Baritone Lawrence Tibbett boldly signed in pencil this program centerfold, for a matinee some two weeks after his performance as Ford in the premiere of a star-studded new production of Verdi’s Falstaff which literally stopped the show and catapulted him to instant stardom. The cast included Antonio Scotti, Beniamino Gigli, Lucrezia Bori and Frances Alda - literally stopped the show and catapulted him to instant stardom.

On the verso is a program from a Manhattan Opera House recital by the legendary Italian tenor Alessandro Bonci – once Caruso’s greatest competition in New York – who signed it “A. Bonci” in the lower right corner.