Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1930)

Photoplay Magazine for March, 1930 »37 Bill Tibbett's Boy — Larry [ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 58 ] dins setting a start. After working around Los Angeles, where I was raised after leaving my father's farm at Bakersneld, I was determined to study and go into concert work. Frankly, I had to borrow money on my insurance policy to get to Xew York. After five months of study and plugging, I managed to land with the Metropolitan Opera Company as a singer. "I was unknown and remained unknown for three years, filling in obscure roles. Then five years ago I was given an opportunity to sing the role of Ford in Verdi's 'Falstaff.' "T WAS very much discouraged. I had been -*• getting nowhere fast. I went on and sang the role. I sang no better or worse than I had at anj time before. But, for some reason I cannot to this day explain, there was a tremendous ovation after I left the stage at the conclusion of my aria in the first scene of the second act. To me it was terrifying. "I was upstairs in my dressing room before I realized it was for me. I looked into the mirror and saw the color drain from my face beneath the crimson makeup. They were applauding me. But traditions of the opera prevented me from acknowledging it. I had to wait until I was called. I waited — thirteen minutes and a half. "Then there came the summons from the director — 'Mr. Tibbett, on the stage!' — The audience was a blurred sea of faces as I took my bow. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't say anything. I backed off the stage and rushed upstairs again to my dressing room and found my wife waiting for me. She had dashed from the audience. We both sat down a nd cried and asked each other what had happened. "Only we knew what we had been through. What sacrifices we had made, the heartaches, the pitiful futility of pounding against a seemingly impregnable wall. In the morning Mrs. Tibbett arose at seven to look at the morning Times to see if it really were true. She wanted to be able to prepare me if the critics were not in sympathy with the acclaim of the audience. "She read the music and drama pages backward and forward. Xot a line. Just as she was going to burn the paper she happened to glance at the front page. Its headline proclaimed the arrival of a new opera star. By eight o'clock our hotel was in pandemonium. Xewspaper reporters, photographers, concert agents, telegraph messengers and opera managers were swarming all over the place. It WAS real. From that day on I have had a new viewpoint, new confidence and, because of these, I believe I have developed new quality and strength in my singing voice. "The work in singing pictures is more arduous for the artist than on the operatic stage, but then the monetary compensation is proportionally greater, as is the audience appeal. " 'The Rogue's Song' is of more popular appeal than our traditional operas because it was written especially with a view to tuneful lightness, rather than heavy foreign interpretations that might be incomprehensible to an uninitiated audience. But the field for operatic music, I believe, is vastly increased by the development of the talking picture and I have every confidence that public appreciation of good music will supply a need for operatic products." •"TIBBETT left Holl>^vood at once after finA ishing his first picture to play the role of Ranee, in "The Girl of the Golden West" with the Metropolitan Opera Company. But if you happen to drop in on one of his concerts don't be at all surprised if you hear him "Singin', just singin' in the rain!" A Ionic to put you ^Qack on your Feet IF your cold or any winter illness hangs on, doctors warn you of the danger of a dragging convalescence. 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