Queena Mario Sang Her 10th and Last Met Opera Juliette on Feb. 3, 1933

Summary: Queena Mario sang her 10th and last Met Opera Juliette on Friday, Feb. 3, 1933, almost 10 years after adding Juliette to her Met Opera portfolio.

Queena Mario as Juliette, the American lyric soprano's third Met Opera role; Shadowland (July 1923), page 45: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Queena Mario sang her 10th and last Met Opera Juliette on Friday, Feb. 3, 1933, almost one decade after she added the star-crossed role to her Met Opera portfolio.

Queena Mario, stage name of Queena Marian Tillotson (Aug. 21, 1896-May 28, 1951), sang Juliette as her third Met Opera role in her first season, 1922-1923, at the opera house. The American lyric soprano had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 30, 1922, as Micaela in the opera house's 277th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

The Metropolitan Opera House's 1922-1923 season staging of Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893) opened Saturday, Nov. 25, 1922, as a new production. Viennese American stage manager Samuel Thewman (Feb. 27, 1872-March 22, 1940) directed the new production. The production was designed by the father-daughter design team of Austrian American scenic designer Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872-July 10, 1933) and Austrian American costume designer Gretel Urban (Jan. 7, 1898-Dec. 6, 1997).

In the 1922-1923 season, Roméo et Juliette received 13 performances. Queena Mario sang the title role in the season's ninth performance, Saturday, Feb. 10, 1923, at the Metropolitan Opera House.

The 1922-1923 season's performances of Gounod's Shakespearean-inspired opera were conducted by Louis Hasselmans (July 25, 1878-Dec. 27, 1957). The French conductor and cellist had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Jan. 20, 1922, in the opera house's 324th performance of Gounod's Faust.

Queena Mario sang her first Juliette to Edward Johnson's Roméo. The Canadian operatic tenor (Aug. 22, 1878-April 20, 1959) had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 16, 1922, as Avito in the opera house's 38th performance of L'Amore dei Tre Re by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi (Aug. 4, 1875-May 15, 1952).

Queena Mario reprised Juliette in seven seasons over the next decade. Her first reprisal occurred in the following season. She sang Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera in the sixth (Wednesday, Jan. 30, 1924) of the season's eight Roméo et Juliette performances.

Her second reprisal took place in the 1924-1925 season. She appeared as Juliette, on tour at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the second (Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1925) of the season's four Roméo et Juliette performances.

Queena Mario's third reprisal claimed two of the 1925-1926 season's five Roméo et Juliette performances. She sang Juliette Thursday, Dec. 31, 1925, and Wednesday, Jan. 27, 1926, at the opera house.

She did not appear in Met Opera's 1926-1927 season staging of Roméo et Juliette, but she added two more Juliette performances to her Met Opera portfolio with her fourth reprisal, in the 1927-1928 season. She sang Juliette at the opera house in the first two (Saturday, Nov. 12, 1927; Sunday, Dec. 2) of the season's four Roméo et Juliette performances.

Queena Mario logged her eighth Juliette appearance during her fifth reprisal. She sang Juliette at the opera house in the first (Thursday, Nov. 22, 1928) of the 1928-1929 season's four Roméo et Juliette performances.

She did not appear in the opera house's 1929-1930 season staging of Roméo et Juliette. She made her sixth Juliette reprisal in the next season. She sang Juliette at the opera house in the third (Thursday, Feb. 26, 1931) of the 1930-1931 season's six Roméo et Juliette performances.

Queena Mario did not appear in Met Opera's 1931-1932 season staging of Roméo et Juliette. Her 10th and last Juliette appearance at Met Opera took place in the next season, during her seventh Juliette reprisal. Queena Mario's last Met Opera Juliette happened at the opera house in the second (Friday, Feb. 3, 1933) of the 1932-1933 season's three performances.

Queena Mario worked with one conductor in her eight Juliette seasons. Louis Hasselmans conducted all 10 of Queena Mario's Juliette performances. In fact, Louis Hasselmans conducted 58 of the 60 performances of Roméo et Juliette offered by Met Opera in the decade between Queena Mario's first and last Juliette performances.

Queena Mario sang Juliette to three Met Opera Roméos. Her first Roméo, Edward Johnson, joined her in four performances (first Juliette, Feb. 10, 1923; second Juliette, Feb. 17, 1925; third Juliette, Dec. 21, 1925; 10th, last Juliette, Feb. 3, 1933).

Armand Tokatyan (June 16, 1894-June 12, 1960) numbered as Queena Mario's second Met Opera Roméo, with only one performance. He sang Roméo in her first reprisal (Jan. 30, 1924). The Bulgarian-born Armenian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Dec. 19, 1922, as Turiddu in the opera house's 210th performance of Cavalleria Rusticana by Italian opera composer Pietro Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945).

Beniamino Gigli (March 20, 1890-Nov. 30, 1957) claimed five performances as Queena Mario's third Roméo. He sang Roméo to Queena Mario's fifth through ninth Juliettes (Jan. 27, 1926; Nov. 12 and Dec. 2, 1927; Nov. 22, 1928; Feb. 26, 1931). The Italian operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 26, 1920, as Faust in the opera house's 23rd performance of Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918).

The takeaways for Queena Mario's 10th and last Met Opera performance as Gounod's Juliette are that the American lyric soprano's 10 Juliette performances occurred in eight seasons; that Louis Hasselmans conducted all 10 of her Juliette performances; and that she sang with three Roméos (Canadian operatic tenor Edward Johnson, Bulgarian-born Armenian operatic tenor Armand Tokatyan, Italian operatic tenor Beniamino Gigli).

Canadian operatic tenor Edward Johnson was the first of Queena Mario's three Met Opera Roméos; Shadowland (November 1922), page 25: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Queena Mario as Juliette, the American lyric soprano's third Met Opera role; Shadowland (July 1923), page 45: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queena_Mario_-_Romeo_et_Juliette_-_Jul_1923_Shadowland.jpg

Canadian operatic tenor Edward Johnson was the first of Queena Mario's three Met Opera Roméos; Shadowland (November 1922), page 25: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Johnson_-_Nov_1922_Shadowland.jpg

For further information:

Arakelyan, Ashot. "Armand Tokatyan (Tenor) (Plovdiv, Bulgaria 1894-Pasadena, California 1960)." Forgotten Opera Singers. Dec. 25, 2011.
Available @ http://forgottenoperasingers.blogspot.com/2011/12/armand-tokatyan-plovdiv-bulgaria.html<

"Debut: Armand Tokatyan." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 82470 Cavalleria Rusticana {210} Pagliacci {220} New York, Brooklyn: 12/19/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82470

"Debut: Beniamino Gigli." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 76130 New production Mefistofele {23} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/26/1920.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=76130

"Debut: Louis Hasselmans." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 79870 Faust {324} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/20/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=79870

"Debut: Queena Mario." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 82200 Carmen {277} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/30/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82200

"Debuts: Edward Johnson, Laura Robertson." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 82030 L'Amore dei Tre Re {38} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/16/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82030<

Italian Genealogical Group and German Genealogy Group. "Samuel Thewman in the New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948." Ancestry.com > New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
Available via Ancestry @ https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=9131&h=4020416

Marriner, Derdriu. "Gretel Urban Designed Costumes for U.S. Turandot Premiere at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 30, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/gretel-urban-designed-costumes-for-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 29 New Productions at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-29-new.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Anima Allegra's 10th, Last Met Opera Performance Was March 28, 1924." Earth and Space News. Monday, May 3, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/05/anima-allegras-10th-last-met-opera.html

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Roméo et Juliette.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 2430 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Roméo et Juliette {1} Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 04/16/1884.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=2430

"New Production Roméo et Juliette." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 82140 New production Roméo et Juliette {111} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/25/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82140

The Sembrich @The_Sembrich. "Our collection contains a number of gifts given to Madame Sembrich. This incense holder was a gift from her student Queena Mario, who taught alongside her teacher at the @JuilliardSchool and the @CurtisInstitute. Camera: Sembrich and Mario at Bay View, ca 1922. #History #TheSembrich." Twitter. Nov. 5, 2020.
Available @ https://twitter.com/The_Sembrich/status/1324398625452138497

The Sembrich @The_Sembrich. "Queena Mario, soprano and student of Mme. Sembrich, taught @CurtisInstitute students and sang on the @MetOpera stage over 300 times! #TheSembrich #LakeGeorge #BoltonLanding #GlensFalls #Saratoga #AlbanyNY #Adirondacks #LakePlacid #UpstateNY #ClassicalMusic #opera #music #culture." Twitter. Dec. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/The_Sembrich/status/1075347553732972544

U.S. National Archives. "Samuel Thewman." Ancestry.com > New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Available via Ancestry @ https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2280&h=3980662

The Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy @WoodlawnCemNY. "A renowned opera singer, #WoodlawnConnection Queena Mario made her debut at the Met in 1922. She became one of the nation’s premier voice teachers and a successful author of mystery fiction. In her books, like 'Murder Meets Mephisto,' her characters were opera performers." Twitter. March 26, 2020.
Available @ https://twitter.com/hashtag/WoodlawnConnection?src=hashtag_click