| dbo:abstract |
Annamary Dickey (April 11, 1911 – June 1, 1999), also known as Annamary Dickey Laue, was an American soprano and actress in operas, operettas, musicals, night clubs, and concerts who had an active performance career from the 1930s through the 1960s. She began her career as a regular performer with the Chautauqua Opera and the St. Louis Municipal Opera in the mid to late 1930s. In 1939 she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air which earned her a contract with the Metropolitan Opera (Met). She was a soprano in mainly secondary roles at the Met from 1939 to 1944; appearing in productions of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Massenet's Manon, Delibes' Lakmé, Charpentier's Louise, Bizet's Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Smetana's The Bartered Bride. Her most significant role at the Met was as Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. A strikingly beautiful woman with a passion for fashionable clothes, she gained the moniker the "Glamour Girl of the 'Met'" and headlined a fashion campaign for Saks Fifth Avenue in 1945. While working at the Met, Dickey became the headline night club singer at the Wedgewood Room of the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel from 1943 to 1946, singing a mix of popular songs and classical works. She also had engagements singing at the Terrace Room in The Statler Hilton in Boston and the Empress Club in London. After leaving the Met, her work shifted predominantly towards musical theatre, becoming a leading lady on Broadway from 1944 to 1954. She created roles in the original productions of Kreisler's Rhapsody (1944, as Empress Maria Theresa), George S. Kaufman's Hollywood Pinafore (1945, Brenda Blossom), and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro (1948, Marjorie Taylor); the latter of which was the pinnacle of her career. She also portrayed Marjorie Taylor in the work's first national tour in the late 1940s. Dickey's association with Rodgers and Hammerstein continued to grow after Allegro ended. She starred in annual summer concerts of the duo's music with the New York Philharmonic at Lewisohn Stadium from 1948 to 1957. She also portrayed Anna Leonowens in the original Broadway run of The King and I, initially serving as the standby actress for Constance Carpenter. She stepped in on several occasions for Carpenter, including two weeks while the actress was visiting family in England. She later took over the role after Carpenter left the show in January 1954, and was succeeded by Patricia Morison in March 1954. In addition to her performances on stage, Dickey was a regular presence on radio in the 1930s and 1940s. She was co-host of the Texaco Star Theater with James Melton from 1945 to 1947. She also made numerous appearances on variety programs on American television. After her husband died in 1966, she took a position as head of the opera program at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Upon her retirement from the faculty of USF in 1988 she was honored with the title of professor emeritus. She died in 1999 at the age of 88. (en) |
| rdfs:comment |
Annamary Dickey (April 11, 1911 – June 1, 1999), also known as Annamary Dickey Laue, was an American soprano and actress in operas, operettas, musicals, night clubs, and concerts who had an active performance career from the 1930s through the 1960s. She began her career as a regular performer with the Chautauqua Opera and the St. Louis Municipal Opera in the mid to late 1930s. In 1939 she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air which earned her a contract with the Metropolitan Opera (Met). She was a soprano in mainly secondary roles at the Met from 1939 to 1944; appearing in productions of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Massenet's Manon, Delibes' Lakmé, Charpentier's Louise, Bizet's Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Smetana's The Bartere (en) |
