Marie Bremner

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Marie Alice Bremner (13 April 1904 – 20 September 1980) was an Australian soprano famous for Gilbert and Sullivan operas and for musical comedies on stage and radio. She was valued by producers for her ability to learn important roles quickly and for earning rave reviews. Her husband, Ewart Chapple, was a senior executive with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).

Born in Windsor, Victoria, Bremner was the eldest daughter of Ernest J. L. Bremner and Elizabeth Charlotte Bremner. Both parents had good voices, and Marie began piano lessons at age eight. She studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and, in 1921, won the Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship for singing, which funded two years of further study. The program emphasized European languages, important for grand opera.

Bremner joined the chorus of the original Melba-Williamson Grand Opera Company and moved up to understudy and cover leading parts. She gained experience in works such as The Desert Song and rose to take over roles when other sopranos left. In 1927 she stepped into a lead part when Mascotte Ralston left for America.

Her career continued with major productions like The New Moon, which opened in Sydney in 1930 with Bremner in a leading role. She and the company also did revivals of The Belle of New York and A Country Girl, touring between Sydney and Melbourne. In December 1930 JCW (J. C. Williamson’s) announced a Gilbert and Sullivan company, and Bremner was named as the principal soprano.

During the early 1930s, Bremner appeared in many Gilbert and Sullivan productions. She played Gianetta in The Gondoliers and Elsie Maynard in The Yeomen of the Guard, with other leading roles in Patience, The Mikado (as Yum Yum), and more. The company also performed on stage in Melbourne, Sydney, and later in South Africa. She sometimes sang on radio, though her husband’s ABC role meant there were limits on appearances.

Bremner also took part in radio concerts and broadcasts of musicals. She gave a recital in 1935 at the Conservatorium Hall with pianist Laurence Godfrey-Smith, and she appeared in broadcasts of Rose-Marie from South Africa and other shows from London on BBC Radio.

Her career included several waves of stage and radio work through the late 1930s and into the 1940s. She returned to the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire during the war years, taking key roles in Patience, The Mikado, and Ruddigore as needs arose. She remained active in radio, mostly with the ABC, including concerts and musical programs during World War II.

In 1947 her husband Ewart Chapple became the ABC’s acting state manager for Western Australia, and later he took up the position in Victoria. Bremner remained engaged with Perth’s arts community, coaching aspiring singers and taking part in vocal performances when opportunities arose. After many years of performing and supporting the arts, she spent her later years in New South Wales and died at Wentworth Falls in 1980.

Marie Bremner enjoyed outdoor activities such as swimming, golf, tennis, and riding. She encouraged younger singers and shared her experience with amateur theatre groups when she could. She had a sister, Greta Bremner, and her family connections included her brother Ernest and her husband, Ewart Chapple, who were prominent in their own right.