Tomboylike

Evelyn spoke of having been her father's favorite as a child, of Father's appreciating her competence, energy, and tomboylike feistiness...

And few singers matched her deadpan comic timing and physical nimbleness in lighter roles like Rosina in Rossini’s “Barbiere di Siviglia,” whom Ms. Sills portrayed as a ditsy yet determined young woman, and Marie, the tomboylike heroine raised by a military regiment in Donizetti’s “Fille du Régiment.”