Kate Condon (February 4, 1877 â€" May 27, 1941) was an American
contralto who performed in light and grand operas on Broadway and in
opera houses over the first two decades of the twentieth
century.Condon was born in 1877 in Bloomington, Illinois, the second
youngest of six children raised by William and Bridget Condon. Some
records give her birth date as February 4, 1880, but this is unlikely
since her brother Thomas was born in October 1879. Condon's parents
both came to America from Ireland in the years leading up to the
American Civil War and married in 1859, settling in Bloomington, where
in 1860 their first child was born. Her father became a well known
Illinois merchant.Condon's first appearance in a major production on
the New York stage came in November 1900, playing Siebel in the
English Grand Opera Company's production of Charles Gounod's Faust
with the Metropolitan Opera. She had previously been a member of the
Castle Square Company in Boston and would later perform on Broadway
and elsewhere with such stars as Jefferson De Angelis, De Wolf Hopper,
Fritzi Scheff, and Tyrone Power, Sr. Her first role on Broadway was
Molly O'Grady in The Emerald Isle in 1902. Among other Broadway
appearances, in 1913 she appeared in revivals of two Gilbert and
Sullivan operas. Condon crossed the Atlantic during the First World
War to entertain troops serving with the American Expeditionary Force
in France. In 1917â€"18, near the end of her career, her last Broadway
role was in a successful revival of the musical Chu Chin Chow.On May
16, 1903, Condon married Edward Burke Scott at New Haven, Connecticut.
Scott was a theatrical advance man and treasurer for the Frank
Daniel's Opera Company, then under the management of Charles
Dillingham. In November, just six months after they wed, Scott
disappeared while Condon was touring the Midwest and was never seen
again. Several thousand dollars had vanished from the opera company's
accounts.
contralto who performed in light and grand operas on Broadway and in
opera houses over the first two decades of the twentieth
century.Condon was born in 1877 in Bloomington, Illinois, the second
youngest of six children raised by William and Bridget Condon. Some
records give her birth date as February 4, 1880, but this is unlikely
since her brother Thomas was born in October 1879. Condon's parents
both came to America from Ireland in the years leading up to the
American Civil War and married in 1859, settling in Bloomington, where
in 1860 their first child was born. Her father became a well known
Illinois merchant.Condon's first appearance in a major production on
the New York stage came in November 1900, playing Siebel in the
English Grand Opera Company's production of Charles Gounod's Faust
with the Metropolitan Opera. She had previously been a member of the
Castle Square Company in Boston and would later perform on Broadway
and elsewhere with such stars as Jefferson De Angelis, De Wolf Hopper,
Fritzi Scheff, and Tyrone Power, Sr. Her first role on Broadway was
Molly O'Grady in The Emerald Isle in 1902. Among other Broadway
appearances, in 1913 she appeared in revivals of two Gilbert and
Sullivan operas. Condon crossed the Atlantic during the First World
War to entertain troops serving with the American Expeditionary Force
in France. In 1917â€"18, near the end of her career, her last Broadway
role was in a successful revival of the musical Chu Chin Chow.On May
16, 1903, Condon married Edward Burke Scott at New Haven, Connecticut.
Scott was a theatrical advance man and treasurer for the Frank
Daniel's Opera Company, then under the management of Charles
Dillingham. In November, just six months after they wed, Scott
disappeared while Condon was touring the Midwest and was never seen
again. Several thousand dollars had vanished from the opera company's
accounts.
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