Editing La Scala (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Milano - Teatro alla Scala 3924.jpg|thumb|300px|The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night]]
La Scala's season opens on 7 December, [[Saint Ambrose]]'s Day, the feast day of Milan's [[patron saint]]. All performances must end before midnight and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary.

The [[Museo Teatrale alla Scala]] (La Scala Theatre Museum), accessible from the theatre's foyer and a part of the house, contains a collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding the history of La Scala and of opera in general. La Scala also hosts the Accademia d'Arti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo (Academy for the Performing Arts). Its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers (at the [[Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala]], one of the academy's divisions).

Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the ''loggione''—where the less wealthy can watch the performances. The gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers' perceived successes or failures.<ref>{{Cite web|date=4 December 2012|title=Cecilia Bartoli triumphs at La Scala amidst catcalls and boos|url=https://www.gramilano.com/2012/12/cecilia-bartoli-triumphs-at-la-scala-amidst-catcalls-and-boos/|access-date=16 October 2021|language=en-GB}}</ref> For their failures, artists receive a "[[baptism of fire]]" from these aficionados, and fiascos are long remembered. For example, in 2006, tenor [[Roberto Alagna]] left the stage after being booed during a performance of ''[[Aida]]'', forcing his [[understudy]], [[Antonello Palombi]], to quickly replace him mid-scene without time to change into a costume. Alagna did not return to the production.<ref name="NYT Alagna Aida article">{{cite news|last=Wakin|first=Daniel J.|title=After La Scala Boos, a Tenor Boos Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/arts/music/13teno.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=13 December 2006|access-date=31 January 2018}}</ref>