[Dixielandjazz] Anna Russell, RIP.

[Fr M J (Mike) Logsdon]

Not OKOM, but she had a spark many an OKOMer can appreciate.

    Anna Russell Dies
    By Susan Elliott
    MusicalAmerica.com
    October 19, 2006

    Anna Russell, soprano, comedienne, author, died yesterday at
    the age of 94.  Her death was reported by her adopted daughter,
    Deirdre Prussak, with whom she lived in Rosedale, New South
    Wales, Australia, during her final years.  Ms. Russell died
    peacefully, in her sleep.  The cause was esophageal cancer, only
    recently diagnosed.

    Born in London, she attended the Royal College of Music and began
    her career as a folksinger on BBC radio in 1931.  A subsequent
    radio broadcast brought her to Toronto, where she ultimately
    lived for most of her life.  She was hugely popular there, to
    the point where the street on which she lived was re-named "Anna
    Russell Way."

    She began to pursue a concert career as a lyric soprano in the
    early 1940s; her New York debut in 1948 at Town Hall secured her
    reputation as an erudite musical comedienne.  A New York Times
    review of that event reads in part, "An evening of musical satire
    of highest quality was presented by Anna Russell, singer, pianist,
    diseuse and mime....Blending a devastating perception of concert
    singer's and pianist's mannerisms with well-timed wit and low
    buffoonery, she often had to pause for laughter from her large
    audience."

    Ms. Russell toured widely and recorded some of her better known
    segments, including her 30-minute version of Wagner's "Ring" and
    "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera" (to quote
    from her lexicon, "I'm not making this up, you know").  The Ed
    Sullivan Show was among a number of television appearances, and
    she authored several books, including "The Power of Being a
    Positive Stinker" (1955) and the "Anna Russell Songbook" (1958).

    "She certainly brought musical parody to a high art," commented
    Ernest Gilbert, friend and president of Video Arts International,
    which holds the rights to much of her catalog.  Gilbert estimated
    that her last performance would have been about 20 years ago.
-- 
Etc,

Fr M J (Mike) Logsdon, Vicar-general
North American Old Roman Catholic Church (Utrecht Succession)
Archdiocese of California
www.naorc.org