Editor’s note: The Capital City Weekly is featuring two divas a week leading up to Juneau Lyric Opera\u2019s Sept. 24 \u201cWho\u2019s Your Diva\u201d competition and fundraiser.<\/p>\n
JLO: <\/strong>What was your first memorable public performance?<\/p>\n MS:<\/strong> In high school I played the role of Katisha in the Mikado. It was memorable because I had to wear the traditional Japanese geta (wooden flip flops\/clogs), shoes which made me quite tall. The boy who played Koko was very short and came up to my armpit. Needless to say, everyone had a good laugh when we would enter or act on stage together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO: <\/strong>Who are three singers who have influenced you throughout your singing career?<\/p>\n MS: <\/strong>Opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa because of her beautiful voice (and of course she is a Kiwi); Barbara Streisand for her incredible breath control and range; and my sister Luci Taumoli, whose rich mezzo soprano introduced me to a broad and eclectic range of female singers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO: <\/strong>Who are local performers who inspire you?<\/p>\n MS: <\/strong>John D\u2019Armand. His voice reminds me of my father\u2019s rich bass voice. On and off over the years I have had John as a voice teacher, and his patience and knowledge of the voice has helped me improve and build my confidence. I am also inspired by the voices of so many young people I have had the joy and privilege of working with over the years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO: <\/strong>What are three songs you absolutely love to sing?<\/p>\n MS: <\/strong> First, Natalie Cole\u2019s \u201cThis Will Be\u201d because my late friend, Diana Fitisemanu, did the best lip sync of the song. I would be laughing so hard my sides would be aching and tears running down my face as I watched her perform. Second, \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain.\u201d I was the musical director for Perseverance Theatre\u2019s STAR program performance of the play this summer. Third, \u201cMinoi, Minoi,\u201d a folk song from Samoa that I learned as a child growing up in New Zealand. It reminds me of home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO: <\/strong>What is your favorite local role or performance?<\/p>\n MS:<\/strong> Under the direction of Anita Maynard-Losh, I was a cigarette girl in JLO\u2019s performance of \u201cCarmen.\u201d I tried to cut Carmen\u2019s face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO:<\/strong> What is your favorite place to sing (besides the stage)?<\/p>\n MS: <\/strong>I love singing in parking garages and stairwells.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO: <\/strong>What is a famous movie or theatre role you would love the chance to play?<\/p>\n MS: <\/strong>\u201cCarmen,\u201d because I would like to play the femme fatale.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n JLO:<\/strong> What are some of your other interests besides singing?<\/p>\n MS:<\/strong> Coloring, playing with my orchestra students and with Juneau Student Symphony when I can, and international ballroom and Latin American dancing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n To donate to Missouri text DivaMissouri to 71777 and follow the prompts or visit her campaign page at http:\/\/igfn.us\/vf\/DivaMissouri<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Editor’s note: The Capital City Weekly is featuring two divas a week leading up to Juneau Lyric Opera\u2019s Sept. 24 \u201cWho\u2019s Your Diva\u201d competition and fundraiser. JLO: What was your first memorable public performance? MS: In high school I played the role of Katisha in the Mikado. It was memorable because I had to wear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-30976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30976\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30976"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=30976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}