OPERA OPENING NIGHT — Caravan of the exotic in San Francisco

By Catherine Bigelow [SF Chronicle, 12 September 2005]
The 83rd season of the San Francisco Opera blew in sirocco-style Saturday at the company’s opening-night gala.
But neither fierce winds nor the added drama of a presidential presence and a cranky camel derailed the colorful caravan that was the Opera Guild’s Midnight at the Oasis Opera Ball.