Just a short way from my house on the south side of Christian Street at Seventh there is a plaque commemorating the birthplace of the singer who became known as Mario Lanza. The actual residence was demolished in 2018.
Farther to the east between Second and Third Streets on Queen is Mario Lanza Park.
That’s where I used to take the squirrels last year when I was relocating them, for all the good that it did me. Their cousins just took over right where they left off.
Mario Lanza Park is one of many small parks sprinkled throughout the area.
Some folks believed that Mario Lanza was the New Caruso. I don’t know if that claim had any merit; I suspect it arose from his appearing in the movie The Great Caruso and having a great PR agent.
Lanza mostly appeared in movies and sang popular songs and only rarely appeared in operas though he did have arias in his repertoire.
In 1959 he starred in the movie For the First Time where he played an opera singer who falls in love with a deaf woman. He sings lots of popular songs as well as short scenes from operas in the film. Zsa Zsa Gabor is also among the cast.
There’s a scene where he’s enjoying a romantic dinner and after giving a spoonful of parmesan cheese to his deaf girl friend, he dumps the rest of the bowl of parmesan on his spaghetti.
When I got home from seeing that movie (at the Neptune, of course) on Saturday January 9, 1960, my mother told me that Mario Lanza was dead, that he died shortly after the film was released. She said he died of gluttony, though she didn’t phrase it like that but that’s what she meant. I thought back to that scene with the parmesan. Until I rewatched the movie recently, that’s the only thing I remembered about it.
When I think of Mario Lanza, I think of a spoiled glutton with an overactive Hollywood PR agent and an attractive tenor voice. But the second coming of Caruso? I don’t think so.
Here is Mario Lanza singing the title song “Come Prima (For the First Time)” as he catches sight of Christa for the first time; I think it became a hit.