San Francisco Frontiers - Pets, pedis and peppermints: When the diva is a donkey

"You've got this, Wanda," one opera manager says as she heads inside.

Before the show, she gets a quick pedicure touch-up -- her hooves tend to pick up hay and debris.

Wanda is, after all, a donkey.

She's played roles in classic New York Metropolitan Opera productions including "La Boheme" and "The Barber of Seville" since 2022.

In Act II of "La Boheme" -- Puccini's popular if heartbreaking portrayal of 19th-century Paris -- Wanda joins hundreds of performers including diners, shoppers and vendors.

The donkey pulls the colorful cart of Parpignol, who peddles toys to children in the spectacular street market scene that also literally features a horse-drawn carriage.

But Wanda and her colleague Max -- the elegant brown horse who takes the stage after the donkey exits -- are pros, calmly hitting their marks.

Their handlers don cloaks alongside the animals during the performance, while Wanda's costume includes a magenta cone hat with multi-colored gems and a frilly collar.

As they wait in a holding area for their cues, Max usually naps, handler Angelina Borello told AFP during one performance.

Wanda gets visits and pets from people including actor Gregory Warren, who plays Parpignol.

Wearing elaborate clown make-up, he pats his co-star lovingly.

"I think it comforts them a little bit just to know who's there and who's dressed like a clown," Warren said. "She's very chill. It's a lot of fun."

"It adds an energy, I think especially for the kids on the stage, to get to see a live animal in action in the middle of it all."

- 'Confidence' -

Wanda debuted at the Met after her predecessor Sir Gabriel retired to Maryland, where he lives on a farm as a companion to a mare whose partner passed.

When she's scheduled for several opera roles in a short period, Wanda lives at stables in the New York borough of the Bronx to minimize her time on the road.

When she has longer stretches off, she resides in upstate New York.

She also has regular gigs in Palm Sunday processions in Manhattan.

"She's fabulous," said Nancy Novograd, the owner of the agency All Tame Animals.

Animals well-disposed to show business have similar qualities as people born to perform, Novograd said.

"What I'm looking for is confidence. I'm looking for an animal that can walk into an unusual environment and maintain its focus," she told AFP.

On any given day, Novograd's agency might be working on a commercial shoot with horses on the beach or waxworms appearing in a television show.

Stage manager Hester Warren-Steijn said the logistics of working with live animals is an intricate dance -- much like everything else backstage at the Met, home to a complex revolving stage with hydraulic lifts.

There's always a Plan B in case something goes awry, she said. The occasional allergy to equine hair crops up -- those singers stay away to protect their voices.

- Post-show peppermints -

Warren-Steijn said part of the job of including animals onstage at the Met is ensuring that "they are well-treated" and "taken care of."

Animal rights advocates over the years have protested the use of live animals in stage productions, especially in Europe.

The German arm of PETA notably convinced the Berlin State Opera in 2022 to stop using guinea pigs in several performances of Wagner's "Ring Cycle."

At the Met, Warren-Steijn said the live animals in beloved productions like "La Boheme" are part of the grandeur and world-building that "this company does so well."

"People want to see it," she said. "This is the Met at its Mettiest."

According to Novograd, some animals simply aren't right for performance. When that's the case, it's quickly evident to her and the trainers she works with.

When "it's overwhelming," she said, "they should not be working."

But for some animals, "it's something different, it's stimulating," she continued.

"They get to be with the people they like to be with. They see new and different things."

When Wanda's done performing, the donkey, like many high-caliber artists, demands refreshments -- ideally lots of starlight peppermints.

But she gets her treats only after her stroll across the stage, which lasts approximately a minute.

Otherwise, Novograd said, "she'll be asking for them constantly."

C.Williams--SFF