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Opera Singer Grace Moore Plays Fargo's Festival HallIn 1942, one of the brightest young stars in the Metropolitan Opera was a diva named Grace Moore. As it turned out in her schedule, she had an open date between engagements in Winnipeg and Minneapolis and NDAC was contacted. Prof. Arvold booked her, but due to the very short time frame, there was just a little bit of advertising, and the booking was solely on a percentage split of the box office receipts. When the concert date arrived Bill Snyder recalled that he was at his post by the stage lighting switchboard when Miss Moore arrived about 20 minutes before curtain time. She and her accompanist brushed past me when I pointed to the dressing rooms across the stage. It wasn't long before the star reappeared, climbed the seven steps up to the stage and walked across to where I was waiting. Then she looked down at me and asked, "Is there a peek hole in the curtain where I can see the "audience?" I pointed out the hole and she put her eye to the hole for a few seconds, turned to me and asked, "What's the matter with this tank town? Don't they have any culture?" I peeked out at the audience and I could see why: you could practically shoot deer in the theater, for there were not too many people in the audience, and the rear wall clock was closing on curtain time. From experience, I could also tell the audience conversational noise was not as loud as usual; it came from a sparse gathering of opera fans. At intermission I closed the curtain and raised the house lights. Miss Moore went again to the peek hole, surveyed the audience, then stormed off the stage for her break. Helmuth Froeschle (Class of 1941), the student business manager and assistant to Mr. Arvold, called her for the second part of the show. Miss Moore and her piano man took their places behind the closed curtain, the diva thumbed her nose at the unseen audience, signaled the curtain open, and broke into the biggest smile of the evening. She was all charm. At the end of the program, Helmuth was waiting in her dressing room with the check for her percentage, but she came off to my side of the stage. The applause was great for the size of the audience. Then Miss Moore turned to me and said, "Pull the damned curtain. They don't deserve any more culture. And turn on the house lights; I'm done." I did as she ordered. It wasn't long before Miss Moore came out of her dressing room and faced the gaggle of girls waiting for autographs. I heard her say, "I need a pen," so I handed her my "Waterman" fountain pen which I religiously carried for college class work. Miss Moore took a seat on the stage floor with her legs down the stairs to the main floor. She removed the cap from my Waterman and tried to sign her name. Nothing happened. "What's the matter with this damned pen?" She grimaced, and said something more I didn't hear, and then shook the pen up and down violently as if to drive the ink from the fountain reservoir into the writing point. Then it happened. A big blob of blue-black ink partially hit the program she was holding on her knee, and the rest of it splashed on her dress. She muttered something under her breath, and the pen came back to me. I put the cap back on and installed it in the neck of my sweater where it usually was carried. But there is more to this story. It was many years later when Helmuth Froeschle came up with this little end to the story. After the concert it was Froeschle's job to give the check to the singer. The singer's share was only $375, and that amount of money didn't set well with the already mad singer of opera's great music. When Helmuth handed the check to Miss Moore, she looked closely at the amount, then another wave of anger swept through her body right down to the fingers that held the check. With a fit of vengeance, she ripped the check to pieces and threw the confetti in the air. When Helmuth reported the incident to Mr. Arvold, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Helmuth, her agent will let us know where to send the replacement check." -Bill Snyder, Class of 1942 
Did You Know...? Electronic Music Comes to NDAC
      
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