Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeleine Tozer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Like anything in life, my musical journey has taken many unexpected twists and turns. I owe so much of that journey to my sister, Abby, who has been an inspiration to me since I was was born. She got her start in theater at age eight when she was cast as Annie, beating out her ten- and twelve-year-old competition. On opening night, she ended up conducting the orchestra after they got lost during her big number, “Tomorrow”. It’s hard to think of a better example of the kind of person she is: strong, confident, and someone who always knows best.
The summer before we moved back to the U.S. from France, my sister signed up to audition for The Little Mermaid at a community theater near our new home in Houston, Texas. Though I had been singing in the choir at school and had done a few shows in France, the thought of auditioning at a new theater in Texas felt overwhelming. Even my sister’s attempt to bribe me with a new Aurora costume couldn’t convince me.
She was cast as one of Ariel’s mersisters, and on opening night, as I sat in the audience, I couldn’t stop picturing myself up on that stage. I was mesmerized by the glitz and glam of the costumes, the camaraderie of the sea life chorus, and, most of all, the thunderous applause at the end of the show.
I’ve always walked a fine line between shy and outgoing. I was never the first to get picked for dodgeball or the first to answer a question during the Spelling-Bee, but there was always one thing I was good at…
Singing.
Even before my debut as the bewhiskered Innkeeper, I remember being complimented on my voice. I was always asked to sing the solo in choir or lead the class in “Happy Birthday”. It was the only time I felt truly accepted by my peers.
When my family moved to Texas, I was once again the weird new kid that dressed funny and spoke with an ambiguous English accent. Where Texan girls wore jean cut-offs and white sneakers, I wore floral dresses and Mary Jane’s. Objectively, I was weird. I slowly adjusted to this new way of life and traded in my beret for a cowboy hat-so to speak-but something was still missing.
I wasn’t singing.
After my sister’s performance in The Little Mermaid, I begged my mom to audition for Cinderella Kids, the next musical in the season. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself, to step into that world of make-believe. And I wanted, more than anything, to feel good at something. I toiled over my audition song for weeks and changed my outfit probably fifty times. After days of torture and constant refreshing, I saw those magic words: Cast List. I smashed the mouse pad and scrolled to find my name and then I saw it:
Cinderella Kids Cast List
Fairy Godmother……………………………………………………..…………….Mady Tozer
I squealed and yelled, “I GOT CAST!!!!!!” From the moment I woke up to the second I fell asleep, all I could think about was performing. I was hooked—I couldn’t get enough. The once-timid girl who was too afraid to raise her hand in class was now singing Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo in front of hundreds of people.
My college-prep school, The John Cooper School, bolstered me in ways I never thought possible. I enrolled in Acting class for the first time and joined a competitive choir. I found myself surrounded by supportive teachers who not only helped me grow but also expanded my perspective, opening my eyes to the vast world of the performing arts.
When I got to high school, my choir director, Mr. Moses, sat me down and told me to learn a few chorale excerpts for the TPSMEA All-State Choir auditions. I brought them to my singing teacher, Mr. McKinney, and learned them to perfection- or as close as I could get. I recorded them, submitted my audition, and waited. Not only was I selected for the All-Region Choir, but I was named second chair in the Texas All-State Choir as a soprano. Shocked doesn’t even begin to cover it. I was overwhelmed with excitement, disbelief, and awe.
I kept doing theater, landing the occasional supporting lead, but mostly singing in the ensemble and stumbling through dance calls. This routine continued for a few years, and I found myself in and out of favor with both my school’s theater department and the community theater.
Then, on August 16, 2019, it happened. I opened my phone in Mrs. Galloway’s Advanced Biology class and saw those magic words again.
Matilda Cast List
Miss Honey…………………………………………………………………………… Mady Tozer
Not only was I cast this time, I was the lead and had THREE songs all to myself. This was my chance to dive head first into the world of make-believe and to become a permanent resident. In Act II, Miss Honey sings My House, her emotional climax. She says:
This roof keeps me dry when the rain falls
This door helps to keep the cold at bay
On this floor I can stand on my own two feet
Every night as I sang those lyrics, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. The way Miss Honey felt about her home mirrored how I felt about the theater—it was the only place where I truly felt I could be myself and be accepted for it.
It is a paradox, though. I see that. The only time I can be myself is when I’m playing someone different, but that’s how I felt then and that’s how I feel now. I never feel more at ease than when I’m on stage.
Senior rolled around and application season began. My parents supported my community theater endeavors, but when the real world started knocking, their support wavered. “How are you actually going to support yourself? Singing isn’t a viable option”, they said. In October, I became patient zero at my high school and had to go into Covid quarantine. My sister was home from Berkeley and also got sick. Stuck in my room for two weeks, my sister and I used the time to work on my college applications. In the turning point of life, everything changed. I was on the verge of giving up my passion to pursue a more “practical” career as a businesswoman, but then I hit a wall with this application question:
Why are you interested in pursuing a major in Business Administration?
Uhhhhhh…my mind went completely blank. All I saw was cramped cubicles, stacks of office paper, and cups of stale coffee. I had no interest in Business or whatever “Administration” even meant. My sister looked deep into my eyes and I knew what she was thinking. Music! It was as clear as day. The dreary life I was picturing suddenly turned technicolor.
I hurried to rewrite my essays and record audition tapes, reaching out to Mr. McKinney, my singing teacher of seven years, for his guidance. He suggested opera. Opera? What in the world is opera? Knowing my questionable background in dance, I knew Musical Theater wasn’t an option. I’d always been complimented on my classical voice—teachers, friends, even strangers had remarked on it for years. Maybe opera was the perfect fit. I wasn’t sure what it entailed, but it felt like the right path to explore. When I received my Thornton acceptance letter, I was in a state of shock. I was so new to this art form, but there was a sense of inner peace within me from the start.
When I got into USC and enrolled in my first opera classes, I was in over my head. That’s an understatement. I was a piece of kelp floating helplessly in the middle of the Atlantic. Sure, I had performed in 25 musicals and spent four years as an All-State singer, but I wasn’t a real musician. I didn’t have perfect or relative pitch. I couldn’t differentiate between a diminished seventh chord and a dominant seventh chord. Hell, I didn’t even know what a key signature was.
But I was committed to the bit and I had already done the hardest part: getting in. Now, all I had to do was dig in, keep up, and hope no one figured out just how lost I really was.
On the first Thursday of my freshman year, I met with my voice teacher, Thomas Michael Allen, and we exchanged the usual pleasantries. He then said something I will never forget. He said, “Being an opera singer is like owning a yacht. It’s incredibly expensive and the upkeep is a pain in the a*s, but at the end of the day, you have a yacht”.
Four years later, I feel much more comfortable saying that I’m an opera singer.
This past summer, I was cast as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). It was my first principal role in opera, and I was the youngest person in the cast by five years. I poured over the music just like I did in high school and I slowly got a hold of the role. As I stood in the wings before Pamina’s Act II aria, I felt just as I had before my debut in The Story of Christ- giddy and entirely at ease.
Opera has welcomed me in the same way musical theater did when I was five years old—it completely enveloped and overwhelmed me. This timeless artform opened my eyes to the possibilities of a new life—one that was not only technicolor, but three-dimensional.
I no longer have to separate myself from the character I was portraying. It’s just me on stage. No bells, no whistles—just my unapologetic, authentic self.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I suppose I should have looked through all of the questions before I responded to them, but you should find my struggles and obstacles in my previous answer!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Because I grew up in France and started learning French at a very young age, I have to come to be known for my language skills. I am a double major at USC in French and Opera and am studying German and Italian. Because opera is an incredibly international career, it is pretty much essential to be multi-lingual, which has been such a fun part of this career! With my deep understanding of French culture, language, and history, I specialize in French music. My favorite genre within the broader French classical music scene is cabaret music. I am currently writing my French Honors Thesis on the Belle Époque and the music of Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. It has been fascinating to research the intersection of music, history, and philosophy. As I continue with my career in opera, I hope to continue to integrate my passion for history and research.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Apps: IMSPL (free sheet music), Piascore (free digital music score reader), MetonDemand (essentially Netflix but for live operas at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City)
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madytozer/ https://www.instagram.com/madeleinetozermusic?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005898828109&mibextid=wwXIfr
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/madytozer
Image Credits
I will send the photos via email in a Google doc. I wasn’t able to upload them in the previous slide
