LONDON — An Argentinean actor has taken exception to the Royal Opera House’s use of a naked photograph of him to promote its production of the Verdi opera Rigoletto.It’s not that Juan Pablo di Pace, 28, minded appearing nude in public. The image, after all, had been captured on film during a 2001 staging of the opera, when di Pace played a small role that required nudity.
What bothered di Pace, according to his publicist, is the Royal Opera House didn’t ask permission first.
“He was perfectly happy in the first place to get naked and take photos,” Eugene O’Hara told the Associated Press. But “they used his image for seven years without consent or payment.”
A spokesman for the opera company said it began using the image last year but would do so no longer. No performances of Rigoletto are scheduled for this year, he noted.
“We take photographs of all productions and we may use those for promotional purposes in the future,” Christopher Millard said told the AP. “[di Pace] was in a photograph that was a striking, fantastic image which we used for publicity purposes for subsequent performances.”
Millard said he was unconvinced di Pace primarily was concerned with permission and payment. Instead, he told the AP, the Royal Opera House received a letter indicating some other distress might be involved. The letter noted, “to Juan’s embarrassment, his penis has been airbrushed out.”
