Wilbur Evans

Wilbur Whilt "Wib" Evans (August 5, 1905 – May 31, 1987) was an American actor and singer who performed on the radio, in opera, on Broadway in films and early live television.

As a child, he sang with the Welsh Singing Society of Philadelphia and as a soloist in the choir of the First Unitarian Church in the Germantown section of the city.

They were known for sending out salesmen en masse across the US and Canada, selling a roster of concert series to larger towns- usually a singer, violinist, pianist etc.

Founded in 1901, and still extant, Savoy's performing membership of dedicated amateurs was formed from Philadelphia society's "blue bloods" and Social Register-types.

Evans again performed with Savoy on May 13 and 14, 1932 as Jack Point in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, also at Philadelphia's Academy of Music.

Evans attributed his success in this difficult role to director Pacie Ripple who performed in D'Oyly Carte productions directed by Gilbert and Sullivan themselves.

He made his grand opera debut in 1933 in Tristan und Isolde with Fritz Reiner and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

[1] In the early 1940s, he starred on Broadway in The Merry Widow, The New Moon, La Vie Parisienne, Mexican Hayride and Up in Central Park.