2013 Inductee: Eleanor Calbes

Before Eleanor Calbes, the role of Liat in Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific was a minor speaking part. But when the producers of the 1965 show, overseen by Richard Rodgers himself, heard Eleanor sing as they rehearsed it for the New York City Centre, they came up with an idea.

Why not unleash that amazing vocal instrument on a reprise of Bali H’ai — the song of mystery and enticement that promises that place on the horizon where you can find, “your own special hopes/ your own special dreams.” That way the beautiful song could be reintroduced again later in the show. So the great man himself, Richard Rodgers, was summoned to hear Eleanor sing.

After listening to that sensational young voice sing just a few bars of the tune, Rodgers gave the thumbs up and the role of Liat was now a singing one — with a signature song.

Eleanor Calbes became the first soloist to perform Bali H’ai — and Liat’s longing for that magical place has resonated through every subsequent production of South Pacific. Such is the power of a special voice, and the influence of a special person.

Eleanor Calbes was born in the Philippines in 1940 and began singing in the church in the small town of Aparri where she was born. Blessed with the talent to dance and act as well as sing, Calbes was heard by conductor Nicholas Goldschmidt while on tour. She was riding a bus in Hawaii with the company when it was announced that there was a telegram from Goldschmidt. The bus fell silent as it was revealed that Calbes was being offered a scholarship at the Royal Conservatory Opera School in Toronto. Then the loud cheering began.

Without the means to get to Canada or to live here once she arrived, a determined Calbes set to work. She enlisted the aid of the Philippines Chamber of Commerce in Hawaii, which offered her money for the flight to Canada in return for three free concerts on the islands.

While on that concert tour, her story became public. Once people heard the magnificent voice that was being given an opportunity of a lifetime, perfect strangers helped send her on her way with the spending money she needed.

In Canada she made her mark with the Canadian Opera Company before moving on to Broadway where she performed in The King and I and Lovely Ladies and Gentlemen. She sang the part of Liat in Toronto productions of South Pacific, at the Lincoln Centre and made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Her resumé includes performances of Maria in West Side Story in Germany, a command performance for Prince Philip with pianist Victor Borge and concerts in the Great Hall of China. She has performed in The Philippines numerous times, including the premiere of the opera The Black Wolf and a final concert in 2005 with President Gloria Arroyo on hand.

After moving to Mississauga, Eleanor Calbes wasted no time immersing herself in the local artistic community. She became a one-woman building crew for musical theatre in this city and environs. In fact, she really introduced the city to opera, founding the Mississauga City Centre Opera in 1985. Opera thrived here under her watch.

She staged Fiddler on the Roof soon after Meadowvale Theatre opened in the late 1980s and sang the lead role in Madama Butterfly in 1991. Mississauga’s Musician of the Year in 1986, Calbes opened her renowned voice studio four years later.

Her impeccable professional credentials aside, Calbes’ greatest gift to music in Mississauga may be her talent for teaching. “She has a real ability to draw people in and challenge them,” her friend Paul Fletcher says. “She expects more of people than they expect of themselves.”

Example — she put Fletcher’s then 14-year-old daughter Kelly in charge of choreographing a production of Oklahoma at Meadowvale — much to her surprise. Something must have worked as Kelly is now associate choreographer of We Will Rock You in New York.

As Calbes’ own career wound down, she has helped numerous others launch theirs. Her students have worked, and are working, at Stratford, Charlottetown, the Shaw Festival, on Broadway and in London’s West End. They returned en masse to pay tribute to Calbes at her farewell concert last September and the genuine outpouring of love and gratitude on that stage was unmistakable.

Her public voice may be retired but Eleanor’s personal and professional influence reverberates throughout the cultural life of Mississauga – Ontario – Canada – and the Philippines.

When she left her native land for Canada, Eleanor Calbes had $20 in her pocket and a dream in her heart. Through God-given talent, relentless determination and plain hard work, she’s fulfilled that dream and brought her voice, and her passion, to the music she loves.

She meets all of the criteria for induction into the Music Walk of Fame, for she has gained renown on the national and international stage and spent much of the last part of her life enriching the cultural life of Mississauga and passing her gifts on to its future stars.