http://operetta-research-center.org/lillian-russell-revisited-amazing-life-19th-century-operetta-diva/ The #1 Archive for Musical Theater Tue, 24 Feb 2026 19:54:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.40 http://operetta-research-center.org/lillian-russell-revisited-amazing-life-19th-century-operetta-diva/#comment-8067 Thu, 09 Apr 2020 00:04:57 +0000 http://operetta-research-center.org/?p=19446#comment-8067 The legend of “Come down ma evenin’ star” is quite well known. Joan Morris and her husband, William Bolcom, included it on one of their retrospective albums. The story, as I have it, is that John Stromberg wrote the song for Lilian and then committed suicide. Ms. Russell made sure that the audience was well aware of that situation and, of course, there was never a dry eye in the house when she performed it.

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