Guests supreme

WASHINGTON -- Anthony Kennedy likes to listen to the opera while working, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dreamed of a career as a diva and Stephen Breyer has twice performed on stage -- albeit a half-century ago.

Who says Supreme Court justices are all law, no show biz.

Despite their limited performing arts resumes, the three made rare special appearances, with nonsinging roles, in the Washington Opera's season-opener "Die Fledermaus" on Saturday night.

Kennedy said it was ironic that one of the characters in Johann Strauss Jr.'s 1874 operetta is an inept lawyer whose client receives a longer jail sentence than he should. The crime: calling a police officer an idiot.

The justices, more accustomed to the bench than the stage, had small roles, playing guests at a royal ball.

"That's show business. You have to start on the bottom," Kennedy said during a pre-performance interview. "When you're at the bottom rung, you don't question orders."

The trio make their entrance, the petite Ginsburg flanked by the trim tall Breyer and Kennedy, just in time for a solo by tenor Placido Domingo and exotic performance by tango dancers. The justices do not join in the dancing, a difficult undertaking in their long black judicial robes. They are introduced as "guests supreme."

The three preferred less official and more theatrical costumes, but opera executives assigned them to play themselves.

Other characters are in disguise. At the ball, the wealthy man facing a prison sentence for his mischief flirts with a masked "Hungarian lady" who is really his wife in disguise.

The justices watch from a plush red velvet ottoman, or pouf, with gold feather-like branches hanging overhead as Domingo performs sentimental pieces, including "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" (Yours is my heart alone).

"I'm tempted to hum along," said the 65-year-old Breyer, who last performed on stage as a 12-year-old.

"Or foot stomp," added Kennedy, 67.

Ginsburg, who is 70, said she was thrilled by the time on stage with Domingo, whom she describes as "a great phenomenon of the world."

The three are former college professors who play down their artistic abilities.

"You can't be a judge without some theatrical talent," Breyer said.

Ginsburg and Kennedy have more recent on-stage experience. Ginsburg and Justice Antonin Scalia were extras together in 1994 in a Washington Opera presentation of "Ariadne auf Naxos." They wore white powdered wigs. Kennedy has several previous assignments including one at the Opera House in Sydney, Australia.

Ginsburg had no tips in advance for Breyer.

"I can't tell you to keep your questions short, because you can't ask questions," she told Breyer, known to sometimes extensively question lawyers during Supreme Court sessions.

The event was being taped for public television, and Kennedy said they were looking forward to reading the newspaper reviews.

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On the Net:

Washington Opera: http://www.dc-opera.org/