Susan Goodman rose from her piano bench and hissed at her husband during their show at the Evanston Public Library on Sunday. Naturally, he meowed away in fright.
Bill and Susan Goodman sang Rossini’s ‘Comic Duet for Two Cats,’ a classical love song written only in meows, as part of the encore in their cabaret-style concert, titled “A Trip Around the World with Your Favorite Songs.” About 50 people clapped and laughed along to the several dozen brief pieces performed in the library’s Community Meeting Room.
The duo performed songs featuring composers around the world. Susan Goodman, Music ’69 and Graduate Music ’82, accompanied her husband on the piano, while he alternated between clarinet, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone and percussion.
“We both love the music, we think we have a wonderful thing that we can do this together,” Bill Goodman said. “We really enjoy it.”
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance, Susan Goodman headed to Europe to study at an opera school in Zurich. When she was 22, the lead soprano at the Zurich Opera House decided she no longer wanted the role and Goodman landed the part.
“That was my debut,” she said.
From there she traveled all over Europe, soloing in many languages, including German and French. She returned to Northwestern and received a master’s degree in vocal performance in 1982.
Goodman met her future husband, a lifelong musician who was once the solo clarinetist in the U.S. Marine Corps Band, at Parris Island 26 years ago. The pair met in an apartment across the street from the Evanston Post Office at the party of late mutual friend Rolf Erickson, an NU librarian at the time.
“We think that’s our favorite town, Evanston,” she said. “We feel we got our start here, we feel a special connection to it.”
For their first duet as a married couple, they sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Chicago Cubs game. They then developed a two-person show that they have perfected and performed for 25 years, entertaining thousands of audiences across the country.
“When we started, we didn’t know what the heck we were doing,” Bill Goodman said. “Only gradually – that means after ten years – did we think, ‘Maybe we could do this full time.’ “
The couple’s decades of experience showed throughout the performance. Using eye contact and non-verbal cues, the duo coordinated smoothly within each number. Even transitions between songs glided naturally with humorous snippets.
“We always add some humor to the show,” Bill Goodman said. “We feel it relaxes us more, it relaxes the audience more.”
They played a diverse selection, from operatic arias to American classics like “Over the Rainbow.” The variety allowed the pair to play different characters and sport different accents. Within the span of the show, they mourned lost loves, wailed like Duke Ellington and marched to “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
“Our act has evolved. It’s not the same from one month to the other,” Bill Goodman said. “We had to figure out the balance between classical music, popular music, funny music.”
Audience members said they enjoyed the diverse mixture of songs.
“It was delicious,” said Tony Mars, an Evanston resident and a member of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in the School of Continuing Studies. “(Their pieces) were short bits packed with energy and emotion.”
