{"id":1079,"date":"2016-09-01T15:29:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T15:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2018-08-23T18:44:04","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T18:44:04","slug":"diva-alert-2-mary-martin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/diva-alert-2-mary-martin\/","title":{"rendered":"Diva Alert #2 : Mary Martin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diva Alert #2 : Mary Martin<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by Jackson Upperco<\/p>\n

September 1, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

Welcome back to Diva Alert, Performer Stuff\u2019s series on Great Dames from the Golden Age of Broadway. In these posts, we\u2019re taking a look at some of the American Musical Theatre\u2019s most legendary ladies, along with their seminal stage triumphs. Last month we opened with the Queen, Ethel Merman<\/span><\/a>. Now it\u2019s time to discuss a diva who makes her own claim for that title\u2026<\/p>\n

A nun. A nurse. A lost boy. She played them all. Adored by theatregoers both young and old, this diva paired infectious childlike warmth with an ever-propelling drive for greatness. After a rocky start, she grew to become one of the best-loved stars in the country, breathing life into some of the most iconic musical theatre roles ever created. She was an American treasure. She was Mary Martin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

Leaving behind an ordinary husband and a tiny tot, Martin was but a dance teacher with dreams of something greater when she traded her small town Texas life for pavement pounding in L.A. She was eventually cast in the 1938 Broadway musical Leave It To Me!, <\/em>where her coy cooing of Cole Porter\u2019s soon-to-be-classic \u201cMy Heart Belongs To Daddy\u201d turned Mary Martin into an overnight sensation. This success drove her once more to Hollywood and into a series of motion pictures, but by 1943, Martin was back again where she belonged: the New York stage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

Over the next five decades, this dame did it all \u2013 operettas, musicals, plays \u2013 and wowed audiences with Tony-winning performances in two of the best remembered shows of the century: South Pacific <\/em>(1949) and The Sound Of Music <\/em>(1959). However, her favorite role came playing the titular Peter Pan in the acclaimed 1954 musical adaptation, which she recreated three times for television. And in addition to many other major Broadway triumphs, Martin toured the states \u2013 bringing her love of theatre to audiences who had never before seen a Broadway show.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

The Texas gal\u2019s once tiny tot eventually grew up to be a star in his own right, but this mama never retired from the spotlight either, performing on stage well into the 1980s. She passed away in 1990 at the age of 76. But the joy with which Mary Martin imbued her craft \u2013 well, that\u2019s as immortal as Peter Pan himself.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

Martin Roles You Should Know<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dolly Winslow in Leave It To Me! <\/em>(1938)<\/h4>\n