Patricia Neway (September 30, 1919 – January 24, 2012) was an American operaticsoprano andmusical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. One of the few performers of her day to enjoy equal success on both the opera and musical theatre stages, she was a regular performer on bothBroadway and at theNew York City Opera during the 1950s and 1960s.
Critic Emily Langer ofThe Washington Post wrote that, "Neway was a rare type of singer — one with the classical training and raw vocal strength to meet the demands of opera as well as the acting talent and appeal required to succeed in musical theater."[1] She is particularly remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of several contemporary American operas, most notably Magda Sorel inGian Carlo Menotti'sThe Consul. On Broadway she won aTony Award for her portrayal of the Mother Abbess in the original production ofRodgers and Hammerstein'sThe Sound of Music.
Born on Ditmas Avenue inKensington, Brooklyn to Irish-American parents, Neway grew up inRosebank, Staten Island. Her father was a printing plant foreman who had briefly worked invaudeville as the high tenor in avocal quartet. She attended theNotre Dame Academy on Staten Island and thenNotre Dame College, where she earned a degree in the sciences with a minor in mathematics. Although she had studied piano briefly as a child, her interest in music and singing awakened in her years at Notre Dame College after she began singing through a book of Neapolitan songs that her uncle had given to her father as a present. What began as a hobby turned into a passion and following her graduation from Notre Dame she entered theMannes College of Music, where she earned a degree in vocal performance. She later studied singing with tenor Morris Gesell, whom she eventually married.[2]
While still a student, Neway made herBroadway debut as a member of the chorus in a 1942 production ofJacques Offenbach'sLa Vie parisienne.[3] In April 1944 she was the soprano soloist in the world premiere ofNorman Dello Joio'sThe Mystic Trumpeter with conductorRobert Shaw and theCollegiate Chorale atTown Hall.[4] She made her first opera appearance in a leading role in 1946, as Fiordiligi inCosì fan tutte, atChautauqua Opera. In 1948, she returned to Broadway to portray the Female Chorus in the United States premiere ofBenjamin Britten'sThe Rape of Lucretia, at theZiegfeld Theatre.[5]
In 1950, Neway made opera history when she starred as Magda Sorel in the world premiere ofGian Carlo Menotti's critically acclaimedCold War-era operaThe Consul at the Shubert Theatre inPhiladelphia, withCornell MacNeil as John Sorel,Gloria Lane as the secretary of the consulate, andMarie Powers as the Mother.[6] Later that year, she went with the production to theEthel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway, where it ran for 269 performances. Neway (alternating withYul Brynner's sister, Vera Brynner) also led theBroadway cast, this time withRosemary Kuhlmann as the secretary of the consulate.[7][8] She later recorded the role forDecca Records, and performed the role for the premieres inLondon,Paris, and other European cities.[9] Neway, Kuhlmann, and Powers also performed these roles in the UK at theCambridge Theatre in February 1951, withNorman Kelley playing the role of the magician Nika.[10][11] For her work in the Broadway production she won theDonaldson Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1950.[12]
In 1951, Neway made her debut with theNew York City Opera (NYCO), where she returned often through 1966. Her first appearance with the company was as Leah in the world premiere ofDavid Tamkin'sThe Dybbuk on April 10, 1951, withRobert Rounseville as Channon.[13] She also notably sang in the world premiere ofHugo Weisgall'sSix Characters in Search of an Author in 1959, withBeverly Sills.[14] Among the many other productions she appeared in with the NYCO were:Mascagni'sCavalleria rusticana (as Santuzza, conducted byJulius Rudel),Alban Berg'sWozzeck (as Marie, directed byTheodore Komisarjevsky), Menotti'sThe Consul (as Magda),Amahl and the Night Visitors (as the Mother), andThe Medium (as Mme Flora),Bucci'sTale for a Deaf Ear (as Laura Gates),[15]Carlisle Floyd'sWuthering Heights (as Nellie, oppositePhyllis Curtin as Catherine);Benjamin Britten'sThe Turn of the Screw (as the Governess, withRichard Cassilly as Peter Quint), andRichard Strauss'sSalome (as Herodias), among others.
While singing largely at the NYCO, Neway continued to perform with other opera companies and on Broadway. In 1952 she sang and recorded the title heroine inGluck'sIphigénie en Tauride at theAix-en-Provence Festival. Between 1952–1954 she was engaged as a principal soprano at theOpéra-Comique, inParis. While there, she gave two of the greatest performances of her opera career, portraying the title role inGiacomo Puccini'sTosca, and the role of Katerina Mihaylovna inFranco Alfano'sRisurrezione.[5] In 1955, she sang in the world premiere ofRaffaello de Banfield'sUna lettera d'amore di Lord Byron inNew Orleans, withAstrid Varnay. In 1957 she portrayed Madame de Croissy forNBC Opera Theatre's production ofPoulenc'sDialogues of the Carmelites, withRosemary Kuhlmann as Mother Marie,Elaine Malbin as Blanche, andLeontyne Price as Mme Lidoine.[16]
Neway notably portrayed Miriam in the world premiere ofLee Hoiby'sThe Scarf at the very firstFestival dei Due Mondi inSpoleto,Italy on June 20, 1958. In August 1958, she sang the role of the Mother in the world premiere of Menotti'sMaria Golovin at theBrussels World's Fair.[17] She continued with the production when it premiered onBroadway in November 1958, at theMartin Beck Theatre, under the umbrella of theNBC Opera Theatre. The following year she sang the role again with the New York City Opera in addition for recording the role for a national television broadcast on NBC.[18]
In June 1959, Neway returned to the Spoleto Festival to portray Geraldine in the world premiere ofSamuel Barber'sA Hand of Bridge (which she recorded in 1960). The following November she returned to Broadway where she originated the role of the Mother Abbess in the originalBroadway production ofThe Sound of Music, for which she won theTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, in 1960.
In 1963, Neway created the role of Jenny MacDougald in the world premiere ofCarlisle Floyd'sThe Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair, inRaleigh, North Carolina, oppositeNorman Treigle as Lachlan Sinclair, and conductorJulius Rudel.
In 1964, she performed the role of Lady Thiang inThe King and I atLincoln Center withRisë Stevens as Anna andDarren McGavin as the King. In 1966, she made her first appearance at theSan Francisco Opera, as the Governess inThe Turn of the Screw. She returned there in 1972 to play the Widow Begbick inKurt Weill'sRise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
In 1967, she appeared as Nettie in a special television production ofCarousel, starringRobert Goulet as Billy Bigelow. Her featured solo was the song "You'll Never Walk Alone". In 1970 she created the role of the Queen in the world premiere of Menotti's stage play,The Leper.[12]
Neway's other repertoire includedArnold Schönberg'sErwartung.
After retirement, Neway moved toCorinth, Vermont, where she lived with her second husband, John Byrne, until Byrne's death in 2008. Her first marriage, to Morris Gesell, had ended earlier in divorce.[19] In 2009 she donated papers and artifacts related to her father-in-law'sChaocipher cipher system to theNational Cryptologic Museum.[20] She died at her home in Corinth on January 24, 2012, aged 92.[3]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |