COVER STORY

For Wednesday night’s opening of the 14th season of Los Angeles Opera, an A-list of celebrities was scheduled to be on hand at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, from Jack Nicholson to David Hockney, from Sidney Poitier to Julia Ormond. Annette Bening, however, wasn’t able to make it--opening night of the opera collided with the premiere of her new film, “American Beauty.� But Bening wasn’t about to miss Placido Domingo in “Samson et Dalila.� Special arrangements were made so the actress could catch the tenor at last weekend’s dress rehearsal.

Everyone knows Hollywood’s biggest names can be seen at the town’s weekly docket of premieres and fund-raisers. Less known is the list of power players who attend the opera--and not only when Domingo is singing. Michael Eisner is a subscriber. Candice Bergen and Tom Hanks are regulars. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise catch the opera when they’re in L.A.

It’s been embraced by young Hollywood (David Schwimmer, Jodie Foster) and old (Kirk Douglas, Shirley MacLaine).

As Los Angeles Opera kicks off its season this week with “Samson� and “The Elixir of Love,� Calendar Weekend asked some performers why they love opera.

ELVIS COSTELLO

The singer-songwriter’s next album, “The Sweetest Punch�--a collaboration with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell--will be released Sept. 21.

My advantage is that I travel so much that I get to plan my social life around my touring schedule. If I can think far enough in advance and find gaps, I can slide in opera performances or concerts (around the world).

I have preferences for Mozart and Verdi. I’m not a Puccini fan, but I like other works from this century--Stravinsky and Janacek. There’s nothing like hearing that orchestration in person. A record won’t give it to you.

You see some really good things on the stage in London, sort of semi-staged or in concert performance. I don’t always feel it’s important to see the full, dazzling production. I’m a little wary when the scenery gets more applause than the music.

I did go see “Carmen� at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where the scenery did get applause--and it did deserve it, it was amazing set design. I think people would be disappointed if there wasn’t that effort put in with a well-loved piece like “Carmen.�

But sometimes the staging is in contradiction to the music, so I have to close my eyes and glance up occasionally to see where they are in the plot. I’ve walked out of quite a few things where they seem to be designing and directing with an attitude of playing to a jaded palette. . . . They haven’t trusted the music to do the work. . . . It’s a musical medium. It’s not about a total entertainment experience. Leave that to Broadway.

MICHAEL YORK

The veteran actor plays Basil Exposition in the “Austin Powers� movies.

I think [the L.A. Opera] has done some wonderful things and really has enhanced the pleasure of living in L.A. I can think back on some landmark things, like seeing [Berlioz’s] “The Trojans� and [Wagner’s] “Tristan and Isolde� that David Hockney designed. One feels proud of having a company in L.A. like this.

Opera was something I had to discover for myself. I was taken at age 14 by someone to Glyndebourne, the private opera house in the south of England, to see “Abduction From the Seraglio� by Mozart. I found it absolutely enchanting and wonderful. Since then it’s been a process of discovery. I remember discovering Wagner for the first time, and seeing “The Ring,� where you dedicate the whole week to it, rather than an evening’s entertainment.

I think people are intimidated because people used to dress up--it was a thing, like going to the races, part of that social circuit. But here in L.A., it’s not. You see a total cross-section of the city united by this passion. In fact, I think the better seats in the opera house, for the sound, are up higher, though I like to be right up front behind the conductor. The supertitles, too, made a big difference. People can understand what’s going on and get all the jokes. I’d advise people to give it a try--and if it’s not for them, it’s not the end of the world.

ROBERT GUILLAUME

Best known as TV’s Benson, he starred in “Phantom of the Opera� at the Music Center in 1990 and co-stars on ABC’s “Sports Night.�

I was interested in singing when I was very young, so my interest in singing and how the vocal instrument works led me naturally, I think, to opera.

It is always seen like a highbrow pursuit, and antithetical to American tastes, but I think that’s changing. As Americans become more sophisticated as a group, they will gravitate to something like opera.

Mostly I enjoy the music--and the pageantry and the sense of scope in it. It sort of brings together all the elements of entertainment. It’s highly entertaining. It’s live. The singers have to know what they’re doing, there’s no retakes. It’s sort of performing without a net. They have to be in good voice--or cover the fact that they’re not. It’s a very charged atmosphere.

Singers trying to perform without the latest technical assistance--microphones--it’s as close as you can get to the herculean task of a human being trying to create art.

FAYE DUNAWAY

The Academy Award-winning actress is in “The Thomas Crown Affair� and will be seen next in the film “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.�

I’m from the South and didn’t grow up with opera, but I got very interested in it a few years ago when I played Maria Callas [in the national tour of Terrence McNally’s “Master Class� in 1997].

It’s--how does one say this?--the most imitated and the greatest music in the world. Everything else derives from opera.

My favorite is [Bellini’s] “Norma.� And when Callas did “Tosca,� it was amazing. That’s the only one I saw her do live, and it really knocked me out.

I’m very interested in this season at the L.A. Opera. I think it’s wonderful what Wendy Stark Morrissey [chair of the opera gala] is doing. She gives the best parties in the world. I sat between Oliver Stone and Gore Vidal one night--it was historic. I’m also very interested in the opera Bruce Beresford is directing [in March], “Rigoletto.�

JON VOIGHT

The Oscar-winning actor was most recently seen in the films “Varsity Blues� and “A Dog of Flanders� and played Noah on NBC’s miniseries.

My love for acting came out of a love of storytelling, and my most extraordinary experiences are when you have a rich story that artists of great capacity roll their sleeves up to do--writers, directors, actors. It’s tremendous when you achieve something of an artistic nature. It’s not easy to do--and this climate today isn’t so accepting of high art. It’s a more commercial time.

But these pieces in opera were not motivated that way. They were motivated by people trying to examine certain things and bring out the beauty of something, the poignancy of certain universal relationships. And these composers continue to be attractive to us today in many ways. This wedding of music and poetry and storytelling--it’s wonderful. It’s a way to visit these great minds who did this work so long ago.

The acting in opera today is better now than ever before, and also, because it is an international scene, we hear great voices from all over the world.