Piatt is the prompter for the company's production of Antony and Cleopatra, a new opera adapted from the Shakespeare play by John Adams, who is considered to be one of the world's greatest living composers. From this vantage point, Piatt can view the entire stage through an opening that's about the size of the average suitcase. 'I always have to be careful not to rip my pants,' Piatt says, as he hoists himself into a seat and pushes a button to propel himself upward several feet, using a hydraulic lift. Today, after seismic retrofitting following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Opera House boasts state-of-the-art equipment, a refurbished interior graced with exquisite fixtures and furnishings, several elegant eateries, and refreshment bars located throughout the house.To reach the prompter's box at the home of the San Francisco Opera, Matthew Piatt heads under the stage and walks down a long, narrow passageway. The Opera House played host to two historic events-the drafting of the charter of the United Nations in 1945, and the ceremony where the United States restored Japanese sovereignty in 1951. At the time of its construction, the stage complex was the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the United States-and its acoustics among the best in the world. After opening its doors to audiences on October 15, 1932, the exquisite Opera House has been home to San Francisco Ballet since its earliest days.

Designed in the magnificent Beaux-Arts style by Arthur Brown Jr., architect of Coit Tower and City Hall, the War Memorial Opera House is one of three landmark buildings, along with the Veteran’s Building and Davies Symphony Hall, that make up the War Memorial Performing Arts Center.

Dress circle war memorial opera house