Dear Diary: I Played a Kid in Zeffirelli’s ‘Pagliacci’

On July 8 Robert (Bobby) Sipchen, 6, of Mount Washington, reluctantly tagged along on a casting call for supernumeraries in the Los Angeles Opera production of Franco Zeffirelli’s “Pagliacci” with Placido Domingo. His mother, sisters and friends were rejected, but a casting director asked Bobby to play a street urchin who comes to watch the opera’s traveling circus. He agreed because one of his friends told him he would make money to spend on baseball cards.

At the time, his family was listening to the audiotape of Anne Frank’s diary, and he decided to keep his own journal of the experience, beginning with this entry: “I feel very scared abot this, but I’m going to git lost of mony.”

He dictated later entries to his mother.

Aug. 15, first rehearsal, Vernon Studios: My first day on the job was scary. I didn’t know there was going to be a lot of people here. Everybody was nice--I made some friends named Reny [Colton] and Reid [Colton]. A boy on a bike was teasing us--he would poke us in the back. In real life he told us he was a schoolteacher.

We practice in a big warehouse. Inside they have ramps, a trailer, motorcycles and a car. They have old tires we can sit on. There’s a circus that comes to town and Marco [Gandini, the associate director] tells us to be really amused. There are circus performers who cough up red balls and there are people who make a red ribbon into a stick.

Aug. 20 rehearsal, Vernon Studios: Franco Zeffirelli came tonight. Then it got a little more boring. He kept saying, “No!! STOP!! Do it again.” I couldn’t understand him because he kept talking in Italian. “No, no, bubbily-blabbily-blikity.”

We just like to run around.

Aug. 22, rehearsal, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: We moved our rehearsals to the big stage. I liked it better in the warehouse. We liked running around in the warehouse because it’s so big. I am almost done with my rehearsals. I am having fun. I can jump, do back flips, I can do magic tricks. My job is to run down a ramp, run up, go down and back up the ramp. When the motorcycle comes across the stage we watch the magic tricks. A man throws candy to us and then I’m brought off stage. I go downstairs to get changed right away. Then another child, Hannah [Sunshine], enters with me and we sit on the tires. Marco told us to just have fun. Reid hands us some plates and forks and we pretend to eat. Sometimes I fool around and turn the plate upside down and pretend the food is bad or put the plate on my head.

Aug. 28, rehearsal, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: Last night Placido Domingo came. Lots of people were so excited, “Wow, look at Placido!” When Placido came on stage I got to come down to the seats to watch him sing. I think it’s not so great because he’s too loud and he fights with another man and the lady. Placido’s grandson is in the opera now, too. Domenic [Domingo] is his name. Domenic is awesome. He’s good at jumping and he’s about my size.

After we eat on the tires I get pulled up to get washed by the lady [soprano Veronica Villarroel as Nedda]. It’s mushy and I don’t like it very much. I don’t like girls washing me.

Today they had real ice cream on the set. Micah [Levin] is a boy waiter. He asked, “What’s your order?” I said, “Two ice cream cones!” He came back with two big strawberry ice cream cones. I got to eat them on stage.

Aug. 31, rehearsal, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: Before the rehearsal today I put my order in to Micah for two chocolate ice cream cones. But during the opera he never came to me. Later I asked him why. He said, “All the grown-ups saw the kids eating ice cream and wanted it too. They kept grabbing me and putting in their orders. They’d stop me before I could get to you.” I hope he takes my order next time.

Sept. 1, final dress rehearsal: Today was our last rehearsal, with more than a hundred people watching it. It wasn’t so fun at first because I thought I would have to get into a tub [to be washed]. But now I don’t. Reny and Hannah come with me. The lady takes a towel and dips it into the water and washes our faces. It makes me feel a little bit better. I wouldn’t want to be out there all alone with the lady in front of a thousand and something people.

In the dressing room the kids took up territory in a spot where we want to be. One guy--he doesn’t like us fooling around. He’s a dresser, he’s not in the opera. He says, “Don’t do that!,” when we are just playing, like tag and hiding people’s money. We ask if we can see people’s money then we run off with it--but we give it back.

My costume is like my regular clothes--a white tank top and blue shorts and some funny sandals. We have to wait around and we have to be patient when we get in line to get makeup on. My makeup is brownish and it’s supposed to be dirt. They put it on my legs, my face, my shoulders and my arms.

After we got dressed they told us to go up on stage. The music started and the curtain went up. Everyone was in their places. I started to run up the ramp and I looked at the audience real fast, and when I looked back I ran right into Gary [Michael], the roller-blader. I wasn’t supposed to look at the audience but I just took a peek. He knocked me down and when he noticed what he did, he helped me up. Later Gary said, “Sorry,” and that I should look out for him. Next time I’ll be a little more careful.

Sept. 4, Opening night: I looked out once and there were a lot of people. It was fun to feel the excitement. Gary has new roller-blades--they look like sandals but they have wheels. He told me he could stop better. I said, “Whoa!!” I didn’t want to wait for Micah so before I sat down for the show [in the last act], I went over to the stand and I got ice cream. It was chocolate. After the show I found my grandma and grandpa. Grandpa said I was good. I feel tired. I stayed up late.

* Second-grader Sipchen is the son of a Times reporter.