Lina Abarbanell

Lina Abarbanell , was a GermanAmerican soprano singer who performed in grand and light opera and musical comedy. She made her debut at sixteen at the Neues Theatre, Berlin and was first introduced to American theatergoers in 1905 as the soubrette in the Josef Strauss operetta Frhlingsluft. Abarbanell made opera history later that year as Hnsel in the The Mets debut production of Engelbert Humperdincks Hnsel und Gretel. Abarbanell spent the following near thirty years performing on Broadway and at venues across America. After her husbands death in 1934, Abarbanell left the stage, but remained active over virtually the remainder of her life as a Broadway casting director, producer, and stage director.

Lina Abarbanell was born in Berlin, Germany to Paul and Marie Abarbanell. Her father, a descendent of a prominent Sephardic Jewish family, was a wellknown Berlin musical director. She trained for the stage under her father and at schools in Berlin and Vienna. Abarbanell made her first appearances on stage at the age of six or seven before making her professional debut in the mid1890s at the Neues Theatre. At the Deutsches Theater, Berlin she was among the cast that supported Josef Kainz in an 1896 revival of Lupaci Vagabundus, or the GoodForNothing Clover Leaf, a farce by Johann Nestroy. After some additional musical training, the following year she joined the Grand Opera, Pozna performing in Les Huguenots, Hnsel und Gretel, The Geisha, and as Hadvig Ekdal in Ibsens The Wild Duck. Later Abarbanell appeared in Die Fledermaus at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, and commenced on a tour of opera houses in Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands.

Source: Wikipedia