Patrice Munsel (born May 14, 1925) is an American coloratura soprano, the youngest singer who ever starred at the Metropolitan Opera, nicknamed "Princess Pat".
She was born in Spokane, Washington. Munsel was coached by Giacomo Spadoni, and first sang at the Metropolitan at age 17, in March 1943. She made her official Metropolitan debut on December 4, 1943 at the age of 18, singing Philine in Mignon. Perhaps best known for the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus, she performed 225 times at the Metropolitan. Sir Rudolf Bing called her a "superb soubrette", and implied that she was the world's best, though Lily Pons performed the role of Adele in the 1950 recording of the Met production.
Munsel played the title role of Dame Nellie Melba in the film Melba (1953). She also had her own television series The Patrice Munsel Show (1956–57), and appeared on many other TV shows.
In 1958 she ended her career as an opera singer, and began to perform in musical comedies.
She is married to Robert C. Schuler, with whom she had four children.
Metropolitan Opera soprano Patrice Munsel demonstrated her versatility as a singer in this live variety show. Show tunes, popular songs, and operatic excerpts were all part of her repertoire in addition to comedy sketches with her weekly guest stars. Written by Tiff Banks
