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MILAN — He's already done the Vatican. So don't be surprised if Milan's famed La Scala opera house doesn't turn up in Dan Brown's next thriller.
"It is quite possible. I'm mesmerized by this," Brown said during an intermission at the gala season opening of "Carmen" at La Scala. Brown has been in Italy promoting his latest book, "The Lost Symbol," and doing research for his next one.
Brown saw inspiration all around him: "The architecture, the art, and of course you have an endless cast of characters that can be built on," Brown said during a break.
Eyeing La Scala's six rows of gilded, tiered balconies, Brown said: "Somebody clearly needs to fall."
Indeed.
Brown has used Italy as the backdrop for his "Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons." Could "The Carmen Code," be next?
"I definitely need to go up there," Brown said, fixed on the balconies.
His agent immediately proposed a tour. And filled him in on the loggionisti, the dwellers of La Scala's uppermost balconies, revered and feared for their scathing boos at the slightest missed note or theatrical indiscretion.
When the loggionisti aimed their boos and whistles at stage director Emma Dante at the end of the opening, Brown's sympathies lay with the director.
"That's terrible," he said. "Jealousy."
