Resident recalls early seasons of Music Theatre of Wichita

Vivian Fleming

Vivian Fleming had enjoyed a successful career as a classical vocalist, performing throughout Kansas and Oklahoma. She was a soloist with the Oklahoma City Symphony for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and with the Wichita Symphony for Cavaliera Rusticana, a one-act opera.

But in her 50s, Fleming was challenged to learn a more popular style of singing – musical theater.

It was 1974, and Fleming was on the music faculty at Friends University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in music. Thanks to the growing popularity of Broadway shows, the department was adding a musical theater curriculum.

“I had no experience with that type of singing,” Fleming said. “I needed to get some so I could work with my students better.”

So Fleming auditioned for the fledgling Music Theatre of Wichita, which was mounting productions for its third season. The producer and general manager was James Miller, a colleague from Friends. Fleming planned to sing only in the chorus, but she wound up being cast in several small speaking roles – as the mother in Fiddler on the Roof and as Cousin Hebe, a “major minor” role in H.M.S. Pinafore.

“I was onstage most of the time. I got a lot of experience,” Fleming said. “In that show I learned you had to sing fast if you wanted to sing Gilbert and Sullivan.”

The choreographer also kept the cast in motion during most musical numbers. “I did learn that even though I was in my late 50s, I could move.”

At first, Fleming said she didn’t think she would fit in with the rest of the company, who were mostly college students – including some of her own. But that didn’t last long.

“I came to realize that they accepted me as just another member of the chorus,” she said. “I loved working with young people, and I had so much fun associating with them in this type of singing.”

Fleming returned for the 1975 season in shows such as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and My Fair Lady. After that, she preferred to enjoy the shows from the audience – especially when the youngest of her six children, Jane, joined the MTW company a few years later. Jane went on to play several leading roles, Fleming said. “That made it a lot more interesting, as far as I was concerned.”