Marie Powers
Encyclopedia
Marie Powers was an American contralto
who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti
’s The Medium
, a role that she played on stage, screen and television.
Born in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania
, she left home at 17 to study singing in Milan, Italy. She sneaked into a friend’s audition before the conductor Arturo Toscanini
at La Scala
and landed a part with the legendary opera company.
In 1947, Italian writer Lanfranco Rasponi introduced her to Menotti, who was casting the role of the fraudulent psychic in his opera The Medium. The opera was staged on Broadway
along with another one-act Menotti opera, The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
. Powers was hailed as a star for her dramatic performance as the phony psychic, and she repeated the role on live television in 1948 and in an expanded film production directed by Menotti in 1951.
Later Broadway work for Powers included the 1957 revival of the musical Carousel
and the original 1960 production of Becket
, where she played the Queen Mother. She died in New York City
in 1973.
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
’s The Medium
The Medium
The Medium is a short two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first professional production was presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Telephone at the Heckscher...
, a role that she played on stage, screen and television.
Born in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania
Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania
Mount Carmel is the name of a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6390 at the 2000 census. It is located 88 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 71 miles northeast of Harrisburg, in the Anthracite Coal Region...
, she left home at 17 to study singing in Milan, Italy. She sneaked into a friend’s audition before the conductor Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
and landed a part with the legendary opera company.
In 1947, Italian writer Lanfranco Rasponi introduced her to Menotti, who was casting the role of the fraudulent psychic in his opera The Medium. The opera was staged 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...
along with another one-act Menotti opera, The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois
The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois is an English-language comic opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti, both words and music. It was written for production by the Ballet Society and was first presented on a double bill with Menotti's The Medium at the Heckscher Theater, New York City, February...
. Powers was hailed as a star for her dramatic performance as the phony psychic, and she repeated the role on live television in 1948 and in an expanded film production directed by Menotti in 1951.
Later Broadway work for Powers included the 1957 revival of the musical Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
and the original 1960 production of Becket
Becket
Becket or The Honor of God is a play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's murder in 1170. It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.-Background:Anouilh's...
, where she played the Queen Mother. She died in New York City
New 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...
in 1973.