Julia Migenes is an Americansoprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of New York to a family of Greek and Irish-Puerto Rican descent. She is sometimes credited as Julia Migenes-Johnson. She attended The High School of Music & Art in New York City. Julia Migenes played Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, in the original Broadway production of the long-running musical Fiddler on the Roof. She played Ciboletta in the 1973 filmEine Nacht in Venedig. She also starred in the 1984 film of Carmen.
Early Career on Broadway
At age seven, Migenes originated the role of ‘Ngana’ in the first national tour of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific; she alternated in the role with her sister Maria. Also in the cast was her brother, John, in the role of Jerome, and her half-sister Jeanette as Bloody Mary’s Assistant. Reportedly, the siblings made enough money from the tour to buy their family a small house in the Bronx. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Carnival! She was a replacement understudy for the lead role of ‘Lili.’ Migenes performed the role from April 2 to April 14, 1962 when lead actressAnna Maria Alberghetti took vacation. Migenes then took on the leading role of ‘Maria’ in the 1964 Broadway revival of West Side Story which played a limited run from April 8 – May 2, 1964 at City Center. Migenes created the role of ‘Hodel,’ the second oldest of Tevye’s daughters in the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof. While the production ran for almost eight years, Migenes’ tenure extended from the production’s first preview on September 17, 1964 through April 1, 1967. Mimi Turque succeeded her in the role of Hodel.
Personal Life
Migenes has been married four times. The first time was at age 18 to a singer whose identity remains unknown; the union was annulled two years later in 1963. Her second marriage to Danjo Hotnik ended in divorce, but brought Migenes her first daughter, Martina. In 1979 Migenes married Jervis Johnson, with whom she had a second daughter, Jessica Allegra. She married Hungarian film director Peter Medak in 1988; they divorced in 2003.
