At 10,000 feet of elevation, the entire theater troupe struggled for breath—the dancers' bellies turned concave, the singers exhausted their diaphragms by squeezing out the same voice but with twice the usual energy. To combat the situation, oxygen tanks were placed alongside the stage for performers to use between acts. "It wreaked havoc on all of us. The dancers were especially hurting," says Tyers, now 89 years old and still as lively as ever. "None of us were used to that. It was definitely an experience."

Tyers and Bliss were in the middle of a four-month tour through Mexico, Central America, and South America in 1966, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Cultural Affairs. The government took the theater troupe to Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Columbia, and Ecuador, in order to show what United States Americans did during the summer.

"It was interesting to be in such a different cultural experience," says Bliss, 85, exuding a natural grace and easy beauty. "We would stay a week in each area, which gave you enough time to walk around and get a good idea of the people."

"It was a really interesting, but exhausting, experience," Tyers adds.

Although the pair was physically taxed during the trip, they had the routine down after more than 20 years of traveling and performing throughout the United States and England.

Now residents of The Terraces in Los Gatos, the pair met in the mid-1940s while on the theater circuit in New York City. "We used to see each other on 57th Street, just passing by, and compare how many auditions we had. And of course you'd add a few more than you were actually going to," Tyers says with a laugh.

It was not until 1947 when the two played leading roles in Gypsy Lady in London that the sparks started to fly.

"If we could stand each other for six months in those conditions, then we could do anything," Bliss says with a smile. "Working together was never a problem—we were always rooting for each other. We've been very lucky." The couple celebrated 56 years together on June 29.

"We have been lucky because we have the same thoughts and the same feelings," Tyers says. "Helena is very bright, and a lot of fun. We think the same, we feel the same. She is fun to be with, aren't you?" he asks Bliss as he lightly pats her on the cheek. "I better be after 56 years," she replies teasingly.

"I always favored tall, dark, and handsome men. He used to have this mop of black, curly hair. He was very dashing," Bliss says. "We've been very fortunate to have the same outlook on life, on money—which I think is very important in a couple—and we really don't differ on many things."

Crucial to the partnership, however, was never allowing business to get between them.

"We were both happy when a person got a break. It was never competitive," Bliss says. "The only distraction was having two boys with you, but they only traveled with us during the summer."

Tyers and Bliss raised two sons, Michael and John, during their stage lives. Bliss says it was difficult at times, but those experiences "allowed the boys to be able to integrate into any social situation. Dragging a couple of kids around makes it quite interesting. But all in all, the pluses outnumbered the minuses."

Bliss and Tyers alternated taking care of the boys during the year, and frequently flew out to see the parent who was performing.

"You just had to roll with the punches and go with it," Bliss says. "You have to be adaptable." Tyers smiles in agreement. "Yes, we've done a lot of packing."

Her big break

Bliss got her first taste of theater as a young girl watching performances at the St. Louis Municipal Opera in Missouri. "They had outstanding summer theater, and as a little girl I wanted to be in musical theater. I always knew that's what I wanted to do," she says.

Although her mother sang, it was only in informal music clubs, because her grandfather did not believe a woman should sing for money. Yet her mother enjoyed her singing and encouraged Bliss' aspiration.

"I was always interested in theater, because you could be someone else," she says. "I could project someone else who wasn't me. You grit your teeth and go on because you know you have to."

Taking destiny by the hand at 19 years old, Bliss moved to New York City to pursue theater. It took nearly four years to get her first big break, which was playing Nina in Song of Norway. "You just have to keep slugging at it, keep going to auditions and be in the right place at the right time," she says.

Bliss performed in Song of Norway in New York, Los Angeles and then San Francisco. After two years of playing the lead, she starred in The Fortune Teller in 1946. The production became Gypsy Lady in 1947 when an Englishman bought the play and moved it to England. After her stint in London, Bliss went on to perform in several New York City Opera productions and was constantly busy with outdoor summer concerts, operettas, and road shows. In 1951 she landed her favorite part as Kate in Kiss Me, Kate, which took her back to England for a second time. "It was a wonderful part, with a great score. A good part, a grateful part, that had good songs and dialogue," she says.

Despite women's issues of workplace equality during the '40s and '50s, Bliss says she never had a problem with discrimination. "I never felt that. In my profession, you were always an equal or more. In theater it just wasn't the case. Women have always been as equal as men have in the theater. That was definitely lucky."

His big break

Questions of equality or the right to sing were never an issue for Tyers, who began singing at an early age. His mother was a natural singer and was very supportive of his interest in music. He started to focus intensely on singing at 17 years old, and put himself through school at San Diego State University by performing. He graduated in 1936 and went on for graduate training at The Juilliard School in New York City. While studying, he began performing professionally, and did his first Broadway show, La Vie Parisienne, in 1941. In 1942 he landed his first lead with Showboat, after the principal came down with laryngitis.

During his last year at Juilliard, Tyers was the runner-up in a prestigious opera contest, which gave him his biggest break—he was signed by Colombia Artists Management and got a contract with MGM Studios in 1943.

Unfortunately, after signing his contract, Tyers was drafted for World War II, and he served for two years. However, he came back healthy and ready to get back onstage. He performed in Vagabond King and The Fortune Teller before traveling to England for Gypsy Lady. In 1947 he performed in The Three Musketeers, and in Can-Can with Bliss in 1952.

Despite his natural talents, Tyers constantly worked to keep his voice in good shape, as he says all singers must do. "The voice is a very precious thing, and you have to learn how to protect it," he says. "Of course, you also have to have a flair for it to begin with. You must have natural qualities that are appealing to the ear and then develop that into something big."

Singing standards were particularly rigorous at the time. "The toughest challenge about performing in those days was not having a microphone," Bliss says. "You had to fill the theater or you wouldn't get the job. Basically, you are born with the voice and the quality of voice for this work, but it's up to you for training."

Once a performer had the voice down, it was still a challenge to get continuous gigs. "A person could star in a show for three or four years and then not be in a show for 10 years," Tyers says.

"It's important to save money so that you can eat when you're out of work," Bliss says. "People have the wrong impression of theater people. We never went to clubs; we just worked and were exhausted when we came home. We are devoted to the theater, and we're really not reckless, wild people. The people who work in theater are stable, or they don't stay in it for long."

New career

In the late 1950s, theater began to die out in New York City. Tyers seized the opportunity to start working for Ford Motor Company in 1956. As part of a three-man team, he successfully introduced the 1958 Ford and started to lead meetings on how to sell cars for dealerships.

"We brought life to the material. If it was dull, we could do something with it and add a theatrical element to it. It was wonderful," Tyers says. "When you're selling, you're on. I used theater techniques all the time." Tyers worked with Ford for eight years, touring through the U.S. to lead seminars and give tips to dealerships. During those years, he continued to perform in shows, especially in the musical circuits through St. Louis, Kansas, Dallas, and Houston. He even performed at the Hollywood Bowl.

In 1960 Ford moved the family out to Los Gatos. They found a house on Kennedy Road, where the couple resided until 1994, before moving into The Terraces of Los Gatos.

Bliss quit the business nearly 30 years ago because "there comes a time, especially for women, when you should shut up. A man's voice lasts longer," she says. "The greatest singers stopped at 55 because they had the good sense to quit, although it's different now: if you're singing into a microphone or doing pop singing, then you can fake it."

Tyers also retired from the stage, but was recruited by a friend to become the head of the San Jose City College music department in 1969, where he taught voice, theory, and music history for 15 years. "I really loved teaching, I always enjoyed it," he says. On the side, Tyers began to teach opera lessons to students, which he still conducts regularly.

With their children grown and many stage friends departed, the couple keeps active together, regularly catching theater and opera productions and taking daily walks. They also have a second home in New Mexico that they visit each year, and attempt to make it to Europe every few years.

Interestingly, both say they don't sing very often anymore. "It's funny, because I don't just start singing," Tyers says. "I don't sing in the shower or burst into song at all."

"I don't either," Bliss adds. "It became time for me to shut up, and it didn't bother me a bit. It was wonderful, and I'm thankful for my time, but it was hard work."

Tyers and Bliss have kept one room of their attractive apartment as a testament to their years on Broadway. Black-and-white studio photos hang alongside huge billboard posters splashed with their names across the middle. While studying the photos of their youth, Tyers and Bliss are fondly reminiscent, but seem content that those years are behind them.

"It's not an easy life," Bliss says. "You have to have a love of theater, and a love of what you're doing." Tyers nods along with his wife. "You give up everything else for it," he says, "and we did when we were young."