Glamour & Fiorello!

Some people say that we will never again see the level of glamour evident in post-world war America. It usually men who lament the passing of this era, but I am relieved. It takes an awful lot of time and effort to achieve these stunning results, even when you have natural assets.

Growing up with portraits of my grandmother and mother looking like this gave me an unrealistic expectation of beauty. Even years later, working among the Hollywood elite, no one lived up to this standard.

[Helene Baronnie & Maria Baroni, 1960s, Chicago, IL.]

These studio photos of my mother and grandmother were taken in Chicago when my mother was starting on her professional singing career. Her parents had emigrated to America after the war and she had the good fortune of training with Goodman Theatre.

Chicago is still a great place to hone your performance skills.

Not too long after these photos Maria Baroni was cast in the Chicago production of the new show, Do Re Mi with Tom Bosley starring. The photo of her nineteenth birthday shows her sharing a cake with Tom Bosley as they were celebrating the show’s premiere. I think she went on to do Fiorello! with him in 1967.

[Not Bosley pictured above but a different Do Re Mi cast member. They’re looking so adorable I had to include it.]

[Fiorello! starring Tom Bosley, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, 1967. Maria Baroni seated.]

A casual photo at home during this same time period. Just hanging out under a portrait of yourself posing with the family poodle, Chouchou. As you do when you’re impossibly glamorous. And French.

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