Janis Hardy

It’s awfully tempting to be a diva when you’re born with such a sweet soprano. But the Twin Citizen Janis Hardy has managed to become a key opera export with minimal incidence of temper tantrums. She regularly takes her pipes on the road, performing with the Houston Grand Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Boston Opera, and, at home, the Minnesota Opera (she was part of its resident ensemble for ten years). Recently, she appeared in productions with Frank Theater and Theatre Latte Da, and is a semi-regular on Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. We caught up with this busy woman as she was preparing for the fourth incarnation of Sopranorama, the annual feast of songs written for–or stolen by–the soprano voice. Hardy and her singer friends were busy tinkering with a series of catchy fifties pop tunes for the event, and she said she was having such fun that if she were stranded on a desert isle, that’s just how she’d like to pass her tropical days. With a passion for live music that runs deep, she turns out to be one of our rare castaways who leaves behind her iPod and its Beach Boys MP3s. She wants her singing buddies instead–and a few other necessities.

1.A giant bag filled with books, music, and writing paper and pens. I wouldn’t need to worry about reading the same books over and over, since I can never remember anything for longer than a few months anyway. And I can’t imagine being anywhere without music to sing or paper to write on.

2.My singer pals, to sing the music with me, and to entertain me once my voice is too far gone to croak anything out.Plus, nobody knows better dirty jokes than singers.

3.Several large dogs. Nobody should be without a big dog, ever!

4.My photo albums. I’d like to be reminded of where I’ve been, who I’ve loved, of the adventures and misadventures that make life worth living. Without the past, the present and future are meaningless.

5.I wouldn’t survive long enough without my family to enjoy the other four things.

Janis Hardy, Maria Jette, and Molly Sue MacDonald, accompanied by Broadway conductor and pianist Andrew Cooke, perform in Sopranorama IV at the Southern Theater, August 26 to 28. 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-340-1725; www.southerntheater.org


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