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.
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Training:
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 Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance - Kansas University, Lawrence, Kansas
Kathryna Barone - Bryn Mawr Conservatory, Bryn Mawr PA
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Mary's GSSCC Roles:
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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
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Mary's Other Roles:
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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
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Mary's Personal Remarks:
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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
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Photo Gallery
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