senior corner
Talent Times Two
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continue to share their endless talent, and never tire of their
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chosen labor of love. Two women in particular have delighted
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Milford with their abundant talents and are have expanded their
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contributions to include work beyond the scope of their art.
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HERE ARE MANY EXTREMELY GIFTED ARTISTS, musicians, actors,
singers, and performers living and working in Milford who
Marylyn Mulvey and Frieda Howling are still at the top of
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their games with no signs of slowing down any time soon.
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An opera singer for most of her life, Marylyn Mulvey was born in Waterbury and has resided in Milford for thirty years. Her career began,
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she says, when her kindergarten
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teacher heard her singing and “thought singing should be nurtured.” She’s never looked back. After winning a competition that led to a national National Company in 1966, Mulvey’s career was off and running. A few years later she was performing with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center when a mutual friend introduced her to Victor Borge, the famed humorist and
M MARY HEGARTY NESCHKE
contract with the Metropolitan Opera
pianist. It was with Borge that Mulvey MARY HEGARTY NESCHKE
began a partnership that brought her a small share of fame and allowed her “to travel all over the world for more than twenty years.” Mulvey was the straight man to Borge’s clown. The part of his act she participated in consisted primarily of the classically trained Borge inviting Mulvey on stage to sing an aria while Borge proceeded to continuously intrude with various hijinks—such as affecting shock or falling off his stool when she hit a high note, or repeatedly telling
Marilyn Mulvey (left) and Frieda Howling (right) are two talented Milford
her not to relax her hand on his piano. Borge’s comical mocking of
seniors who haven’t let age stop them from embracing their talents.
high art never bothered Mulvey. “I never felt put down,” she said. “He made fun of the artist I represented, of the musical situation, not of
for K-5 children. She performs three masses each weekend at St. Mary’s
me personally.”
Church, and in recent months has performed for the Milford Fine Arts
A vigorous, dynamic woman who would be considered extremely active for any age, today Mulvey is a full-time para-educator at Pumpkin Delight Elementary School where she helps implement the reading program
Council and Southbury Fine Arts, and with the Hamden and Cheshire symphonies. Frieda Howling has been stimulating the public for many years
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