ART IS CALLING FOR ME (I WANT TO BE A PRIMA DONNA)
From the Broadway Comic Opera "The Enchantress" - 1911
(Victor Herbert / Harry B. Smith)

Louise Bliss (Broadway Production) - 1911
Kiri Te Kanawa - 1989
Lesley Garrett - 1992
Jane Gilchrist - 2004



Mama is a queen and Papa is a king
So I am a princess (and) I know it
But court etiquette is a dull dreary thing
I just hate it all and I show it
To sing on the stage that's the one life for me
My figure's just like Tetrazzini
I know I'd win fame if I sang in Bohéme
That opera by Signor Puccini
I’ve roulades and the trills
That would send the cold chills
Down the backs of all hearers of my vocal frills
Aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aah-aaaaahhhhhh

I long to be a prima donna, donna, donna
I long to shine upon the stage
I have the embonpoint
To become a queen of song
And my figure would look pretty as a page
I want to be a screechy peachy cantatrice
Like other plump girls that I see
I hate society
I hate propriety
Art is calling for me

I'm in the elite and men sigh at my feet
Still I do not fancy my position
I have not much use for the men that I meet
I quite burn with lyric ambition
Those tenors so sweet
If they made love to me
I'd be a success, that I do know
And Melba I’d oust if I once sang in Faust
That opera so charming by Gounod
Girls would be on the brink
Of hysterics, I think
Even strong men would have to go out for a drink

I long to be a prima donna, donna, donna
I long to shine upon the stage
With my avoirdupois
And my tra la la la la
I would be the chief sensation of the age
I long to hear them shouting: "Viva" to the Diva
Oh, very lovely that must be
That's what I'm dying for
That's what I'm sighing for
Art is calling for me



(Transcribed by Alistair Stewart & Mel Priddle - July 2006)
(Corrections/additions by Bill Huntley - July 2006,
with special thanks to Horsham & Crawley Libraries)
(Additional corrections by mezzosoprano - August 2006)
from the sheet music published 1911 M Witmark & Sons, now Chappells)