“Peter Pan is perhaps the most important thing, to me, that I have ever done in theater,” said stage and screen star Mary Martin. But her work transcended that production, with lead roles in South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and One Touch of Venus to name a few. Her life is the subject of a new bio-musical to be presented by The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Andrew Levine, Executive Director).
The cast of “Inventing Mary Martin” at York Theatre Company (photo: Jenny Anderson) via The Broadway Blog.
Inventing Mary Martin, conceived, written and directed by Stephen Cole, with music supervision and arrangements by David Krane, music direction by Lawrence Goldberg, co-directed and choreographed by Bob Richard, and featuring original music and lyrics by legendary composers Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, among others, opens this April for a limited run (opening night, April 27).
The world premiere multi-media musical will feature Cameron Adams, Lynne Halliday, Jason Graae and Emily Skinner. In this musical revue, four fabulous performers, none of whom actually plays Mary (who could?) take us on her amazing journey from naive but ambitious Texan to movie star to Broadway legend, reinventing herself constantly along the way.
The show shines a light on the magic that was Mary Martin. Imagine Side by Side by Sondheim meets Ain’t Misbehavin with a score with musical giants of the Golden Age of Broadway—a time when stopping the show with a saucy but innocent striptease in “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” could propel a novice to a 4o-year career as the Great White Way’s brightest star.
