I was a born singer, could practically sing before I
spoke, so back in the 1970’s I frequently was cast in singing chorus of many
legit musicals.
One such job was singing in a production of THE MERRY
WIDOW starring the famous Metropolitan Opera star, Roberta Peters.
One day the Jonathan Dudley, the music
director/conductor asked, “can anyone here sing a high “D”? For me it was no problem, I had a high “D”
and then some in my back pocket. So I
naturally said yes.
The conductor then took me aside and said, Miss Peters
is looking for someone to sing her final High “D”s in the matinee performances,
so she can save her voice for the evening show.
I agreed.
The deal was, everyone was supposed to point to Miss
Peters at stage center, (including myself) to make her the center of focus and
make it appear that it was she singing the high note at the end of the finale.
All went well the first couple of matinees, and Miss
Peters was pleased with my assistance in the little deception.
I bet you can guess what came next. About the third time (three’s a charm,
right), like any real singer exhilarated with their performance, the high note
soared out of me and I forgot to point to Miss Peters, but stepped down in one
with my arms stretched out.
The rest of the chorus ribbed me about it. I did not even realize that the diva instinct
had overtaken me. I was worried about
reprimand, after all she was a big star.
No censure ever came. Maestro Dudley simply informed me that my “High
Note Services” were no longer needed.
But the long and short of the story is that Miss Peters sang her own
High “D”s from that day forward.
