Thomas Allen, left, and Laura Tatulescu perform in Gianni Schicchi, a comic farce that director Woody Allen staged as an old Italian black and white movie. (Robert Millard/L.A. Opera/Associated Press) Woody Allen made his debut as an opera director Saturday with the Los Angeles Opera production of Gianni Schicchi.

True to form for a New Yorker who generally avoids L.A. and wouldn't appear on stage there even to accept his Oscar for Annie Hall, Allen refused to come on stage for a bow at the end of the show.

But that didn't stop L.A. audiences and critics lauding the opera, the third of three one-act presentations in Puccini's Il Trittico, as hilarious.

"Allen manages to be both irreverent and absolutely true to the music and the spirit of the work," said L.A. Times critic Mark Swed.

He found the performances, with veteran baritone Thomas Allen as Schicchi, "brilliantly sung and acted down to the most minor character and walk-on."

The first two parts of Il Trittico, both melodramas, were directed by another versatile director, William Friedkin.

The third part is a comic farce in which Schicchi agrees to impersonate a dead man to prevent him from leaving all his money to charity.

Allen chose to present it as an old Italian film, getting laughs from the beginning by showing black and white credits on a screen, most with nonsensical names such as Aldo Melone and Giuseppe Prosciutto.

The madcap action includes a wild search for the will — under the bed, under the body of the dead man, under his nightcap, until it is found in a pot of pasta.

Associated Press critic Ronald Blum hailed the vibrant cast and Allen's consistent direction.

Placido Domingo talked film director Woody Allen, shown in September 2007, into directing a comic opera. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)"More than most opera directors, Woody Allen pays attention to the small details that make a performance take off," he wrote.

Los Angeles Opera general manager Placido Domingo has been trying to get Allen to direct or contribute to an opera for years.

The company put forward ideas such as commissioning him to write a libretto or basing an opera on one of his films before getting Allen to agree to direct Gianni Schicchi.

The L.A. Opera goes on to another Hollywood-themed project. On Sunday, Domingo was to conduct the U.S. premiere of The Fly, directed by David Cronenberg and based on his movie of the same name and composed by Toronto's Howard Shore.

With files from the Associated Press