MARY MARTIN MADNESS

Welcome to another Wildcard Wednesday! We’ve already celebrated Mary Martin’s centennial (which was this past Sunday) by highlighting her star turn in Weill and Nash’s One Touch Of Venus (1943) on this week’s Musical Theatre Monday. But I wanted to give our darling Mary her own post, and share some special treats relating to our favorite Peter Pan.

Mary Martin as Peter Pan

 

This is a clip from the 1951 Original London production of South Pacific (1949), which Mary played on both sides of the Atlantic. The entire production was filmed, but here is an except. This is Mary Martin’s “Honey Bun.”

Here’s a clip from the classic 1960 color broadcast of Peter Pan (1954), which Mary played on Broadway and in three separate television productions. Here’s Mary as Peter, leading the kids with “Wendy.”

Before Carrie Underwood and Julie Andrews, there was Mary Martin, who opened The Sound Of Music (1959) on Broadway. A live audio exists of the production. Here’s Mary and Theodore Bikel with “An Ordinary Couple,” the song that was replaced for the film with “Something Good.”

Though Mary wasn’t one of the handful of starlets to play the titular role in the Original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! (1964), she did tour with the show in the states, and then went to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan with it, before returning and opening the production in London. (Mary’s actually one of my favorite of the Dollys — she did some thrilling vocal things that the other ladies didn’t do.) Here’s a clip from a 1966 NBC Documentary about the overseas tour.

And last, but not least, here’s Mary tearing down the house with “Flaming Agnes” in the Pre-Broadway Tryout in D.C. of I Do, I Do! (1966).

 

 

Come back next Wednesday for a whole new Wildcard post! And tune in tomorrow for Xena Thursday!

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