Dolores Wilson
Encyclopedia
Dolores Mae Wilson was an American coloratura soprano
who had an active international opera
career from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Beginning her career with major theatres in Europe, she performed in six seasons at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City during the 1950s. She is perhaps best known for originating the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
at the Central City Opera
in 1956. After abandoning her opera career, she embarked on a second career as a musical theatre actress; making several appearances on Broadway
in the following decades.
with her fashion designer mother, who counted Dinah Shore
and Loretta Young
among her customers. She grew up in the Bronx and attended Catholic schools before entering Jamaica High School
from which she graduated.
Wilson received classical voice training in NYC with William Hermann and also studied piano
, ballet
, and tap dancing during her youth. At the age of 16 she began singing on American radio; and her talents were noticed and supported by then General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera
Edward Johnson
and Met soprano Lucrezia Bori
. In spite of this interest, she decided to travel to Italy
to pursue training in opera in Venice
with the famed soprano Toti Dal Monte
; partially because her maternal grandparents hailed from that country. She found that the Italian language
she had learned through her opera training prepared her poorly for communicating with natives in the language, saying "the Italian I'd learned by studying operas enabled me to talk intelligently only about poisons and suicide and tragic love affairs".
under the name Dolores Vilsoni as Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
with Cesare Siepi
as her Basilio. She spent her early career performing with major opera house
s in Italy; with important house debuts including the Teatro Massimo
in Palermo (1950 as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi
's Rigoletto
), the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
(1951 as Gilda), and La Fenice
(1951 as Gilda). She made her South American debut at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro in 1952 singing both Gilda and Rosina. She returned to the Teatro Grande in Brescia as Rosina in 1952. She sang that role at several other theatres, including in 1953 for her first performance in France at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
and for her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
. She was soon engaged as a guest artist with other important European theatres during the 1950s; including the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
, the Liceu
in Barcelona, the Opéra de Nice
, the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Massimo Bellini
in Catania, and the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
in Lisbon.
Wilson made her United States operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in February 1954 in the title role in Gaetano Donizetti
's Lucia di Lammermoor
, performing together with tenor Jan Peerce
. Under the headline "Dolores Wilson Scores as Lucia", critic Howard Taubman
of The New York Times
said "Her voice is fresh in quality, large in size and flexible in production" and credited her with having " sung "a Lucia of uncommon merit". She had previously made a complete recording of the role of Lucia for Urania Records in 1953 with tenor Gianni Poggi
and the baritone Anselmo Colzani
under conductor Franco Capuana
. In a December 1954 performance of Susanna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's The Marriage of Figaro
, Wilson was a last minute replacement for the scheduled performer Nadine Conner
, and despite the last minute notice was said to have "essayed a difficult new role with great success". Her replacement of another singer, however, was less entusiastically received; being called on to step in for Maria Callas
in the role of Lucia on December 11, 1956. Even before the cutain rose, police were dispersing irate claimants for refunds on that occasion. She also performed at the Met as Gilda, Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera
, Rosina, and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni
.
On July 7, 1956 Wilson entered the annals of opera history when she created the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's seminal work The Ballad of Baby Doe
at the Central City Opera
in Central City, Colorado
, with Lenya Gabriele alternating in the role during the rest of its initial run. In November 1956 she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
. In 1957 she toured to 23 cities in the United States with the NBC Opera Theatre
performing the role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
. At the Metropolitan Opera in March 1959, Wilson removed a neck brace she was wearing and filled in for Lily Pons
in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor
, completing the performance but collapsing in her dressing room afterward and taken to University Hospital. She ultimately left the Met under circumstances which were termed "creative differences" with the company's general manager Rudolf Bing.
Wilson continued to perform internationally in operas in the early 1960s; appearing in theatres in the United States, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and South America. Other roles she performed on stage included Amina in Vincenzo Bellini
's La Sonnambula
, Hanna Glawari in Franz Lehár
's The Merry Widow
, Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment
, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale
, Philine in Ambroise Thomas
’s Mignon
, and the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
. In 1959 she recorded excerpts of the role of Norina for RCA Records
.
. Later that year she took over the role of Golde in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof
from actress Maria Karnilova
; and was again seen in that part in 1968-1969. She performed in the original casts of two more musicals: portraying Maria Haggerty in Cry for Us All
(1970) and Aunt Jenny in I Remember Mama
(1979). In August 1979 she took over the role of Miss Hannigan in the original production of Charles Strouse
and Martin Charnin
's Annie
. Her last appearance on Broadway was in 1983 as Vivian Proclo in the revival of Terrence McNally
's The Ritz
. She also appeared in productions with numerous regional theaters in the United States.
A resident of the Lillian Booth Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey
, Wilson died there at the age of 82 on September 28, 2010, due to natural causes. Both of her marriages had ended in divorce and she left no immediate survivors.
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
who had an active international opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
career from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Beginning her career with major theatres in Europe, she performed in six seasons at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City during the 1950s. She is perhaps best known for originating the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory...
at the Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
in 1956. After abandoning her opera career, she embarked on a second career as a musical theatre actress; making several appearances on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in the following decades.
Early life and education
Wilson was born on August 9, 1928, in Philadelphia. After her parents separated, she moved to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with her fashion designer mother, who counted Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
and Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
among her customers. She grew up in the Bronx and attended Catholic schools before entering Jamaica High School
Jamaica High School (New York City)
Jamaica High School is a four-year public high school in Queens, New York. The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education.-History:...
from which she graduated.
Wilson received classical voice training in NYC with William Hermann and also studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, and tap dancing during her youth. At the age of 16 she began singing on American radio; and her talents were noticed and supported by then General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Edward Johnson
Edward Johnson (tenor)
Edward Patrick Johnson CBE was a Canadian operatic tenor who was billed outside North America as Edoardo Di Giovanni, and became director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.- Early life :...
and Met soprano Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano.-Biography:Lucrezia Bori was born in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho and her family were reputed to be descended from the Borgias.Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any...
. In spite of this interest, she decided to travel to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to pursue training in opera in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
with the famed soprano Toti Dal Monte
Toti Dal Monte
Antonietta Meneghel , better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated Italian operatic soprano with a sweet and limpid lyric voice. She was a favourite artist of the celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini...
; partially because her maternal grandparents hailed from that country. She found that the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
she had learned through her opera training prepared her poorly for communicating with natives in the language, saying "the Italian I'd learned by studying operas enabled me to talk intelligently only about poisons and suicide and tragic love affairs".
Opera career
In November 1948 Wilson made her professional opera debut at the Teatro Grande in BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
under the name Dolores Vilsoni as Rosina in Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
with Cesare Siepi
Cesare Siepi
Cesare Siepi was an Italian opera singer, generally considered to have been one of the finest basses of the post-war period. His voice was characterised by a deep, warm timbre, and a ringing, vibrant upper register. On stage, his tall, striking presence and elegance of phrasing made him a natural...
as her Basilio. She spent her early career performing with major opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
s in Italy; with important house debuts including the Teatro Massimo
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
in Palermo (1950 as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
), the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements...
(1951 as Gilda), and La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
(1951 as Gilda). She made her South American debut at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro in 1952 singing both Gilda and Rosina. She returned to the Teatro Grande in Brescia as Rosina in 1952. She sang that role at several other theatres, including in 1953 for her first performance in France at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The festival international d'art lyrique is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in the month of July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music.-Establishment:The...
and for her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Opéra de Monte-Carlo
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house located in the principality of Monaco.With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des Bains de Mer, decided on the construction of an opera house. Initially, it was Charles III's...
. She was soon engaged as a guest artist with other important European theatres during the 1950s; including the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, is a Theatre in Bordeaux, France, first inaugurated on 17 April 1780. It was in this theatre that the ballet La Fille Mal Gardée premiered in 1789, and where a young Marius Petipa staged some of his first ballets....
, the Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in Barcelona, the Opéra de Nice
Opéra de Nice
The Opéra de Nice is the principal opera venue in Nice, France.The théâtre municipal of Nice was inaugurated 7 February 1885 with a performance of Verdi's Aida. In 1902 the théâtre municipal became the Opéra de Nice.-References:...
, the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, the Teatro Massimo Bellini
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma...
in Catania, and the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...
in Lisbon.
Wilson made her United States operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in February 1954 in the title role in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, performing together with tenor Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....
. Under the headline "Dolores Wilson Scores as Lucia", critic Howard Taubman
Howard Taubman
Hyman Howard Taubman was an American music critic, theater critic, and author.-Biography:Born in Manhattan, Taubman attended DeWitt Clinton High School and then won a four-year scholarship to Cornell University, from which he graduated, as a Phi Beta Kappa member, in 1929.He then returned to New...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said "Her voice is fresh in quality, large in size and flexible in production" and credited her with having " sung "a Lucia of uncommon merit". She had previously made a complete recording of the role of Lucia for Urania Records in 1953 with tenor Gianni Poggi
Gianni Poggi
Gianni Poggi was an Italian tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Piacenza, Poggi studied first with Valeria Manna, and later in Milan with Emilio Ghirardini. He made his debut in Palermo, as Rodolfo, in 1947...
and the baritone Anselmo Colzani
Anselmo Colzani
Anselmo Colzani was an Italian operatic baritone who had an international opera career from the late 1940s through 1980. He particularly excelled in the Italian repertory and was most associated with the works of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini...
under conductor Franco Capuana
Franco Capuana
Franco Capuana was an Italian conductor.Born in Fano in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, he was the younger brother of mezzo-soprano Maria Capuana. He became associated with the Teatro di San Carlo in 1930 and La Scala in 1937. In 1940 he conducted the premiere of Ghedini's opera La pulce d'oro...
. In a December 1954 performance of Susanna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, Wilson was a last minute replacement for the scheduled performer Nadine Conner
Nadine Conner
Nadine Conner was an American operatic soprano, radio singer and music teacher.She was born in Compton, California as Evelyn Nadine Henderson, and was the descendent of some of the earliest non-Hispanic settlers in California.Diagnosed as a teenager with pulmonary disease, her doctor suggested she...
, and despite the last minute notice was said to have "essayed a difficult new role with great success". Her replacement of another singer, however, was less entusiastically received; being called on to step in for Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
in the role of Lucia on December 11, 1956. Even before the cutain rose, police were dispersing irate claimants for refunds on that occasion. She also performed at the Met as Gilda, Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Rosina, and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
.
On July 7, 1956 Wilson entered the annals of opera history when she created the title role in the world premiere of Douglas Moore's seminal work The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory...
at the Central City Opera
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G...
in Central City, Colorado
Central City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
, with Lenya Gabriele alternating in the role during the rest of its initial run. In November 1956 she made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
as Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
. In 1957 she toured to 23 cities in the United States with the NBC Opera Theatre
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of filming both established and new operas for television...
performing the role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. At the Metropolitan Opera in March 1959, Wilson removed a neck brace she was wearing and filled in for Lily Pons
Lily Pons
Lily Pons was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer she specialized in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly associated with the title roles in Léo Delibes' Lakmé and Gaetano...
in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, completing the performance but collapsing in her dressing room afterward and taken to University Hospital. She ultimately left the Met under circumstances which were termed "creative differences" with the company's general manager Rudolf Bing.
Wilson continued to perform internationally in operas in the early 1960s; appearing in theatres in the United States, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and South America. Other roles she performed on stage included Amina in Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
, Hanna Glawari in Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
's The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
, Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
, Philine in Ambroise Thomas
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
’s Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
, and the title role in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
. In 1959 she recorded excerpts of the role of Norina for RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Musical theatre career and later life
Turning to Broadway, Wilson debuted in the 1965 production of The Yearling with David WayneDavid Wayne
David Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:...
. Later that year she took over the role of Golde in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
from actress Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova was an American actress.Born as Maria Kasnilovich in Hartford, Connecticut, Maria Karnilova made her Broadway debut in Call Me Mister in 1946...
; and was again seen in that part in 1968-1969. She performed in the original casts of two more musicals: portraying Maria Haggerty in Cry for Us All
Cry for Us All
Cry for Us All is a musical with a book by William Alfred and Albert Marre, lyrics by Alfred and Phyllis Robinson, and music by Mitch Leigh. In response to poor advance sales, the title was...
(1970) and Aunt Jenny in I Remember Mama
I Remember Mama (musical)
I Remember Mama is a musical with a book by Thomas Meehan, lyrics by Martin Charnin and Raymond Jessel, and music by Richard Rodgers.-Origins:...
(1979). In August 1979 she took over the role of Miss Hannigan in the original production of Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
and Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
's Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
. Her last appearance on Broadway was in 1983 as Vivian Proclo in the revival of Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
's The Ritz
The Ritz (play)
The Ritz is a play by Terrence McNally. Actress Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester....
. She also appeared in productions with numerous regional theaters in the United States.
A resident of the Lillian Booth Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
, Wilson died there at the age of 82 on September 28, 2010, due to natural causes. Both of her marriages had ended in divorce and she left no immediate survivors.