A secret password. An underground arts speakeasy. Live opera. And an intimate conversation with some of the people shaping San Francisco Opera’s upcoming season.

Before the curtain rises on San Francisco Opera’s 2026–27 season, Red Curtain Addict partnered with San Francisco Opera’s BRAVO! Club to give our communities the chance to experience the Opera from an entirely different perspective.

For one night, the Horn Lounge & Bar beneath the War Memorial Veterans Building was transformed into an intimate arts speakeasy for Sneak Peek: A Night Behind the Curtain, bringing together opera insiders, artists, and arts lovers for an evening of conversation, live performance, cocktails, and a look at what it really takes to bring a season to the stage. But first, you had to know the password to get in...

Guests arrived at the Veterans Building, shared the evening’s secret password, and were sent downstairs to discover what was waiting beneath San Francisco’s performing arts district.

Inside, the traditional theater experience was turned on its head. Rather than taking a seat and waiting for the curtain to rise, guests could grab a cocktail, meet fellow arts lovers, and hear directly from the people responsible for creating the productions they’ll soon experience onstage.

It was exactly what we hoped the night would be: an opportunity to make the enormous world behind an opera production feel personal, accessible, and alive.

Red Curtain Addict Founder Kari Lincks Coomans led an intimate conversation with three leaders who each offer a very different perspective on what happens behind the curtain at San Francisco Opera: General Director Matthew Shilvock, Managing Director of Production Jennifer Good, and Senior Costume Production Supervisor Galen Till.

Together, they took us beyond what audiences see from their seats and into the process of bringing an opera to life. From the artistic vision behind a season to the extraordinary coordination required to mount a production and the craftsmanship happening inside San Francisco Opera’s costume shop, the conversation offered a reminder that what ultimately appears onstage is the work of an enormous community of artists, artisans, technicians, administrators, and creative minds.

And with San Francisco Opera’s 104th season just weeks away, there was plenty to talk about. The upcoming season takes audiences from Puccini’s Tosca and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro to Massenet’s Manon, Donizetti’s Mary, Queen of Scots, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, and Wagner’s Das Rheingold.

Of course, you can’t offer a sneak peek at an opera season without a little opera. Throughout the evening, soprano Toni Marie Palmertree, tenor Christopher Oglesby, and tenor Thomas Kinch, joined by pianist and music director Ronny Michael Greenberg, brought the conversation to life through live performance.

Hearing these voices from just feet away offered a completely different experience from hearing them inside a grand opera house. It was immediate, intimate, and a powerful reminder of just how extraordinary the unamplified human voice can be.

For longtime opera lovers, it was a chance to experience the art form in a new setting. For guests newer to opera, it offered an inviting way in. That combination of discovery and connection was at the heart of the entire evening.

One of the most exciting parts of the evening was seeing our community come together around a shared love of the arts. The event sold out, filling the room with longtime opera lovers, curious newcomers, artists, and friends eager to celebrate the start of a new season together.

There’s something incredibly special about getting closer to the stories and people behind the performances we love. From hearing directly from the creative minds who bring these productions to life to experiencing extraordinary voices just a few feet away, the evening gave us even more to celebrate as we look ahead to San Francisco Opera’s 104th season.

Our Sneak Peek may have taken place behind a secret door, but the real goal was to open the door a little wider. Opera is so much more than the few hours audiences experience from their seats. Behind every performance are countless people, ideas, decisions, and stories that begin long before opening night.

Getting to share some of those stories with our community, while celebrating the people who make them possible, was the perfect way to look ahead to another season at San Francisco Opera.

A huge thank you to San Francisco Opera, BRAVO! Club, our partners, sponsors, volunteers, artists, and everyone who helped bring this night to life. And, of course, to all of you who knew the password, headed underground, and joined us behind the curtain.

To find out more about San Francisco Opera's upcoming season, click HERE! To find out more about San Francisco Opera's BRAVO! Club, click HERE!