Janet G. Fritsch

Janet Grace Canada Fritsch
November 4, 1930 – July 22, 2022
Jan Canada Fritsch passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, July 22, 2022, at Twin Lakes in Montgomery, after a short illness.
Jan was born November 4, 1930, in Oklahoma City, OK to Dr. E.A. Canada and his wife Grace. She was the elder sister to her twin, Hope Canada Marlow, by a few minutes. Jan was raised in Ada, OK with her twin sister Hope, and her younger sister Catherine Farrar Canada. They were the granddaughters of Dr. Catherine Brydia, or Doc Mom as she was called, the first woman doctor in what was then Indian Territory and a much-loved figure in Ada, OK. Jan and her sisters grew up with time spent with their Aunt Hope and Uncle Orel Busby, and their beloved cousins, John, Phillip and David, both in Ada and on the 4B Ranch.
Jan, although born in Oklahoma, was raised in Memphis, TN after relocating there with her father and his second wife Natalie. There, she attended Snowden and Central High Schools and Southwestern College in Memphis TN where she was a member of the Tri Delta Sorority for 3 years. She later attended the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati and also studied Drama at the University of Minnesota.
After college and a move to Minneapolis, Jan, a lyric coloratura soprano, appeared in such major stage productions as Connecticut Yankee, Carousel, and the Marriage of Figaro. She sang and was the lead in a long list of productions including Carousel, Student Prince, Merry Widow, Oklahoma, Show Boat, Naughty Marietta, New Moon, Rose Marie, Fortune Teller, South Pacific and Song of Norway.
She was an emcee and featured singer on three weekly radio programs, "Radio as you Like it" over WDAY and WCCO. Jan was also a staff vocalist on three major TV programs originating in stations in Minneapolis.
One of her jobs was as the spotlighted attraction singing at Schiek's, a famous Minneapolis night club, where she was noticed by the big brass of Oldsmobile. She got her break auditioning and joining the 1957 Oldsmobile Announcement Show. She toured with them to New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Pasadena, with a cast that includied Earl Wrightson and Bill Hayes, with Carol Haney doing choreography.
From there she earned her first solo spot on a national show, the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts show in April of 1957, which she won handily. This put her into the national spotlight. From her win with the Arthur Godfrey Show until mid-1958, she spent a season in summer stock, did a lead in the 1958 Chevrolet Announcement Show, sang in Florida at the Fontainebleau, Boca Raton and Balmoral; she sang on Omnibus on NBC-TV, was soloist with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony in two pop concerts, and spent eight weeks in spring of '58 in City Center's Light Opera Co. doing "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Oklahoma!"
In an interview of her experience in "Oklahoma!," she said: "Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Hammerstein, who wrote "Oklahoma!" were at rehearsal quite often and got a big kick out of my actually being from Oklahoma. They both spoke of how much they enjoyed the hospitality of the Oklahomans when they were honored by our state after writing the now legendary musical."
Jan continued, "They are remarkable men. They took interest in every detail of production and even knew every chorus member by name. At the close of Oklahoma!' they threw a big 15th anniversary celebration for the entire cast and many members of the original cast. There was a cake three feet high and four barrels of iced champagne. "Oklahoma!" as you know, started an entirely new trend in Broadway theater. They said they can remember having to borrow $1.000 just to get the show in from Boston to New York. The rest is show business history."
In June 1958 she sailed for Brussels, Belgium, for the 1958 World's Fair, performing as a member of the New York City Center Light Opera at the American Theater Pavilion. She would be in Belgium seven weeks and shared in another interview: "Who wouldn't be excited at the opportunity to see the fair and meet fellow artists from all the countries of the world? Needless to say, I am quite excited to represent American entertainment in even my small way. This is one experience in a lifetime." She had roles in three productions, "Carousel," the American opera "Susannah," and "Wonderful Town."
Soon after her return from Europe she joined the US Tour of "West Side Story" as understudy to Leila Martin's "Maria". Her voice was also heard nightly from the Orchestra Pit as she sang "Somewhere" during the dream sequence, where her voice was lauded in many reviews. After 10 months on tour, she became understudy to Carol Lawrence as the show played on Broadway for another 9 months.
As the show closed on Broadway in December of 1960, Jan planned a two-month vacation in Europe. Later it became clear that this was to continue a courtship with a certain German engineer who saw her on stage in one of her last performances as Maria, and promptly professed his love. The producers were planning a tour of Israel and Europe, and once again, offered Jan the role of stand-by. To their shock, she demurred, and told them that she was leaving for Europe on January 18th and if they wanted to offer her the lead, they could reach her before then.
She knew that choreographer Jerome Robbins didn't think she could do the part, even though she had performed the role 60 times to good reviews, so she thought that was the end of it and she focused on planning and packing for her trip. Her departure was delayed by a day, and the Producers called on the morning of the 19th, thinking that they had missed her, but instead she answered the phone. The rest is history a star was born.
She went on to perform 1040 performances as Maria over the next 7 months, in Israel and through out Europe. But no part of the tour was as magical as the 5 weeks spent in Paris at the Alhambra Theater in April of 1961. A veritable Who's Who of international showbusiness crowded backstage to pay homage to the young star and company. Ingrid Bergman bowed graciously as she took Jan's hand in congratulations, Maria Callas paid a personal tribute, creating headlines. Noel Coward wept openly. Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the show and had seen performances by every company to do "West Side Story", called it the most exciting performance he had seen.
Through out the European Tour, a real-life Romeo and Juliet story was developing. A romance that spanned seas and national borders and was responsible for European headlines about the "missing American Juliet" when a skiing date with her Romeo in Davos, Switzerland, made her a day late for a Paris press conference! The Romeo was Rudolph (Rudi) Fritsch, a young German engineer whom Jan first met in New York in December of 1960.
Here is the way Paris-Match told the story after the missing Jan turned up: "Jan Canada, the Parisian Juliet of 'West Side Story,' had a real-life experience much like the girl she plays on the stage. Last December, Rudolph Fritsch, a German engineer from Stuttgart, was in New York on business. A snowstorm delayed his departure. Not knowing what to do, he went to see 'West Side Story' in one of its last performances. The following day, the skies were clear, but Rudolph did not take the plane. He had fallen in love with Juliet and stayed on to seek an introduction. He was successful. His love was returned. But as in the tragedy by Shakespeare, our lovers were parted, and Fritsch had to return to Stuttgart.
"He was not to find Jan again until four months later, in Davos, Switzerland, a few hours before the first Paris rehearsal of 'West Side Story.' Another plane was missed, and for a while it was thought that Jan, lost in her role, had allowed herself to be kidnapped by the handsome German. It was not true. At the final rehearsal in Paris, she did appear, contrite and confused. She was pardoned....
Jan had been preparing to leave for Europe on vacation to see Rudi when she got the lead in the European and Israeli company. After they were reunited in Davos, he attended the Paris premiere and visited the lovely and talented Jan often: in Paris, Turin, Munich, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, and Berlin.
Last fall, Jan returned to the United States and spent several weeks with her parents, Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Canada. Just before Christmas she had sailed back to Europe - to capitalize on the stardom she had won there, and (as only her immediate family and a few close friends knew) to marry her Romeo.
Fritsch was born of Austrian parents in an area of Czechoslovakia which came under German rule in 1939. At 17, he was the drafted into the army. At 18, he was captured by the U. S. near Munich. Before his release in 1948, he worked with the 45th Division and was chief of the Counterintelligence Corps' motor pool in Munich.
After the war, with nothing in his pockets but a handkerchief and letters of recommendation for the US Army, Fritsch went to work for Telefunken Radio, then started night classes at the Oskar Von Miller Polytechnium, graduating second in his class as an engineer. After four years as a development engineer for Metzeler Gummiwerke, the biggest rubber company in Germany, he joined Werner and Pfleiderer in Stuttgart, the largest and oldest backery and continuous chemical machinery company in Germany. He is now head of development for the company and is considered one of the world's top experts in plastics. His machines are used by most major U. S. chemical companies, including U. S. Rubber, DuPont, Hercules Powder, etc. and by many European and Asian firms. It was a friend of Jan's, who had met Rudi at the Dusseldorf Plastics Exposition, who introduced them in New York."
They married in a simple civil ceremony on Valentine's Day 1962, at the Rathaus in Stuttgart, with only Rudi's mother, Mrs. Karl Fritsch, and a translator as witnesses. After a honeymoon in Austria and Switzerland the couple would live at Stuttgart-Feuerbach and later in Weilimdorf, where they bought and completely remodeled their dream house.
Jan was active in the German-American Women's club in Stuttgart, and still performed here and there, but mainly relished her role as a newlywed wife. She developed a deep love of gardening, and since her German language skills were still limited she communicated with gardeners using the Latin names of the plants. Her gardens were showstoppers and, in the spring, many would come to admire the beautiful display of azaleas and rhododendrons that were the pride and joy of her front garden. The back garden was a year around display of blooms carefully orchestrated and tended to always provide beauty.
Over the years, they purchased a bit of land in the Black Forest in the farming town of Meistern, and Rudi built a "Garden Shed", which was all that was permitted but, with his engineering skills, transformed into quite a comfortable weekend cottage. They vacationed all over Europe, skiing, sailing, hiking and continued the love affair that she characterized as Rudi being the love of her life. She maintained this to the day she died.
In February of 1970, their only child Karin Yvonne was born, joining her half-brother Wolfgang (Wolfi), a son from Rudi's first marriage, who while he did not live with them, always loved his new glamourous stepmother. Jan loved being a mother the most, and she often said that she had wanted to be a mother so badly, ever since her very first baby doll. She often called Karin her best production.
After Rudi's health started to fail in 1979, Jan made the difficult decision to take Karin and return to the United States to finish her degree at now the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music. Her plan was to get the credentials to begin a teaching career to help support the family if necessary.
They returned to the United States, flying first to Los Angeles and then San Diego, CA on Christmas of 1979, to visit Catherine, her younger sister who lived in La Jolla and was a retired Navy Captain and a practicing Psychiatrist. Jan enrolled Karin in the 4th grade and then left Karin with her sister for a few months to return to Germany to settle some of her affairs. Upon her return, once school was finished, she started her next great adventure at almost 50 years of age, traveling across the United States to settle again in Cincinnati to enroll in college.
Jan and Karin took a couple of months to travel across the country having many adventures. They visited Disneyland, the Sequoia National Park, they crossed deserts and saw the Grand Canyon and the Great Sand dunes, the Mesa Verde, and stopped for a while in Ada, OK to see Jan's cousins and visit the 4B Ranch (where Karin was "gifted" her very own horse "Mayhew" to her amazement.) They made memories in the Big and Little Cabin, swimming in the damned lake behind the cabins, with Jan telling stories of when she had been there as a little girl.
They stopped to visit her twin sister Hope Marlow, now a Doctor of Pharmacology, living in Auburn, AL and to see her half-sister Susan, from her father's second marriage to Natalie Canada, in Hixon, TN. They finally arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio in the summer of 1980, settling for a while with her sister Catherine's school chum, Diane DeCamp, who lived in Terrace Park, before settling for a while in an apartment near Mariemont.
Jan enrolled at CCM, to finish her bachelors degree in music, which she did with lightening speed, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1982. She then pursued her Master's degree as well. Even though she completed her coursework with flying colors, she was unable to pass her orals, and so she never did get the diploma she had done all the work for, much to her chagrin.
In the years that had passed, the separation proved to be too much for her marriage, and she and Rudi divorced, with custody of Karin falling to her mother. Jan took her settlement and bought a townhouse in Sycamore Township, near the local high school. After years of teaching in the Preparatory Department of CCM and the Toedman School of Music to supplement her income while going to school, she opened her own voice studio in the basement of that condo.
Jan taught voice to hundreds of students in her own studio, Fritsch Musical Theater Voice Studio, from 1983 until 2013, when she retired and moved into Assisted Living at Twin Lakes in Montgomery. Her students came from high schools all over the city, and she built a successful studio, passing along not only the vocal skills she learned from Ms. Padgi in New York and from her training at CCM, but also the experiences she learned as a working actress/singer on Broadway and all the stops before. She taught acting workshops, and prepared students for auditions and was always there for her students with loving support and practical advice. It pleased her immensely when her students succeeded, however big or small. Several of her students went on to forge professional singing careers of their own.
Jan also stayed active in community theater, as a performer and as a director and stage designer. She worked with Cincinnati Music Theater, the Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati, the Loveland Stage Company, the Mariemont Players, and The Stained Glass Theater in Newport, KY. Some of her most favorite roles were playing Ethel in "On Golden Pond" and Bloody Mary in "South Pacific."
She pursued the two pastimes she enjoyed the most, gardening and theater, throughout all the stages of her life.
She had beautiful gardens, or planters, wherever she lived, even serving as the grounds Chairwoman for Montgomery Towne, the community in which she lived. She designed the plantings for the entrances and many common areas of the community. After her move to Twin Lakes in November of 2013, she volunteered to maintain the Plant Room and Balcony at Hannaford Court in Twin Lakes. She passed her love and knowledge of gardening on to her daughter, Karin who will forever try to make her gardens as beautiful as the gardens she remembers from her childhood.
She remained a patron of the Playhouse in the Park right up until her death, attending her last performance there in May of 2022, thoroughly enjoying "Becoming Dr. Ruth."
Jan was preceded in death by her parents, Grace Canada and Dr. E.A. Canada, her stepmother Natalie Canada, her twin sister Hope Canada Marlow, Robert Manley, her most loved and trusted confidant and adopted as a father by Karin, and her ex-husband, but still "the love of my life," Rudi Fritsch.
Jan is survived by her daughter, Karin Yvonne Kukla (Garth), her stepson Wolfgang Fritsch (Doris), her sisters Catherine F. Canada, and Susan Canada Herring Kile, her nieces Karen Brownfield (Don) and Joyce Wells, her nephews Jon Herring (Kelly) and Brad Herring (Tia) as well as many great and grand nieces and nephews.
Jan will be remembered as a loving mother, sister, the forever singer of the "Green Eyed Dragon" song to all small children, and a faithful and supportive friend by us all.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Twin Lakes Benevolent Fund, 9840 Montgomery Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45242.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
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