Oklahoma Today Winter 1983-1984 Volume 34 ... - Digital Collections

"Madama Butte@y" amives forher wedding in the
first act of Putrini's beloved opera, which dosed
Tu/sa Opera's3Sth season last May.
Yamadori in "Madama Butterfly." Leona
Mitchell, another professional, origi-
nally from Enid, made her debut in "I1
Trovatore."
Then there was Gwendolyn Jones,
who arrived in Tulsa that same season
for her debut in the title "trousers roIe"
of Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier."
Now living in New York, after per-
forming stints in San Francisco and Eu-
rope, Miss Jones grew up in Tulsa,
Oklahoma City and Lawton. She started
singing in church at age 9 and refined
her voice with Inez Silberg at OCU's
voice department.
30
Opening night, her parents, relatives
and friends amved by the bus full.
"Oklahoma is special," she says. "It's
my home, but I've never worked for a
company where the artists have been
treated so well; all of our needs were
anticipated. If they'd hire me back every
year, I'd be here."
Purrington likes to give promising art-
ists like Miss Jones not only the opportu-
nity to debut in starring roles, but to let
them do it "under optimum conditions."
And he believes that Tulsa Opera, these
days, fills the bill.
"For consistent quality and execution,
right after New York, Chicago and San
Francisco-the biggies-Tulsa rates
right up there with Dallas, Houston and
San Diego," he says. "If you want opera
that's big and gutsy, grand opera, we're
it until you get to Dallas or Chicago on
the north. We've got subscribers from
Albuquerque to St. Louis."
But Purrington is first to admit that
beyond the big names, even native sons
and daughters made good, the secret to
his success is the Oklahomans who
stayed home. At its most basic, Tulsa
Opera still is grassroots, and a lot of foIks
who like to sing along with Verdi.
Patrons are generous with the check-
book, to be sure, but the rest of the story
is the volunteers who do everything from
singing in the chorus to arranging pro-
grams for school children and the deaf to
playing host to out-of-town cast mem-
bers. The latter includes everything
from meeting performers at the airport to
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