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If
there is one word that perfectly describes Joan
Diener's career, then it is "misfire."
Diener is best remembered for her performances as Aldonza/Dulcinea
in Man of La Mancha (1966) and Lalume in Kismet
(1953), both of which were directed by her husband, Albert Marre.
Unfortunately, Man of La Mancha and Kismet were to
prove to be the only two hits of Marre and Diener's entire Broadway
careers. Diener is often criticized by music theatre historians
and critics for using what they consider to be a "reckless
combination of high notes and chest tones," but the fact is that
Diener's instrument was a good one and she used it well: if
any one is to be criticized, it is the composers of the music she
sang, for writing such bizarre ranges. Among the many Marre-directed
flops that comprise the rest of Diener's stage life, there were her
performances as Queen Penelope in Home, Sweet Homer, opera diva
Isola Parelli (inspired by Maria
Callas) in At the Grand, and as a "delicate
wife" in Cry for Us All. Legend has it that during
the curtain call of the final performance of At the Grand
in L.A., after the cast realized that they would not be transferring
to Broadway (due to the withdrawal of paranoid star Paul Muni), Diener
took her bow center stage, then turned upstage towards the
"cleavage-phobic" Muni, "opening her full-length mink
coat to reveal herself naked but for a long-stemmed rose between
her legs." (Ken Mandelbaum, Not Since "Carrie")
Diener not only created the role of Aldonza/Dulcinea on Broadway,
but went on to do so in the original London staging of Man of La
Mancha, as well as the original French-language production
opposite Jacques Brel, as well as succeeding Sheena Easton in the role
during the 1992 Broadway revival starring Raul Julia. Diener was
famously thrown into a pool by Fernando Lamas during a 1953 dinner at
the Beverly Hills Hotel, after throwing her arms around him, crying,
"You look divine!"-- in the middle of a huge feud
between Lamas and his then-lover Lana
Turner! |
