Today is the birthday of Lina Abarbanell (1879-1963). Abarbanell was a Berlinese soprano who appeared in both opera and musical theatre. She trained and began her career in her native Germany, then moved to the U.S. in 1905. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, on Broadway, and regionally in such productions as Hansel und Gretel, The Student King, The Merry Widow, Madam Sherry, The Grand Duke, The Geisha, etc. But she also worked in prestigious big time vaudeville in venues like the Palace. Abarbanell retired from singing in the mid 1930s but continued to work in the theatre as a casting consultant and a member of production teams well into the 1950s.
To learn more about vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
(Travalanche) 