Opera: Right in the Heart of Paris

As soon as the curtain dropped on the performance of Bellini's Norma, fist fights erupted, insults bounced be tween boxes, and the grandly helmeted Gardes Républicaines clanked into action. One bejeweled matron tore the glasses off a startled young man next to her; another dug her fingernails into her adversary's Balenciaga décolleté. Dress Designer Yves Saint Laurent dealt his neighbor a smart kick in the shins. Monaco's Princess Grace, along with Charlie Chaplin, his wife and his brood, fled for the exits. Aristotle Onassis and Rudolf Bing stayed on to applaud....

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