Joan Roberts

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Joan Roberts (born July 15, 1917 in New York City , New York as Josephine Rose Seagrist , † August 13, 2012 in Stamford , Connecticut ) was an American stage actress .

Life

Joan Roberts grew up in the Astoria neighborhood in northwest Queens borough . As a child, she worked as an extra in several feature films for Paramount Pictures . As a teenager she received singing lessons from the singing teacher Estelle Liebling, who was also the teacher of the famous soprano Beverly Sills . Roberts initially worked in stage performances with the Shubert Brothers, mainly touring productions of musicals and operettas . At this time she also took on her stage name Joan Roberts.

In 1941 she made her Broadway debut in the role of Madeleine Caresse in the short-lived musical Sunny River by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II ; production ran until 1942.

Her greatest stage success was the role of the farmer girl Laurie Williams in the world premiere of the musical Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers . She first sang this role on March 31, 1943, at the premiere at the St. James Theater in New York City. Her partners were Alfred Drake in the male lead of the cowboy Curly and Celeste Holm as Ado Annie; Directed by Rouben Mamoulian . Roberts that a strong, clear, perfectly suitable for the musical theater lyric soprano with recognition had had, originally, sung at the request Hammerstein, first for the role of Ado Annie. However, Hammerstein realized that Roberts' voice suited the role of Laurie better and gave her the lead female role. Roberts sang the later famous songs Many a New Day , Out of My Dreams and, together with Drake, the duet People Will Say We're in Love . The first performance reviews particularly praised the freshness of their performance and their good singing voice.

After two years, Roberts left Oklahoma production in 1945 ! to accept a film contract with David O. Selznick ; planned film projects were never realized. In the film adaptation Oklahoma! (1955) Shirley Jones finally played the role of Laurie Williams.

To Oklahoma! Roberts appeared on Broadway in the operetta Marinka (1945), a late work by Emmerich Kálmán , and in the musical Are You With It? (1945/1946) by Harry Revel and Arnold B. Horwitt. In the musical High Button Shoes by Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn , she took on the role of Sara Longstreet in 1947, which Nanette Fabray had played in the premiere.

Roberts continued to appear on the theater stage in later years. She mostly worked in local productions or in summer theater performances. She played leading roles in musical productions by Guys and Dolls , Too Many Girls by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart , in the operetta Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert and in the musicals Up in Central Park by Sigmund Romberg, Show Boat , Music in the Air by Jerome Kern and Carousel .

In 1998 she played the title role of Miss Daisy in the play Miss Daisy and Her Chauffeur from Alfred Uhry on the Hofstra University campus in Hempstead , Long Island .

In 2001 she returned to Broadway after more than 50 years. Roberts took on a leading role in the revival of the musical Follies by Stephen Sondheim ; she embodied the old operetta star Heidi Schiller and sang the famous song One More Kiss .

Roberts also had a few roles in film and television ; However, these played a completely subordinate role in her career. In 1979 she had an episode role in the US television series Fantasy Island .

In 2011 she was honored with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts ; she took part in a production of the musical Oklahoma! together with her former stage colleague Celeste Holm . based on the original staging. Roberts was the last surviving leading actress in the premiere since Holm's death in July 2012. At the beginning of 2012 she was giving private singing lessons.

Her autobiography Stage Right was published in the early summer of 2012 and was published by Kaufmann Publishing.

Private

Roberts was married twice. Her first husband, John Donlon, died in 1965; the marriage produced a son, Jack Donlon. Roberts' second husband, the dentist Dr. Alexander Peter, died 1993.

Roberts lived in Rockville Center on Long Island for many years. She died of acute heart failure at her home in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of 95 .

Roles (selection)

theatre

Movie and TV

  • 1948: Kraft Television Theater (TV series, episode: Suppressed Desires )
  • 1951: The Model and the Marriage Broker
  • 1952: Men make fashion (Lovely to Look at)
  • 1965: Jack and the Beanstalk (TV movie)
  • 1979: Fantasy Island (TV series, episode The Comic / The Golden Hour )
  • 2011: Jesse

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Joan Roberts, the Soprano Who Gave Voice to Laurey in Oklahoma !, Dead at 95 ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Obituary in: Playbill August 14, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.playbill.com
  2. ↑ a b c d e Joan Roberts Dies at 95; Original 'Oklahoma!' Star obituary in the New York Times, August 15, 2012
  3. ↑ a b c d Joan Roberts dies at 95; female lead in original Oklahoma! - Obituary in: Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Roberts, Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seagrist, Josephine Rose (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American stage actress
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 2012
Place of death Stamford , Connecticut , United States