TOM KING talks to Rochford actress Karen Barnes

Meet Mrs Mario Lanza, inamorata and wife to the most adored opera singer in the world.

Mother to Mario's four children, Betty is everything you would expect of the wife of an Italian-American - voluptuous, home-loving, passionately devoted to husband and children, and guaranteed to make home life as emotionally operatic as anything her husband sings about on stage and screen.

Mario Lanza, whose brief blaze of glory eclipsed even Sinatra, was not the perfect husband.

He strayed, he indulged in all the fleshpots that Hollywood had to offer. Yet the love-songs that he sang and sold by the million all over the world, arias like Because You're Mine or Be my Love, were all in effect hymns to his wife. She was the ultimate Lanza heroine.

Now meet Karen Barnes, 26, from Rayleigh, a cool, poised, English rose, who spends much of her working life as a banking secretary in Southend.

She is seemingly about as far removed in character from Signora Lanza as it is possible to travel while still belonging to the sisterhood of women.

Yet to Karen has fallen the task of resurrecting the obscure figure of Betty Lanza, the woman who lived her life in the shadow of her immortal beloved, forgave him his indiscretions, and died - "from a broken heart" according to family and friends - within a year of the great Mario Lanza's untimely demise at the age of 38.

Why has Karen been chosen, from a line-up of hundreds of aspiring actresses - including the inevitable Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale lookalikes - to play the part of Mario's 'er indoors?

To really find the answer, you need to head for the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff, where Karen appears all this week in Lanza - the Last Serenade. This is the new show that tells the story of Lanza's life, music and loves.

For Lanza, it represents a revival and the chance for a new generation to discover what he was all about. For Karen, it means the sort of break into the big-time that most actresses dream about at the bus-stop.

In advance of the show, a few people have offered a suggestion as to why Karen got the part, her first major professional role. In a word, though not from Karen's own lips, the answer is: promise.

"We knew as soon as we saw her that Karen was special," says David Dennison, the show's writer and co-producer. "She has energy, professionalism and versatility."

"If there's any justice in this fickle business, Karen has a great future," says the show's star, and Karen's stage husband, Mark Rattray.

Karen herself plays down these tributes, and claims: "It's not so much talent, more a question of looking right and being in the right place at the right time."

Not for Karen the agonising as to whether she is emotionally equipped for a role. "When the parts come, I go for them," she says.

She had barely heard of Mario Lanza, let alone Betty, when her agent called her about the part. Still, a grand-slam touring production with 19 full-scale musical numbers attached - that was Karen Barnes' bag alright.

One trait does link Karen Barnes and Betty Lanza - dedication. For Betty, the devotion was to her husband. For Karen, it is drama.

"It's always been acting, since I was very little," says Karen. "There's never been anything else in life." When she talks about the stage, she does so with all the passion of Lanza plus 60-piece orchestra, serenading a mistress.

She was born in Rochford, and after a spell in London, she recently settled back there. She lives harmoniously with Phillip, a solicitor and keen playgoer. When not acting, she just likes "a quiet night in" - a contrast to the hectic, if-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Scunthorpe existence of touring musicals.

She trained at Mountview on a county council grant. Since then her career has moved steadily forward, with professional appearances at the Palace, Westcliff, eked out by amateur parts with Leigh and Westcliff operatic and dramatic societies.

Fans present and future should note that Karen can also be viewed behind the scenes at various Southend banks: "My parents did coax me into taking a one-year secretarial course," she says.

"If you're an actress, you've got to do something in between jobs. Otherwise you starve. Me, I think I've worked in just about every bank in Southend."

Karen sound positively enthusiastic about the business. "I love temping," she says. "You meet all sorts of people you normally wouldn't meet if you just spent all your life acting."

Lanza - the Last Serenade is at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend until Saturday.

Married to a legend - Karen Barnes plays the wife of Mario Lanza (Mark Rattray, pictured here with Karen)in Lanza - the Last Serenade

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL

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