American opera singer, Broadway performer and recording artist, the youngest member ever to have sung with the Metropolitan Opera House. Munsel emerged on the opera stage a young star during the years of World War II. She became one of the leading coloratura sopranos of the Met in the 1940s and 1950s. She electrified audiences with her wide-ranging voice full of warmth at the mid-range. She swayed the audiences with her charm and good looks. After her success with in opera in the 1950s, Munsel captured Broadway audiences in theater musicals. She was a rare performer who achieved acclaim both in opera and on Broadway.
Munsel grew up in Spokane, Washington. At age seven, she gave her first dance and singing recital. She knew at a young age that she was destined for the stage. At 12, she studied singing in Spokane. Her family moved to New York during her teen years and made many sacrifices for her singing career as orchestrated by her mother. She had difficulty studying under Lily Pons’ accompanist, Frank La Forge. She moved on to the master teacher, William Herman and perfecting her singing voice. At 17, she auditioned for the Met and signed her first opera contract. When she made her debut in 1943 as Philine in “Mignon,” Munsel was unprepared for the role. She was given more roles to show off her flair for the stage and her voice diction. By her own stamina and training along with the devoted support of her parents, Munsel built up her repertoire. In the late ’40s, she sang Cole Porter songs on her own radio show.
In 1950, Munsel reached an opera turning point under the baton of Fritz Reiner. She sang in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and electrified critics with her maturing ability to sing a real lyric part rather than the usual coloratura chirps. She sang in “Cosi fan Tutte” in 1951. She continued her opera performances throughout the 1950s but ran into artistic differences and jealousies at the Met. She worked in opera for 15 years. In 1960, she gave her final operatic performance in Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione di Poppea.” In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, she sang to musical theater audiences. She sang in “Kiss Me Kate” for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera in 1964. In June 1987, she appeared in Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” in Houston.
While singing at the Met, Munsel dated a boy at the Yale Drama School. She had an enormous crush on opera singer Ezio Pinza but a relationship was never started. She met her future husband, Robert C. Schuler, by an introduction from a friend. Schuler was the son of the man who owned the Mars candy bar company. Munsel fell in love with the extraordinarily attractive 6′ 4″ (1.93 m) Schuler and knew she found the man she could stay with forever. They were married in 1952 and produced two boys and two girls. She refused to have her children raised by nannies and took them with her and her husband whenever they traveled out of the country. Munsel and her husband lived in a penthouse in Central Park West. Her speaking voice was bright and sparkling. Munsel kept a constant genial personality. Her favorite season was the fall because of the autumn beauty of the Adirondack mountains. Munsel died on 4 August 2016 at her home in Schroon Lake, New York, aged 91.
Link to Wikipedia biography