As I listen to my ipod shuffle, Lee Venora‘s renditions of various songs from the Lincoln Center revivals of Kismet and The King and I keep popping up. I begin to wonder whatever happened to her. Her voice is a thrilling and grand operatic lyric soprano that just somehow manages to surpass that of Doretta Morrow (being a remarkable singer herself, no disrespect is intended), the singing actress that originated the roles of Marsinah and Tuptim. Hearing Venora take on the final ascending line of “My Lord and Master” is nothing short of breathtaking; or listening to how she takes the final solo reprise of “And This is My Beloved” and completely makes you forget anyone else ever in existence ever sang that song.
Her musical theatre record credits aren’t many: she recorded these two albums, the OBCR of Kean (on which she sings “Willow, Willow, Willow”, Wright and Forrest’s haunting musical setting of Othello’s “Willow Song”) and as Carrie on a studio cast album of Carousel, with Alfred Drake and Patrice Munsel in the leads. (The latter has never been released on CD). There’s also an easy-listening album of Show Boat, but I wonder if anyone’s ever heard that. My searches online are coming up with absolutely nothing, except that she has sung the role of Mimi in La Boheme and was also a soloist on various classical recordings, most notably Leonard Bernstein’s Mahler’s Symphonies.