SHORT TAKES : Wife Steps in for Galway Debut

Flutist James Galway missed his operatic debut because he was hospitalized, and his wife stepped in to fill the role.

Galway was scheduled to play the lead role in a new production of Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie” with the Opera Company of Philadelphia on Monday night.

He was hospitalized for an inflammation of the intestinal tract, said Betsy Samuels, spokeswoman for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was in stable condition Monday night.

Galway’s wife, Jeanne Galway, took over the magpie role, a role she was originally sscheduled to play Friday. The Philadelphia production was the first to use a flute player on stage as the magpie.