Word: donna
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...season draws to a close with the arrival of Prima Donna Parka who takes a fancy to Mr. Massey, and since she must have scandal wherever she goes, kisses Mr. Bullfinch. The Masseys pay off their social debts with a lecture on the Ceramics, Basketwork and Tribal Life of the Ogilluwaya Indians. All in all, everybody has enjoyed the summer. Everybody has made so many humorous mistakes and mutual blunders that, like checks at the clearing house, they cancel each other...
...dusted (TIME, Jan. 12, 1931). Soprano Maria Jeritza put on tights and the box-office felt temporary relief. Opera companies the world over have been lightening their repertoires lately. The Metropolitan's experiment proved so successful that it turned again to von Suppe, presented last week his Donna Juanita...
...Donna Juanita, like Boccaccio, is the sort of operetta people enjoyed 50 years ago. It has a cluttered plot in which a French cadet (Jeritza) disguises himself as a woman, foils the British enemy and emerges a lieutenant. There are the usual marches, waltz tunes, love duets and. as in the remodeled Boccaccio, asides in colloquial English. Boccaccio was good for eight performances because the production was brisk, because earnest German singers looked funny cavorting about the stage, because light opera becomes the Viennese Jeritza. Donna Juanita should prosper briefly for the same reasons. The production is even faster, more...
...booming voice which often lacked control. Thinner, infinitely more polished, she has progressed until now she alone at the Metropolitan is believed capable of singing the early Italian roles which only the great oldtime singers have sung successfully, roles like Norma, the priestess in La Vestale, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, operas which might never have been revived if there had not been a voice with the range and flexibility of Ponselle's. She has still much to learn. She will never have the grace of Bori, the subtlety of Garden, the force of Jeritza. She has heavy Italian features...
...brunt of the entertainment is borne by Miss Gahagan, of whom it may be said that not once does she allow the attention of the audience to wander. "Tonight Or Never" is a play which depends in a large measure on the personality of the prima donna for its effect. The portrayal of Miss Gahagan is a composite of spasms of temperament, periods of remorseful affection, and evidences of a pampered, irresponsible existence. In brief, a reflection of the popular conception of operatic stars. One of the most pleasing phases of the entertainment is the manner in which the star...