Marin Mazzie

Marin Joy Mazzie[1] (October 9, 1960 – September 13, 2018) was an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theater.

Marin Mazzie
Mazzie in 2013
Born
Marin Joy Mazzie

(1960-10-09)October 9, 1960
Rockford, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 2018(2018-09-13) (aged 57)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress, singer
Years active1983–2018
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1997; her death 2018)​
WebsiteOfficial website

Mazzie was a three-time Tony Award nominee, for her performances as Clara in Passion (1994), Mother in Ragtime (1998), and Lilli Vanessi/Katherine in Kiss Me, Kate (2000). For her work in Kiss Me, Kate, Mazzie was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award and Olivier Award, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award.

In addition to appearing in many musical stage productions, Mazzie also performed in concert with her husband, Jason Danieley.

Early life

Mazzie was born in Rockford, Illinois and graduated from Western Michigan University, where she received degrees in theater and music.[2] With an early interest in the theatre, Mazzie began to perform and sing in church choir at the age of 8 and to study voice at the age of 12. She continued to act in school and at college and in summer stock, where she was an apprentice at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.[3][4] While performing at the Barn, Mazzie befriended composer Jonathan Larson, who would go on to write Rent.

Career

After graduating from college in 1982, Mazzie moved to New York City and made her New York stage debut in a 1983 Equity Library Theatre revival of the 1948 musical Where's Charley? as Kitty Verdun.[5] She appeared in the 1991 off-Broadway Kander and Ebb revue And The World Goes 'Round and the subsequent 10-month national tour the following year. She went on to play starring roles in over a half dozen Broadway shows and also developed a cabaret act and made appearances in television.

In 1994 Mazzie created the role of Clara in the Stephen Sondheim musical Passion. This production was notable for its opening scene in which she was nude in bed with co-star Jere Shea.[6] In 1998 Mazzie originated the role of Mother in the original production of Lynn Ahrens and Steven Flaherty's musical, Ragtime.[7] She played the dual roles of Lilli Vanessi/Katharine in the 1999 revival of Kiss Me, Kate on Broadway, and then transferred to the West End production in 2001.[8] All three roles earned her Tony Award nominations.

In the 2006 Encores! presentation of Kismet at New York City Center, the Variety reviewer wrote: "Mazzie steals the comic thunder with a delicious turn as the glamorous Slut of the Casbah (Lalume), lewdly checking out the tasty man-slaves and happily playing along with Hajj's trickery, simply because he's hot. Looking dynamite in a flashy gold Donatella-goes-Mesopotamian number and a soufflé of blond curls, Mazzie's campy delivery of 'Not Since Nineveh' and the beyond-jaded 'Bored' succeeds in briefly raising the temperature of the otherwise tepid brew."[9]

In May 2008 she appeared as Guenevere opposite Gabriel Byrne as King Arthur and Nathan Gunn as Lancelot in the New York Philharmonic staged concert presentation of Lerner & Loewe's Camelot, directed by Lonny Price. The May 8, 2008 performance of this production was broadcast nationally on Live from Lincoln Center on PBS.

Mazzie appeared in the drama ENRON, opening on Broadway in April 2010, as corporate vice president Claudia Roe.[10] She replaced Alice Ripley as Diana in Next to Normal on July 19, 2010 opposite her real-life husband Jason Danieley as Dan. They stayed with the show until the Broadway production closed on January 16, 2011.[11]

On November 20, 2009 Mazzie performed in a reading of a re-worked version of the 1988 Broadway flop Carrie as Margaret White. She stayed with the production which opened Off-Broadway on March 1, 2012 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

Mazzie appeared as Helen Sinclair in the Woody Allen/Susan Stroman musical Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical, which ran on Broadway from April to August 2014. She assumed the lead role of Anna Leonowens from Kelli O'Hara in the Lincoln Center revival of The King and I. Mazzie began performances on May 3, 2016 and stayed with the show until it closed on June 26, 2016.[12]

Honors

She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame for 2017, in a ceremony at the Gershwin Theatre held in November 2017.[13] In April 2019, it was announced that Mazzie would be the recipient of a posthumous Special Tony Award for her legacy as an advocate for women's health.[14]

Concerts, TV, and recordings

Mazzie also appeared on television. In the sitcom Still Standing, Mazzie and Kevin Nealon played an antagonistic neighbor couple in recurring roles.

She regularly performed in cabaret and concerts. She appeared in a Gala charity concert at Carnegie Hall in 1998, with a cast of "leading ladies", "My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies", hosted by Julie Andrews.[15] She and her husband, Jason Danieley, along with Faith Prince, performed a concert as a tribute to Jerry Herman in October–November 2003 in Utah with the Utah Symphony. This was similar to the Herman tribute Mazzie performed with the Boston Pops in May 2003.[16]

Mazzie and her husband performed at the Bay Area Cabaret (San Francisco) season on October 23, 2005, performing their "Opposite You" program.[17] In November 2005 they released an album, Opposite You (P.S. Classics label), consisting of songs sung in their cabaret program.[18][19]

Personal life

Mazzie was married to fellow Broadway actor Jason Danieley, whom she met in 1996 in a play they performed together, Trojan Women: A Love Story.[20][21]

Death

Mazzie died on the morning of September 13, 2018 following a three-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was survived by her husband, her mother, and her brother.[22] In honor of Mazzie's work, the lights of every single Broadway theatre dimmed for one minute at 6:45 p.m. on September 19, 2018.[23]

Stage appearances (selected)
Note: Broadway unless noted

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1994 Tony Award Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Passion Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated
1998 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Ragtime Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
2000 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Kiss Me, Kate Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Won
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
2002 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Nominated
2010 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance ENRON Nominated
2012 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Carrie Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Nominated
Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Featured Actress Nominated

References
  1. Middle name is Joy per profile at Intelius
  2. Three outstanding grads named Western Michigan University Distinguished Alumni" wmich.edu, September 27, 2000
  3. "2000 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient," Western Michigan University. Retrieved July 20, 2009
  4. Buehler, Pati. "An Interview with Broadway's Jason Danieley & Marin Mazzie"
  5. Wilson, John. "Review: Charles Abbott in 'Where's Charley?'" The New York Times, March 16, 1983
  6. Henry, William A. III. Miserably Ever After," Time, May. 23, 1994
  7. Rigsbee, Valerie. "Broadway Musical Home – Ragtime". broadwaymusicalhome.com.
  8. Shenton, Mark. Review:'Kiss Me Kate'" Archived December 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, whatsonstage.com, October 31, 2001
  9. Rooney, David. "Review: Kismet", Variety, February 10, 2006
  10. Jones, Kenneth. Marin Mazzie Joins Cast of Broadway's Enron Archived March 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, March 2, 2010
  11. "Married Couple Mazzie & Danieley Take Over in 'Next To Normal' 7/19" broadwayworld.com, June 3, 2010
  12. Hetrick, Adam. "Exclusive: Marin Mazzie Will Succeed Kelli O'Hara in Broadway's 'King and I'" Playbill, February 16, 2016.
  13. Fierberg, Ruthie. "Audra McDonald, Daryl Roth, Oskar Eustis, and More Inducted Into Theater Hall of Fame" Playbill, November 16, 2017
  14. McPhee, Ryan (April 29, 2019). "Marin Mazzie, Jason Michael Webb, and King Kong Designer Sonny Tilders to Receive 2019 Special Tony Awards". Playbill.
  15. Jones, Kenneth. 'My Favorite Broadway' Leading-Lady Concert on CD; In Stores Nov. 16" Playbill, October 22, 1999
  16. Gans, Andrew. "Danieley to Join Mazzie and Prince to Reprise Jerry Herman Tribute" Playbill, August 7, 2003
  17. Gans, Andrew. "Mazzie, Danieley, de Haas and Mason Set for Bay Area Cabaret Season" Playbill, September 20, 2005
  18. Mazzie website marinmazzie.com
  19. Suskin, Steven. "Mazzie and Danieley's "Opposite You" and Virtue in Danger," Playbill, November 13, 2005
  20. Fitzgerald, T. J. "Mazzie and Danieley Making Beautiful Music at Feinstein's", BroadwayWorld.com, March 27, 2009
  21. Brantley, Ben. "Theatre Review: An Epic War Resolved With a Gershwin Ditty,"The New York Times, July 3, 1996
  22. "Marin Mazzie, Star of Ragtime and Passion, Dies at 57". Playbill. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  23. "Broadway lights dimmed for stage star Marin Mazzie". amNY. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  24. Holden, Stephen. Theatre Review: A Frothy Cole Porter Rarity Makes a Case for Erotic Fantasy The New York Times, April 1, 1995
  25. Perlmutter, Sharon. 110 in the Shade Review talkinbroadway.com, July 4, 2004
  26. Perlmutter, Sharon. Brigadoon Review talkinbroadway.com, August 21, 2004
  27. "Marin Mazzie Credits on Broadway," ibdb.com
  28. Fire and Air lortel.org
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