Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

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Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 12:39pm

This may be posted already, but I never trust the search engine to give me accurate results here:

"[Yma]Sumac appeared in the Sammy Fain Broadway musical "Flahooley," playing an Arab princess in 1951, and in the films "Secret of the Incas" with Charlton Heston in 1954 and "Omar Khayyam" in 1957."

Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

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re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 12:41pm

Whenever I see obituaries posted here, I always have to hum to myself, "Another One Bites the Dust."

RIP; though.

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re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 12:48pm

Oh, Yma Sumac. I'm sure many assumed she was already gone years ago.

My first exposure to her wicked musical delicacies was over a decade ago when I saw the legendary Lady Bunny lip-sync to Yma's material. What Yma could do vocally AND to a twisted mambo left me numb for weeks. Wow!

Take a listen for yourselves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvScOxWbA4&feature=related

Sheer genius! She'll be missed.

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 5:12pm

I always liked her better when everyone thought she was Amy Camus from Brooklyn. When it turned out that she may actually have been Peruvian, she got a lot less interesting.

And "Flahooley." Now THAT was a show!

P.S. Her range was nowhere near four octaves. Three at most, but so is Natalie Dessay's and Diana Damrau's.

P.S.S. Her husband wrote all that music and claimed it was based on Inca melodies. Did a musicologist ever validate those claims?

P.S.S.S. My dad loved Yma Sumac. That always made me a little suspicious.........

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 9:12pm

I loved her as well. The song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was based on one of her songs.

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 9:40pm

That's so sad.

"Everytime you step on that stage it is somebody's first Broadway show and somebody's last Broadway show. Make it count."

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 9:52pm

I absolutely loved her crazy-exotic-beautiful-sexy-throaty-rangy-brilliant voice.

A true original.

I have the full Ultra-Lounge CD collection, and she is featured on many recordings.

And TRIVIA: For those Disneyland fans --- You can hear Yma in the "Tiki Room" during the thunderstorm sequence.

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

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re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 10:54pm

Legand has it that she was supposed to sing one of the Sammy Fain/Yip Harburg songs in "Flahooley" but wasn't able to wrap her tongue around the lyrics.

This clip from the 1990's production of "Follies" probably give the lie to that legend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6X8aqCysg&feature=related

Rest in Peace, Yma Sumac

"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music "Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70 "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba

re: Singer Yma Sumac dies at 86

Posted: 11/3/08 at 11:28pm

I never had the good fortune to see her in person, but she must have been something else. And what she does in Flahooley, which has nothing else to do with the show per se, is fantastic. RIP, Yma. You leave many behind that love you!!!!!

BroadwayEd

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