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Mary
Testa is something of an Underdog Diva - but what
a diva she is! Although she was introduced to the New York theatre
scene through her balls-to-the-wall performance as Miss Goldberg
(Marvin's teacher who always wore dark glasses) in William Finn's In
Trousers (singing the hell out of "Set Those Sails"),
she was really discovered by the world at large when she understudied Liza
Minnelli in The Rink (where she went on in what was
supposed to be Minnelli's final performance, after Minnelli had
already been checked into the Betty Ford clinic). Vocally, she's
somewhat of a throw-back to Ethel
Merman, and she has managed to stop the show with killer solos in
such musicals as Lucky Stiff ("Rita's Confession"), A
New Brain ("Change"), Marie Christine
("Paradise is Burning Down"), and the Nathan Lane revival of
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ("That
Dirty Old Man!"). She has received Tony Award nominations for her
performances in revivals of On the Town and 42nd Street,
and is also an Obie Award recipient for her work in From Above
at Playwrights Horizons. Recently, Mary took on the role of
Matron "Mama" Morton in the Broadway revival production of Chicago
(stopping the show every night with her rendition of "When
You're Good to Mama") and her next New York appearance will be in
Michael John LaChiusa's See What I Wanna See with Idina
Menzel and Marc Kudisch at the Public Theatre. |
