According to legend, Mary was born singing and has been singing every
kind of music from rock to opera ever since. At the suggestion of a
friend, she auditioned for a Gilbert & Sullivan musical review
for Berks Grand Opera, was cast, and began her continuing love affair
with Gilbert & Sullivan's operettas. Since then she has
performed 11 roles in 9 different G&S operettas, 6 with Chester
Co. G&S. She even met her husband Wayne in a production of The
Gondoliers (and they still make beautiful music together.) A soloist
for the Lower Merion Baptist Church,
recently, she has been performing other kinds of musical theater with
the Concert Operetta Theater of Philadelphia and The Amici Opera
Company as well as being a founding member of The
Main Line Opera Guild.
|
| Training: |
 Bachelor
of Music in Voice Performance - Kansas University, Lawrence, Kansas
Kathryna
Barone - Bryn Mawr Conservatory, Bryn Mawr PA
|
| Mary's GSSCC Roles:
|
Melissa, Princess
Ida - 2001
Pitti
Sing, Mikado - 1996
Tessa,
Gondoliers - 1994
Iolanthe,
Iolanthe - 1991
Lady
Angela, Patience - 1990
Phoebe
Merryl, Yeomen of the Guard - 1989 *
*
= Mary's favorite role with GSSCC
|
| Mary's Other Roles:
|
Josephine,
H.M.S. Pinafore - Rose Valley
Chorus, 2005
Saffi,
Gypsy Baron - Main Line Opera
Guild, 2005
Mascha,
Chocolate Soldier - Concert
Operetta Theater, 2004
Manja,
Countess Maritza - Concert
Operetta Theater, 2003
Coralina,
Paganini - Concert Operetta
Theater, 2003
Santuzza,
Cavalleria Rusticana - Amici
Opera, 2002
Angelina,
Trial By Jury - Doylestown First
Night, 2001
Angelina,
Trial By Jury - Doylestown First
Night, 2000
Phoebe
Merryl, Yeomen of the Guard - Rose Valley Chorus,
2000
Iolanthe,
Iolanthe - Thespis, Etc, 2000
Lady
Psyche, Princess Ida - Rose Valley Chorus, 1998
Josephine,
H.M.S. Pinafore - Chestnut Hill
College, 1996
Lalume,
Kismet - Rose Valley Chorus, 1995 *
Iolanthe,
Iolanthe - ArdenSingers, 1994
Angelina,
Trial By Jury - Delaware County
Bar Association, 1992
Iolanthe,
Iolanthe - Berks Grand Opera, 1991
Edith,
Pirates of Penzance - Berks Grand
Opera, 1990
Vittoria,
Gondoliers - Rose Valley Chorus,
1989
*
= Mary's favorite role
|
| Mary's Personal Remarks:
|
Although I have performed with other groups, Chester County Gilbert and
Sullivan Society always feels like home.
I would like to thank my family for its long tolerance of my addiction
to musical theater. Especially I would like to thank Kathryna Barone
who continues, patiently to try to teach me to sing with the voice of
my dreams, my son Matt Loukota, who endured a childhood of loud singing
and cueing lines while captive in the car, and my husband, Wayne
Punshon, who is always there when I'm on stage to take my picture.
A bird does not sing because it has an
answer, it sings because it has a song. - Chinese proverb
|
| Photo
Gallery |
 
 
|
|
