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Iva Withers (July 7, 1917 – October 7, 2014) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer, best remembered as a replacement player who had long runs in some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's biggest musical theatre hits. From 1945-70, she worked almost continuously worked on Broadway or in national tours, generally as a replacement. Withers was first hired about 1943 to understudy the leading ladies in the Broadway casts of ''Oklahoma!'' and ''Carousel''. She soon replaced the original star of ''Carousel'', playing Julie Jordan more than 600 times on Broadway and becoming the first Julie in London in 1950. She was next a replacement for Adelaide in ''Guys and Dolls''. She was a replacement or standby in more than a half dozen other Broadway shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and she also toured North America in the leading roles in ''Carousel'', ''South Pacific'' and ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. Her last Broadway role was in ''Forty Carats'' (1968–1970), after which she left show business. ==Early life and career== Pearl Iva Edith Withers was born in Rivers, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Roy and Edith Withers, an insurance salesman and a seamstress, respectively, who had emigrated from Ireland around 1913. As a child in Winnipeg, she appeared in local vaudeville productions and continued to sing in church during her teenage years.〔Slotnik, Daniel E. ("Iva Withers, a Standby to the Rescue on Broadway, Dies at 97" ), Obituaries, ''The New York Times'', October 8, 2014.〕 She moved to New York in 1940 to study singing "so she could improve her voice when she performed in church". She spent seven months in 1942 in wartime England searching for her brother and boyfriend, both of whom had been killed.〔Sobel, Jon. ("Iva Withers: Nonagenarian Link to Broadway's Golden Age" ), blogcritics.org, August 12, 2010; accessed August 28, 2014.〕〔Stedekee, Martha Wade. ("Event musings: the second time around: Iva Withers and standby charm" ), msteketee.wordpress.com, August 12, 2010; accessed August 28, 2014.〕 Withers returned to New York to audition for roles on Broadway, shortening her name to Iva Withers. About 1943, she was hired by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the ensemble of ''Oklahoma!''. She later understudied the leading soprano roles in ''Oklahoma!'' and ''Carousel''.〔〔Levitt, Hayley. ("Prolific Rodgers and Hammerstein Standby Iva Withers Dies at 97" ), TheaterMania.com, October 9, 2014.〕 She recalled, "There was even a Saturday that summer (1945 ) where I played Julie in ''Carousel'' at the matinee and Laurey in ''Oklahoma!'' in the evening and had to hurry from the Majestic Theatre to the St. James Theatre in between."〔Belcher, David. ("The Standby Star Who Stole Broadway’s Limelight" ), ''The New York Times'', August 9, 2010, accessed October 13, 2014 (print version, August 10, 2010, p. C3)〕 This feat made Withers the first actress ever to play the lead in two different Broadway hits in one day.〔Krebs, Albin and Robert McG. Thomas Jr. ("Notes on People; Footnote in the Annals of the American Musical Theater" ), ''The New York Times'', April 2, 1981.〕 She played Laurey during the month of September 1945. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Iva Withers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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