Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 4 - Cavalleria

11 | Lyric Opera of Chicago Penelope and Robert were married downtown — by Judge Norman Eiger, who at the time presided over the state’s divorce court. “When we were done, he said to Bob and me: ‘I never want to see the two of you again.’ About 25 years later, we happened to be in the building where he lived, and we ran into him in the elevator. He remembered us, and we remembered him. We told him, ‘It’s still going strong. You will not see us in your court.’” That chance meeting took place at about the halfway point of their union. When Bob passed in 2020, they had been married for 51 years. The $25 million gift formally comes from the Robert and Penelope Steiner Foundation (“His name will always come first,” Penelope says). Its small board consists of Penelope and her two children, a semi-retired family lawyer (a fraternity brother of Bob’s), a nephew-in-law, and Bob’s longtime assistant. The foundation’s giving will continue; any board member can vet and suggest other possible recipients. There are signs that opera may have a place in the hearts of generations to come. When Penelope and her family attended Explore Your Lyric day this past spring, her two-year-old grandson was entranced at a performance of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World — the 2024/25 Season’s Opera in the Neighborhoods offering. That’s the future. But Penelope seems to take a moment of gratitude today. “I remember, on my 16th birthday, I had an epiphany: When I reached this point in my life, I wanted to have no ‘If onlys.’ My husband thought I took it too far. But I haven’t. I feel that I’ve been incredibly blessed. I’ve achieved volumes of my personal goals. At the same time, I feel I am just getting started.” a regular presence at the major events. “At the MCA, people thought he was a myth,” she says, joking. “We had such an incredible relationship and respected each other’s passions. There was no competition. We were truly mindful of each other’s time. And no matter when, if I was leaving for something, he’d always be sitting there. All he would say to me is, ‘Let me look at you.’ When I came home, he’d be sitting there waiting. And say the same thing again.” All along, they seem to have had a good bit of fun. The entire family rode the wave of the Chicago Bulls’ remarkable run of championships in the 1990s. “We were there,” Penelope puts it plainly. “We had wonderful seats because we started going when our kids were really young — before Michael Jordan was on the scene. My son met Michael Jordan, and Michael Jordan’s father. I met his wife, Juanita, and his mother. We had a huge poster from one of the championships, and my son — he was maybe 10 or 11 years old — took his magnifying glass out and found us in the crowd. There’s all of us, four little Steiners.” Penelope Steiner and Chief Artistic Officer Matthew Ozawa at the Vittum Theater for the Opera in the Neighborhood production of Jason and the Argonauts. Kyle Flubacker