Marguerite
Piazza, a New Orleans native and first Queen of the Virgilians Italian
Mardi Gras ball, will be honored as the LSU College of Music & Dramatic
Arts 2005 Alumna of the Year. Ms. Piazza starred in a variety of LSU Opera's
leading roles under the direction of Pasquale Amato, the Metropolitan
Opera's famous Italian baritone. She would go on to make her own Met debut
in 1951 as Rosalinde in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, as well as appearing
at New York City Opera and in the opera houses of Chicago, Tulsa, New
Orleans, and Montreal.
As television became a popular staple of American culture, Ms. Piazza graced the stages of Your Show of Shows starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, the Dean Martin Show, Toast of the Town, Milton Berle's Buick Hour, and the Rosemary Clooney Show, performing beloved operatic arias for soprano in addition to popular music and Italian folksongs.
Since the mid-1970s, Ms. Piazza has been an avid supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of Memphis, Tennessee. The "Marguerite Piazza Gala to Benefit St. Jude", Memphis' oldest charity gala, is held annually and has raised over two million dollars since its inception.
"Any song that moves you to joy or tears, has greatness. Everything in life should be enjoyed for what it is." - Marguerite Piazza
