AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Patricia Neway

Artist:Patricia Neway

Song:Climb Ev'ry Mountain

Album:The Sound of Music: Original Broadway Cast

Patricia Neway was an operatic soprano who had success on Broadway. She won a Tony for playing Mother Abbess in the 1959 production of The Sound of Music. Climb Ev'ry Mountain was her big song in the show. She was born Sept. 30, 1919 in Brooklyn, NY and she grew up in Rosebank on Staten Island. He father was a high tenor in a vocal quartet in vaudeville before getting a real job as a printing plant foreman. Patricia attended the Notre Dame Academy and then earned a degree in science at Notre Dame College. Both are private Catholic girls schools. It was while she was in college that she got interested in music. After graduating, Patricia earned a degree in vocal performance at Mannes College of Music. Then she studied with tenor Morris Gesell and they married. Though Patricia appeared on Broadway and in operas in the 40s, her first big appearance was in the 1950 was as Magda Sorel in the 1950 opera The Consul that had a run on Broadway. She won a Donaldson Award for Best Actress in a Musical and appeared on Decca's original cast album. Patricia made her debut with the New York City Opera in 1951 and appeared frequently until 1966. She also appeared in Europe and on TV for the NBC Opera Theatre. In 1958, Patricia appeared in the Broadway production of the opera Maria Golovin which was also televised by NBC. My guess is that Richard Rodgers and/or Oscar Hammerstein II saw Patricia on TV and cast her as Mother Abbess in the 1959 production of The Sound of Music. Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel were the stars. Patricia performed Climb Ev'ry Mountain. And as you will see, she got to perform it on The Ed Sullivan Show. Patricia won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. The original cast album is available in a remastered version as a budget CD. This was Patricia's highest profile appearance in anything. She did not appear in the 1966 film of The Sound of Music. In fact, she never appeared in a film. She did appear in a 1967 TV production of Carousel starring Robert Goulet where she sang You'll Never Walk Alone. After retirement, Patricia and her husband moved to Vermont. She died on Jan. 24, 2012 at age 92. Here's Patricia Neway performing Climb Ev'ry Mountain on The Ed Sullivan Show Dec. 20, 1959.