New York story: A dear friend dies today ANIE NUNNALLY

It's a sad day....just got the news of the death of a dear friend who was truly closer than family.....Anie Nunnally (1936-2017)...but what a life she lived in her 80 years!  I met her thru my dear friend Kathy Kibbey Cushman who met her singing in the choir at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal church on Park Avenue and they became fast friends. Born Gary Anne Nunnally in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, her beautiful voice brought her to the attention of Madame Liebling the famous voice teacher. There were men, husbands, world travel, Broadway, opera, famous friends and adventures.  She was an extremely devoted board member and President of the Foundation for World Education.

Here are pictures of us together in Los Angeles before her recent move back to India. She had lived in India for several years and written a book about her life and her study of the Sri Aurobindo yoga (The Golden Path) so after years back in New York, Los Angeles, etc. she returned to India and died after a short illness. So many memories...where to start! We had such fun together...to think I'll never hear her laughter again and she loved to laugh.

Also at the bottom of the page is a picture of Anie in New York when she was a professional singer (coloratura soprano) onstage in the 1950's. Among her many appearances in opera and onstage, she was in the original Broadway cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in 1959. Richard Rodgers referred to her as the "fiat with the big horn" because she was a petite, tiny girlish woman with a huge loud soprano which could be heard easily in the balcony in those days before microphones. She was a nun in the cast and worked with many Marias including Mary Martin, Nancy Dussault and Florence Henderson who she resembled and became friends with.  She understudied Liesel (for Joey Heatherton), conducted the offstage "nun's chorus" and made extra $$ tutoring the new "Von Trapp children" in their vocal roles as new children came into the show.  In a Broadway show with a cast of growing children, they quickly become unsuitable for their roles so new children come in.  I asked her about conducting the offstage nuns chorus and there was no earpiece or closed circuit tv....she was able to see the conductor because they cut a hole in the curtain!

She studied voice with the famous opera coach Estelle Liebling and became friendly with Beverly Sills who also studied with Madame Liebling, as did teen soprano Meryl Streep. Anie said she remembered the polite New Jersey girl as having a lovely voice and being driven into New York weekly for voice lessons by her Mom.  Years later when she became MERYL STREEP, Anie was blown away.When diva Beverly Sills passed away several years ago, she was so sad and called me and we talked and talked about her recollections of Beverly and how sorry she was that she'd lost touch with her over the years. She then sent me a long letter with her memories of Beverly, when they were both girls and students of the great Madame Liebling. So many memories!
For much of her life she devoted herself to the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. It was the famous spiritual guru The Mother who re-christened her Anie. She lived in the Ashram with The Mother as her assistant for 4 years in Pondicherry, India, which is where she returned to die. After leaving India, she lived in New York City where she taught voice, served as board member for the yoga group and sang in the choir of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue. Again, the world is a sadder place but I'm happy she was in my life. We talked via Skype just a couple of months ago when my friend Jennifer Menshouse was visiting her in India and she called from her hospital bed! All of her friends today are so sad, but happy to have known her and had her in their lives.

Much Love and Rest in Peace with The Mother!



 



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