EVEN close up, at one of the best tables in the house, the Hilton Playhouse regular couldn't believe her ears on opening night.
''Of course they were miming,'' she insisted with a nod at the stage where David Timson and Bill Fellows had just done a terrific number.
Such is the power of labels. Call it comedy and there's sure to be someone prepared to swear that those actors can't possibly be singing a serious operatic duet.
Well, Timson and Fellows really do and there are plenty of other pitch-perfect moments in Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor. Liza Sadovy's delicious Maria alone is worth every cent - and then there's the biggest drawcard of them all.
She bursts into that ritzy Cleveland hotel suite at the end of Act One, a shimmering vision in ice-blue and silver, and the magic happens all over again: Nyree Dawn Porter, transformed this time into a dizzy opera buff with wicked designs.
''You want to hit her on the head one minute, then hug her the next. Shelley Winters would do Julia beautifully. It's a real stretchy part; a lovely antidote to playing suffering women,'' enthuses the actress who captured the imagination of millions and continues to haunt.