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From Salome to the Shimmy: Irving Berlin, Mary Garden and the Jazz Opera that Never Came to Pass

Posted on 02/13/2013
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Irving Berlin, the great American songwriter, needs little introduction today, but the great singer Mary Garden is less well known. She was an opera star in the first three decades of the 20th century, ending her music career as manager of the Chicago Civic Opera. The image below is a delightful illustration of the way leading newspapers of the 1920s produced creative full-page layouts combining photos and original artwork. 

Alas, Berlin seems to have never written an opera for Ms. Garden, who performed Salome in New York. That's too bad. As the inset quote in the center of this Fort Worth Star-Telegram page says: "It's but a step from Salome to the Shimmy."

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