The Irene Dunne Site
Singers Arrive For Light Opera Season In City
Nine Favorites In Music World Are Given Great Welcome on Reaching Brookwood Station
Left to right: Seated, William McLeod, Louise Hunter, Thomas Conkey, Irene Dunn, Louise Ethel Wright, Charlotte Ryan, Director Paul Eisler, Anne Yago; standing, Fred Palmer, assistant stage director; Louis Morton, stage director; Dr. Karl Reidel, musical director, and Dudley Marwick. This picture, which was taken at the Atlanta Biltmore, also shows one of the statues which has been on exhibit as a part of the Grand Central Art Galleries´collection from New York.
Altanta´s light opera stars are here, eager to score such triumphs during their six weeks´ engagement, June 15 to July 20 [week of 20th July, the season ended on the 26th July], that music lovers will bring them back next summer and establish light opera as an annual institution here.
Nine of them arrived, fresh and full of pop despite tedious train journeys at 10:10 o´clock Sunday morning and received a warm welcome from Atlantans who gathered to greet them at Brookwood station.
It was an old and often retold story for at least three of them - the warm and truly southern greeting that Atlanta accords its favorite musicians. They were Louise Hunter, petite and beautiful soprano, who won Atlanta in her young prince role in "Boris Godunoff" two years ago, and again as the doll in "Tales Of Hoffman" in the recent Metropolitan Season; Charlotte Ryan, another of Atlanta´s favorites among the great singers of the Met, and vivacious and alluring Irene Dunne, who as "Irene" in the musical comedy of the name three years ago, caused local theater-goers to predict her future fame which she since has brilliantly justified on Broadway. George Meader, leading tenor, who will arrive tonight, is also known here for his singing with the Metropolitan company.
Receive Glad Hand
The other six principals found the justly noted Atlanta "glad hand" a new and delightful experience. They were Anne Yago, contralto; Ethel Louise Wright, pretty young soprano; Thomay Conkey, Dudley Marwick, William McLeod and Robert Pitkins, the noted comedian. Charles Schenek, another principal, is expected to arrive by motor.
C.H. Bidewell, general manager of the Atlanta Light Opera association, was frankly delighted with the assemblance of principals as he saw them for the first time together.
"I believe that beyond any doubt we have secured the best company that has ever sung light opera in the United States," he declared. In checking over the cast of principals he called attention to the fact that while most of them are already prominent in opera, grand or comic or both, all are drawn from the youngest of the list of American stars who have been rising rapidly for the last three or four years and who during the coming season in the east will sing bigger roles than ever before.
"I venture to say that in 10 years, or even five years, no musical organization less weathy than the Metropolitan will have enough money to have all of these young people in its cast in one time." (...)
(The Atlanta Constitution, June 1. 1925)