Patrice Munsel (born Patrice Beverly Munsil; May 14, 1925 – August 4, 2016) was an American

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

. Nicknamed "Princess Pat", she was the youngest singer ever to star at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

Early years

An only child, Patrice Beverly Munsil (she later changed the spelling of her surname) was born and raised until age 15 in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

. Her father, Audley J. Munsil, was a local dentist. She attended Lewis and Clark High School before leaving at age fifteen, accompanied by her mother, to study in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

,''The Dictionary of Opera'', Charles Osborne, Macdonald & Co., London, UK; coached by Giacomo Spadoni (1884–1960).

Career

Munsel first sang at the Metropolitan at age 17 in March 1943. She made her official Metropolitan debut on December 4, 1943, aged 18, singing Philine in ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...

'', for which she won popular praise but poor critical reviews. Her first opera contract was for three years at $40,000 per year; with other appearances she was making around $100,000 annually. Perhaps best known for the roles of Adele in ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original li ...

'' and Despina in ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...

'', Munsel sang 225 times at the Metropolitan Opera. Sir Rudolf Bing called her a "superb

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is ...

" and implied that she was the world's best. Her opera roles also included Rosina in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

'' and Gilda in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

''. Her husband Robert C. Schuler conceived and produced the ABC-TV primetime variety series ''The Patrice Munsel Show'', which starred his wife, and was broadcast in the 1957–1958 season. Munsel appeared on many other TV shows during her career, including the role of Marietta (Countess d'Altena) in the January 15, 1955

live telecast ''Live Telecast'' is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language horror thriller web series written and directed by Venkat Prabhu and starring Kajal Aggarwal, Vaibhav Reddy, Anandhi, Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan, Daniel Annie Pope and Priyanka Nair. The web ser ...

of the operetta '' Naughty Marietta''. She portrayed the title role in the 1953 film '' Melba'', which chronicled the life of the great opera singer Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...

. Munsel made frequent television appearances on ''

The Bell Telephone Hour ''The Bell Telephone Hour'' (also known as ''The Telephone Hour'') is a concert series that began April 29, 1940, on NBC Radio, and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone as the name implies, it showcased the best in ...

''. She was the celebrity guest on the February 2, 1958 episode of the TV quiz show What’s My Line?. Munsel was the central singer in the

Camp Fire Girls Camp Fire, formerly Camp Fire USA and originally Camp Fire Girls of America, is a co-ed youth development organization. Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organization for girls in America. It is gender inclusive, and its prog ...

' famous TV commercial and song "Sing Around the Campfire (Join the Camp Fire Girls)", aired in the mid-1960s. A former Camp Fire Girl herself, she was also a spokeswoman for the organization. Munsel made her final performance for the Metropolitan Opera on January 28, 1958, in the title role in ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play ''Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 1 ...

''. She appeared on stage as a guest during the 1966 Gala Farewell to the old opera house at Broadway and 39th Street, despite never performing at the new met location on Lincoln center. Munsel ended her career as an opera singer in 1981, and began to perform in musical comedies. She retired from performing in 2008.

Personal life

In 1952, Munsel married Robert C. Schuler, an advertising and public relations executive, producer, and writer. They were married for 55 years, until his death at age 90 in 2007, and had four children: Heidi (born 1953), Rhett (1955–2005), Scott (born 1958), and Nicole (born 1959). The younger two children were

born prematurely Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between ...

. Munsel and Schuler co-wrote a 2005 memoir of Schuler's life entitled ''The Diva & I''. Munsel died on August 4, 2016, at her home in Schroon Lake, New York, aged 91. For a number of years, Munsel lived in

Flower Hill, New York Flower Hill is a village in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The eastern half is considered part of the Greater Roslyn area, which is anchored by the Incorporated Village of Roslyn. Western and northe ...

Selected discography

*''Selections from The King and I'', following the official cast album with Gertrude Lawrence, Munsel was the second Anna on record, in a studio recording accompanied by

Robert Merrill Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Early life Merrill was born Moishe Miller, ...

as the king, and supported by

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

and Tony Martin as the young lovers. Most of the album was accompanied by

Henri René Henri René (born Harold Manfred Kirchstein; December 29, 1906 – April 25, 1993), was an American musician who had an international career in the recording industry as a producer, composer, conductor and arranger. Early years Born in New York ...

& His Orchestra 1952

Video

Texaco Star Theater television appearance (September 25, 1951)
youtube.com
Looking back: Patrice Munsel
spokesman.com, January 5, 2008
Video of January 31, 1958 episode at Internet Archive

References

External links

Patrice Munsel Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

Cover of ''Time'' magazine, December 3, 1951

Metropolitan Opera's "Opera News Online"
*^{rchived 31 December 2017/sup>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munsel, Patrice
1925 births
2016 deaths
American operatic sopranos
Singers from Washington (state)
Musicians from Spokane, Washington
Flower Hill, New York
RCA Victor artists
Soubrettes
21st-century American singers
20th-century American women opera singers
Winners of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air
21st-century American women}