Bessie Abott

Bessie Abott (1878 – February 9, 1919) was an American operatic soprano born in Heuvelton, New York, who built an international career across vaudeville, operetta, grand opera, and Broadway during the early twentieth century. She appeared on Broadway between 1912 and 1913, with credits including Rob Roy and Robin Hood. Born Bessie Pickens, one of twin daughters of John Pickens Jr. and his wife Frances Josephine Button, she adopted her grandmother's maiden name, Abbott, as a stage name and later dropped one of the two b's after encountering a misprinted theater program in Paris.

Abott's earliest professional work was in vaudeville, where she performed alongside her twin sister Jessie in an act billed as the Abbott Sisters. The act debuted at Pickens Hall, a venue constructed by their grandfather, John Pickens Sr. Her transition to the theatrical stage came in 1894, when producer Edward E. Rice hired her to star in the American premiere of Ivan Caryll's Little Christopher Columbus at the Garden Theatre in New York. Rice engaged her again the following year for a revival of R. A. Barnet's 1492 Up to Date. During this period in New York, she studied voice with Frida Ashforth.

In 1897 Abott traveled to London, where she performed in operettas in the West End. Her work there attracted the attention of tenor Jean de Reszke in 1898, who encouraged her to pursue a career in opera and provided her with some initial vocal instruction. Following his counsel, she relocated to Paris and spent three years studying with Jacques Bouhy, Victor Capoul, and Mathilde Marchesi. She made her professional opera debut at the Palais Garnier as Juliette in Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette and remained with the Paris Opera for five years. Her roles there included the Forest Bird in Richard Wagner's Siegfried, with de Reszke singing the title role, as well as Andreloun in Gounod's Mireille and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

From 1906 to 1908, Abott was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She made her debut with the company on January 20, 1906, singing Mimì in Puccini's La bohème under conductor Arturo Vigna. Her Met repertoire also encompassed Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Lady Harriet in Flotow's Martha, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Micaela in Bizet's Carmen, and Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. Her final appearance with the company was as Philine in an out-of-town performance of Ambroise Thomas's Mignon in Chicago on April 24, 1908. During her Met years she also performed in other American cities, including a production of Carmen with Enrico Caruso at San Francisco's Grand Opera House on the eve of the 1906 earthquake.

Following her departure from the Met, Abott returned to Europe and sang in productions in Lisbon, Monte Carlo, Paris, and Petrograd. Between 1910 and 1911 she toured the United States leading her own opera company in a production of La bohème. She married sculptor and poet Waldo Story in 1912 and subsequently retired from performing. Her final stage appearance was as Janet in a 1913 revival of Reginald De Koven's Robin Hood in New York. Abott was widowed in 1915 and died in 1919 at the age of 40 following several years of illness.