircase at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City; high structural drama.

It’s not just dramatic public spaces that are composed around a strong focal point. In fact, every space has a Diva; that one element that stands out in the composition.

 

A cedar-clad shower is the focal point of this home spa. I can’t imagine a Diva who wouldn’t want one.

 

 

A Diva is showered with flowers at the final curtain call. Here, as she walks in from the garden, a dramatic flower arrangement, the focal point of this composition, awaits her entrance.

 

 

The focal point of this room is the fireplace wall. All the elements of room are designed to reinforce it, yet emphasize the casual elegance of this room. Every Diva knows that being subtle is as important as intense drama.

 

Who else than Maria Callas to play the evil princess Turandot? My favorite line from the Broadway Play, Master Class, is when the character of Callas says: “Competition? What competition? If they can’t do what I can, there is no competition.”