Arthur Albro

Arthur Albro (born October 30, 1883, or October 31, 1885, in Odessa, then part of Russia; died September 24, 1944) was a tenor and actor who performed primarily in light operas and musicals on the American stage, with Broadway credits spanning 1911 to 1931. He was the son of Alexander Austin and Saveli Austin and immigrated to the United States with his family in July 1906, settling in New York and eventually becoming a naturalized citizen. Before pursuing a singing career, Albro trained as a dental surgeon in Europe and maintained a dental practice on DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn during his early years in New York.

Albro received his vocal training in Milan, Italy, and had sung in the chorus at La Scala before arriving in the United States, where he joined the Metropolitan Opera chorus. He was performing in Leipzig, Germany when American theatrical producer A. H. Woods discovered him and brought him into leading roles in the American theatre. By August 1909, Albro was touring with Lew Dockstader's theatre troupe as an imitator of tenor Enrico Caruso, performing the aria "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci. That tour included stops at the Stone Opera House in Binghamton, New York; the Teck Theatre in Buffalo, New York; the Garrick Theater in Chicago; the Colonial Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio; the Shubert Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri; and the Alvin Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company included a young Al Jolson, and by January 1910, when the show reached the Globe Theatre in Boston, Albro was performing alongside William H. Thompson.

In April 1910, Albro gave a recital at the Crescent Theatre in Brooklyn alongside cellist Alberto Colombo, violinist Alfred Gill, and singer and pianist Mrs. William E. Annis, a grouping that subsequently toured together in recitals through the remainder of the year. In May 1911, he shared the stage with Metropolitan Opera contralto Louise Homer at a benefit concert held at the Waldorf Astoria New York for the Little Mothers' Aid Association, and that same month performed with James Thornton at a fundraiser for Mount Vernon Hospital, New York.

Albro's Broadway career began in the summer of 1911 when he was cast as the leading tenor in the first American production of Franz Lehár's operetta Gypsy Love, opposite Marguerita Sylva. The production premiered at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia on October 2, 1911, where The Philadelphia Inquirer praised both Albro and Sylva's singing while criticizing the libretto as "incredibly unlikely and dull." Gypsy Love transferred to Broadway, opening at the Globe Theatre on October 17, 1911, with Albro in the role of Jozsi, the gypsy character named in the operetta's title. Sylva fell ill on opening night and was replaced mid-performance by her understudy, Phyllis Partington, who received an ovation. Critical attention turned substantially to Albro; The New York Times wrote that he "made the most pronounced impression" and "danced and sang with a Hungarian abandon," while The New York Sun described him as possessing "a delightful voice, a lithe figure, and a most romantic head of hair." Theatre historian Dan Dietz noted that Albro "all but stole the show with his voice and good looks," and critics drew comparisons between him and tenor Donald Brian, who had recently succeeded in Lehár's The Merry Widow. Despite the favorable notices for Albro, Gypsy Love closed on November 11, 1911, after 31 performances. Albro and Sylva recorded the duet "Love is Like the Rose" from the operetta for Edison Records that year. Following the Broadway closing, the production embarked on an extended national tour that remained active at least through February 1913, when it was playing at the Mason Opera House in Los Angeles with Albro still in the cast. He continued performing in Gypsy Love revivals into the early 1920s, including a 1917 New England touring production that played the Barre Opera House in Vermont, Parsons Theatre in Connecticut, and the Court Square Theater in Springfield, Massachusetts, and a 1920 production at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, both produced by Andreas Dippel.

Albro returned to Broadway on October 27, 1913, in A Glimpse of the Great White Way, a one-act show produced by Lew Fields in which he played Hammerstein Harmony. The production was presented in a triple bill with the one-act ballet Carmen and the one-act musical The Modiste Shop at the 44th Street Theatre, running for 84 performances before closing on December 7, 1913. In 1914, Albro signed with the Chicago Grand Opera Company, with whom he performed the role of Don José in Carmen, marking his sole season performing grand opera. He then returned to Broadway as Count Pisianelli in the musical Lady Luxury, with a libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by William Schroeder, which played at the Casino Theatre during the 1914–1915 season. The Brooklyn Eagle noted that Albro was "given songs which his clear tenor voice brought out with effect," and The New York Sun described his voice as "an explosive tenor." His numbers in the production included the duet "Kiss Me Once More," sung with Alice Moffat, and the ensemble number "When I Sing In Grand Opera," in which he served as primary vocalist. He continued with the show when it went on national tour in 1915.

On April 11, 1916, Albro portrayed Alain Tenters in the United States premiere of Emmerich Kálmán's operetta Az obsitos, performed in English under the title Her Soldier Boy with a new libretto by Rida Johnson Young and additional music by Sigmund Romberg. He subsequently starred on Broadway in Maytime, another musical with a book by Johnson Young and a score by Romberg, in which he portrayed a gypsy character. Albro also appeared in The Passing Show of 1912 and starred in the revues The Passing Show of 1918 and The Passing Show of 1922. After a period away from the New York stage, he returned in 1931 in Aben Kandel's play Hot Money.

Beyond the stage, Albro appeared on screen in the silent films The Closing Net (1915) and A Damsel in Distress (1919), and in the sound film Wedding on the Volga (1929).