[2] Francis Menotti began his career in the theater as a stage manager for the 1963 national tour of Here Today starring Tallulah Bankhead.
[2] It is around this time that Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti and Francis met, but there are conflicting accounts describing how the acquaintance was made.
[2] However, Menotti's biographer, John Gruen, writes that the two met after Francis was awarded a scholarship with the Spoleto Festival.
[2] Three years earlier he had appeared at that same fesitival as the mime Toby in Menotti's The Medium, a role he also recorded on film for French television.
[2] Other operas he appeared in, all in non-singing roles, include The Saint of Bleecker Street and The Boy Who Grew Too Fast.
However, after the death of Gian Carlo in February 2007, Francis was ousted from the organization and the culture minister in the Italian government appointed politician Giorgio Ferrara to run the festival.