Anybody who swings by The Dallas Opera offices needs to take a second to walk past Jonathan Pell’s office. Our longtime director of artistic administration, sitting behind his desk loaded with snow globes from several continents, looks rather different these days.
No, the same obsessive-compulsive organizational skills are in evidence. The same penchant for collecting, the same neatly arranged photo albums of his foreign excursions; but you can’t miss it — it’s right under his nose.
A nasty sidewalk tumble about five weeks ago left him with a right wrist and hand encased in Plaster of Paris (or whatever they call it now). Jonathan adapted well, all things considered, but couldn’t quite figure out how his favorite razor could deliver a smooth, left-handed shave. Hence the new beard.
Not just any beard, but a distinguished salt-and-pepper concoction more reminiscent of a Confederate colonel in a Civil War re-enactment than Charlton Heston as Moses. Jonathan winces when we tell him the beard suits him; however, I’m really beginning to wonder whether he’s actually going to shave it off, once his fidgety digits come out of the cast.
Stop and think, Jonathan.
We all lusted after the sleek, cat-like Sean Connery of the early Bond films, but, the older screen legend with the salt-and-pepper beard is the one we love best. Save — don’t shave — those natural resources.
Suzanne Calvin, Assoc. Dir. of Marketing, The Dallas Opera