By John von Rhein [Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2009]

It’s nearly midnight in Spoleto, but James Conlon is still going strong. He has been busy rehearsing Woody Allen’s zany production of Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” practically non-stop at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in this medieval town in central Italy, which is perched on an Umbrian hill clad in pine and olive trees.