Steinway Performing Arts, Bonita Spring

In cooperation with

South West Florida Italian 0pera Society

And Bellini Opera Theatre

 

 Presents:A Tribute to

Kathryn Grayson and

Mario Lanza

 

1. Lara, Granda -Dino Valle2. Kern, Bill— Showboat-Beth Wininger3. Wunderbar—Kiss me Kate - Beth Wininger and Dino Valle 4. V. Herbert, Thine Alone- Beth Wininger5. Donizetti, Una Furtiva Lacrima Dino Valle6. Kern, Make Believe—Showboat- Beth Wininger  and Dino Valle7. Love is Where you Find It—Kissing Bandit- Beth Wininger8. Herbert, Lover Come Back—New Moon- Dino Valle 9. So In Love– Kiss Me Kate- Beth Wininger and Dino Valle10. Brodszky, Be My Love - Beth Wininger and Dino Valle– Toast of New Orleans

 

 

PROGRAM

 

 

Kathryn Grayson (February 9, 1922 – February 17, 2010) was an American actress and operatic soprano singer. She was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her childhood was spent in St. Louis where she studied voice before training with Frances Marshall of the Chicago Civic Opera and later was signed by RCA Red Seal records at the age of 15.

 

 

 

Her opera career was nipped in the bud when she was seen and heard by Louis B. Mayer and was signed by MGM to a contract without even the formality of a screen test. Her unusual combination of looks, singing voice and acting talent brought her official stardom in 1943. A major star at MGM Miss Grayson also made films at Warner Brothers and Paramount Studios.

 

 

 

HER Dramatic roles on television were "Playhouse 90" and "General Electric Theater." Miss Grayson was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actress for GE Theater's "Shadow on the Heart." She made her opera debut in 1960 performing "Madame Butterfly," "LaTraviata" and "La Boheme" and in 1983 starred in "Orpheus in the Underworld" for Opera New England.

 

 

 

Miss Grayson scored triumphs in such stage musicals as: "The Merry Widow" for which she was nominated for the Sarah Siddons Award. "Naughty Marietta" "Rosalinda” "Show Boat" "Kiss Me Kate” "Camelot”In 1982 Miss Grayson received rave reviews for her first all dramatic stage performance in Lucille Fletcher's "Night Watch.”

 

 

 

Miss Grayson scored triumphs in such stage musicals as: In 1983 a departure as Miss Tweed in "Something's Afoot."From 1988 through 1997 Miss Grayson toured in her one woman show, "An Evening With Kathryn Grayson."In 1996 and 1997 Miss Grayson appeared with Van Johnson in "Love Letters" with great success. This prompted them to tour in their own production "Red Sox and Roses.”

 

 

 

 

Mario Lanza (January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and 1950’s . He began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 15.

 

 

 

After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year contract

with MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer, who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to this, Lanza had made only two appearances on an operatic stage, when

in 1948 he sang the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in New Orleans.

     

 

 

 

 

His movie debut was in That Midnight Kiss, which produced an unlikely hit song in the form of

Giuseppe Verdi's operatic aria "Celeste Aida." The following year, in The Toast of New Orleans, his featured popular song "Be My Love" became his

first million-selling hit. In 1951, he starred in the role of his tenor idol, Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), in the biopic, The Great Caruso, which produced

another million-seller with "The Loveliest Night of the Year." It was the top-grossing film that year.

      

 

 

 

 

The title song of his next film, Because You're Mine, featured his

final million-selling hit song. The song went on to receive an Academy Award

nomination for Best Original Song. After recording the soundtrack for his

next film, The Student Prince he walked out on the project after an

argument with producer Dore Schary over his behavior on the set.

      

 

 

 

 

Lanza was known to be "rebellious, tough, and ambitious", and during most of his film

career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and sometimes

other cast members. Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that "his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with

the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak." She adds that he was the "last

of the great romantic performers".       

 

 

 

 

He made three more films before dying of a heart attack at the age of 38. At the time of his death in

1959 he was still "the most famous tenor in the world". Author

Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza "blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time."

  

    

 

 

 

.

 

“Granada”.

“Bill”

Kern, Show Boat

 

 

Kiss me Kate-

 

Wundabar

 

 Thine Alone

V. Herbert

 

Rose Marie

Friml

Make Believe

Show Boat

 

 

 

Love is Where you Find It

Kathryn Grayson—Kissing Bandit-

“Lover Come Back”

Herbert, New Moon

 

 

Kiss me Kate-

 

So In Love

Be My Love

From the Movie “The Toast of New Orleans” With

Kathryn Grayson

 

 This Presentation provided by members of the

Bellini Opera Theatre of Michigan

Dino Valle, Artistic Director,

Giuliano Zuccato , Sculptor of the Bellini Statue

Kathy Valle, Technical Assistance

Vincenzo Bellini