SINGING OPPORTUNITY

SINGING OPPORTUNITY

One of the most exciting things I have done in my life was to play the second lead in the opera The Bartered Bride, by Smetana. The lead was played by a senior girl, and was only a lowly freshman. I was attending Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon at that time, and had never undertaken anything quite this big before.

These were World War-2 years, and we had very few young men going to school. The ones who were there were older and married. Most were men who had already served their time in the military. There were lots of girls, but literally no men. When we had a dance function Navy men from a Tillamook, Oregon base were invited to attend. Otherwise, the girls had to dance with each other to show off their lovely ball gowns.

To fill out the cast of men we had to recruit from the Registrar's Office to get a nice tenor voice. It's amazing what you can do if you set your minds to it. We spent many hours rehearsing for a large production. The school had it's own orchestra, so we were set for music to accompany the singers.

The first performance was at home, in a Forest Grove auditorium. Everything went very well. I had done a lot of singing before, but had never received flowers while on stage. What a thrill it was for this young freshman. The next performance was at the Neighbor's of Woodcraft Hall in Portland, Oregon. I had a very bad cold, and was sucking on lemons the whole day prior to the performance. With a little luck I was able to sing OK, and we got a standing ovation from the audience who packed the auditorium. Now for the third performance we were going to The Dalles, Oregon. We were all told that we were being put up in private homes, and that we were to go directly to the houses and get to bed. No horsing around.

This dumb girl rode in the back of a pickup (it did have a top over it) but it was extremely windy . If you have ever traveled in that area of Oregon, you know the winds can howl in that Columbia River Gorge. When we arrived, we found our homes where we would stay, and then decided we should go bowling. Now our Professors would not have liked that if they had known. After all , we were just kids and were not ready to hit the feathers just yet.

In the morning when I awoke I could not talk. I had a very severe case of laryngitis. We had a 10 o'clock rehearsal scheduled, and a 1 o'clock radio production, as well as the opera that evening. I showed up at rehearsal with big tears running down my cheek. I croaked, "I can't talk. I have no voice." Everyone said "don't cry, it will only make it worse." As far as I was concerned it could be no worse. This was a University production and we had no such things as under studies. If I couldn't sing, we would have to give all the money back to the people who paid to hear us perform. They quickly changed the songs prepared for the radio production so that I didn't sing, and went to a doctor who was recommended to me.

When I saw the doctor he actually laughed when he heard my predicament. He said , "young lady, I have tickets to that performance, and you are going to sing." He gave me something to gargle, and I was to use it just before going on stage, and about half way through I could do it again. Then he said to throw away any that was left. I have learned since that it was some sort of dope, but it worked.

My voice was tight, but I was able to sing. The director was in the orchestra pit directing the orchestra and the opera singers. Each time it was my turn to sing he had sweat running down his face in fear that the voice would not come out. Everything turned out OK, and I did perform.

A few days after that I had an appointment at one of the radio stations for an audition to tour with a group that was selling war bonds. I was competing against Susan Burce, or better known as Jane Powel. I asked if we could postpone the audition because I still could not sing, but that was nixed right then and there. I had to sing if I wanted a chance at the job. Of course, I couldn't sing, so I tearfully went back home and walked away from the opportunity. Jane Powel became a famous singer in Hollywood movies, and most of you have heard her voice many times. She is still a star.