Opra herself said there were literally hundreds of other shows. Curiously, with all these competitors, opera and the producers made a deliberate decision to ignore them. As one producer puts it, we just didn't pay attention. Many of the producers used some variation of the idea of putting on blinders. It's ironic because if you had to answer what the secret code was to her extraordinary influence,. In a single word, it would be understanding three types of understanding, to be precise. First, understanding your ntent, your intention. Another, you don't look around you do. You let them be them.