the original Swedish setting and do so correctly. Back in the 1970s I saw a production at the Royal Opera in Stockholm with Swedish text and the great Ragnar Ulfung as the king. Being the consummate actor he was, Ulfung had researched everything about the time period and about Gustav III and gave the best impersonation of him you’ll ever see — all while singing magnificently, of course. That’s as good as it gets. One of the Stockholm museums displays the chair into which Gustav was placed after he was shot (yes, he was shot, not stabbed), still with a blood stain on it. A very moving experience for me. A few years ago I saw a production at the Met that purportedly restored the Swedish setting. Thethe wall. She said it was behind the post."

"Let's hope the cops didn't look there with their search warrant," I tell him.

Harry starts down the ladder. "Don't let that thing come down and hit me in the head." He flashes the light from the phone's screen on the bottom of the open trapdoor.

"I got it," says Herman. He holds it with one hand as he helps Harry down into the hole with the other. "Watch where you step. Can you see where you're goin'?"

"Not if I'm gonna hang on to the ladder." Harry puts the phone between his teeth as he places both hands on the ladder and disappears down the hole.

I give him a couple of seconds. "What's it look like down there?"

"Shit!" says Harry.

"In other words,