New Britain herald., 1929-09-26
American Opera to Give Young Singers
 Opportunity to Make Good at Home
American

singing voices of any women in the
 world. There is no reason why, in
 stead of our importing European
 grand opera stars, America should
 not furnish Europe with singers for
 her operas
 This is only one of the encour-
 aging convictions about American
 States by Kendall K. Mussey, man. ager of Americas pioneer little 1 opera, the Little Theater Opera | Company.
 Mir Mussey spent all summer sur | veying the European opera field. In
 Dresden he heard Elsie Weber, a
 Pacific coast girl who made her | debut in opera in his Brooklyn com l pany, make her European debut in the Magic Flute. This engaging
 young woman will have five leading
 roles with the Dresden Opera com pany this winter.
 Was Active in Europe In Berlin, MT. Mussey arrang-
 cd for two new condensed orches-
 trations made for the Grand Du- chess and Fra Diavolo. two operas
 his company will produce here. { He also secured the use Of the 1 English version of the Magic
 Flute. At The Hague he engaged
 Karol and Loki Bruchman. two young artists from the Royal The ater, to design the scenery and costumes for the Grand Duchess. and in Paris, he looked over the costume designs for Fra DiaVolo which a Denver artist, Elizabeth Moffatt, and her colleague, Mile. Gratianne de Gardlanne, have finished. Here, too, he engaged Nasili Koughita, notable stage di- rector, for the coming year.
 The winter plans of the Little Theater Opera Company, as sketched by Mr. 1Iussey, promise even greater opportunities than heretofore for young American singers who need chance 10 make good at home, rather than be forced to make their debuts in Europe before they can get into opera here.
 There is no reason why there should not be many other Elsie Wiebers graduating from Ameri- can little opera into title roles abroad" MT. Mussey asserted. But if we want young American singers to have a chance at opera tic experience in their own Coun- try, there must be more little the ater opera companies. I dream of hundreds of them, one in each town of 100000 and over.
 "Gcrmany had 300 little opera companies before the war and now, even in her impoverished condition, she boasts 150 towns cans love good music and if prices were low, and the words in Eng fish, would go more oftcn."
 Incidentally in the two years the Little Theater Opera Company has existed, it has given fl un- known singers a chance at an op- cratic debut. Of these. five vo- men are already singing in Europe.
 MT. Mussey brought back with him glowing accounts of the mag nificent stage mechanism the con- tinent is devising Germany has one stage, for instance, that has eight different levels. The possi- bilitios of unique stage effects is unlimited. Another stage has 200 feet of footlights.
 Brings Siamese Kittens
 Along with these stimulating observations. MT. Mussey brought back something else that is new and interesting. It is a little Sl- amese kitten, the youngest of it's kind to enter America, just barely six weeks old the day it passed the Statue of Liberty. Little Ri kiki' is especially important, for he is the grandson of the favorite cat model of the famous Partisan animal sculptor, George Hilbert. 'Rikiki' is pale beige in color, With the DlueSt eyes in the world set off to perfection by his pointed coal black nose and ears, a blacA streak clear across down his back and a little black tail that has two kinks in it, a sure sign of regal blood in Siamese cats.
 American women have a bet ter chance today to get into opera on the continent than ever be- fore,' MT. Mussey stated his be- lief. Formerly, there was a prac- tice in some impoverished con- panies, of engaging rich American women 10 sing. whether they had voices or not, provided they paid for the privilege. This is discon- tinued, l am glad 10 say. The only way American girls sing on the continent today is through their own ability. Since there are fewer rich families in Europe to- day who can afford to educate | their daughters for the opera, girls have larger op- portunity than ever before"