Eleanor La Mance
Eleanor La Mance | |
|---|---|
Eleanor La Mance, from a 1929 publication | |
| Born | July 31, 1898 Brunswick, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 1985 St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
| Other names | Nell Lamance, Eleanor Longone, Elen Longone |
| Occupation(s) | Opera singer, Broadway performer |
Eleanor La Mance Longone (July 31, 1898[1] – June 27, 1985), also known as Elen Longone, was an American mezzo-soprano or contralto[2] singer in opera and in musicals. She joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1929.
Early life and education
La Mance was born in Brunswick, Georgia, and raised in Jacksonville, Florida,[3] the daughter of Reed Ervine La Mance and Sarah Elizabeth Cherry La Mance. She trained as a singer in France and Italy.[4]
Career
La Mance performed in Europe, South America, and Egypt as a young woman.[5] She was with the William Wade Hinshaw Company in 1925 and 1926.[6][7] and was a visiting artist at the Mayflower Hotel in 1926.[8] La Mance was considered a stage beauty.[9][10]
La Mance joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1929.[11][12] At the Met, she appeared in Rigoletto (1929), Manon Lescaut (1929),[13] Cavalleria rusticana (1929), and several special concerts.[14] After her recital at Town Hall in 1930, The New York Times reported that she had "ample range and power and unusually brilliant timbre".[15] On Broadway, she played Alan-a-Dale in the 1932 revival of Robin Hood.[16]
La Mance sang with the Chicago City Opera in the 1930s,[17] including roles in Aida, Il trovatore and La fiamma (1936).[2][4][18] She played Azucena in Il trovatore in 1940 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in a production that included Leonard Warren and Arthur Carron.[19]
During World War II, she traveled with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops in Italy, North Africa, and Alaska.[20] After the war, she worked in radio in New York City.[4]
Personal life
La Mance married Chicago City Opera director Paolo (Paul) Longone in 1935, in Chicago.[21] Her husband died in 1939. She died in 1985, at the age of 86, in St. Petersburg, Florida.[4]
References
- ^ Some sources, including her gravestone, give 1896 as her birth year.
- ^ a b "Contralto". South Bend Tribune. January 31, 1937. p. 24. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Americans in Opera Debut". The Spokesman-Review. November 4, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Basse, Craig (June 29, 1985). "Elen Longone, opera singer". Tampa Bay Times. p. 33. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Elen Longone, Florida Artist, to Appear for Fine Arts Club". Tampa Bay Times. February 15, 1942. p. 63. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pierre Key's Music Year Book. Pierre Key, Incorporated. 1925. p. 289.
- ^ "La Mance, Eleanor". University Musical Society. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Mayflower". The Washington Herald. March 21, 1926. p. 39. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Capital Music in Full Swing". Musical Digest. 9: 12. November 17, 1925.
- ^ "'Eye-Easy'". The Cornell Daily Sun. October 21, 1935. p. 3. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "They Enter the Met" Musical America 49 (May 25, 1929): 31.
- ^ "Music: Metropolitan Debuts". TIME. November 11, 1929. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "At the Metropolitan". The Musical Leader. 57: 12. November 7, 1929.
- ^ "Eleanor La Mance". Metropolitan Opera Archives. Archived from the original on July 27, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ "Eleanor La Mance Heard in Recital; Young Mezzo-Soprano of the Metropolitan Gives a Program of Wide Range". The New York Times. February 21, 1930. p. 14. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
- ^ Dietz, Dan (March 29, 2018). The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-1-5381-0277-0.
- ^ "Elen Longone". The Times Herald. Port Huron, Michigan. April 9, 1940. p. 6. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Somber Music of La Fiamma Opens Season". Chicago Tribune. November 1, 1936. p. 15. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane (2000). Leonard Warren, American Baritone. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-57467-053-0.
- ^ "Elen Longone, Star of Opera, Visitor Here". Tampa Bay Times. January 15, 1946. p. 11. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Paul Longone is Married". Kansas City Times. March 20, 1935. p. 14. Retrieved March 18, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
- Eleanor La Mance at the Internet Broadway Database
- Eleanor LaMance photograph in the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public LIbrary Digital Collections
- Eleanor LaMance photograph in the Digital Public Library of America