Most of you won’t recognize the name “Marin Mazzie” and honestly, there probably isn’t a reason that you should. But to me, she was an amazing performer, a true force on the Broadway stage, and a legend in her own time. She passed away yesterday at the age of 57, after a 3 year battle with ovarian cancer.
Dad worked for airlines for several years, so it wasn’t that hard to hop on a plane for an extended weekend. We used to travel to NYC, often with the sole purpose of seeing Broadway shows. That was back when I was obsessed with musicals and still had dreams of being a dancer on Broadway. Naturally, I was all about the dancing and the chorus numbers. The singers? I could take them or leave them. I wasn’t (and still am not) a huge fan of soprano leads, because their voices can sometimes go too screechy; some of them also (wrongly) consider themselves divas. But Marin changed that for me; at least as far as she was concerned.
On one trip in 1998, my mom and I went to see “Ragtime” at the Ford Center for Performing Arts. It was a truly amazing production, but Marin was just stellar. In the part of Mother, she just owned the stage. Her high notes were mellow, but powerful. Between her and Brian Stokes Mitchell, I had never seen a more incredible couple of performers onstage. I bought the CD and listened to it on repeat for months. Click the link for a clip of her show-stopping “Back to Before” (ignore the camera work and focus on her voice).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeWhJz6FqQc
A couple of years later, on another trip to NYC, I had the privilege of seeing her again, this time in one of my favorite shows, “Kiss Me Kate.” Reunited with Stokes Mitchell, her Lilli Vanessi/Katherine was just wonderful. She was haughty, fiery, coquettish, tempermental…simply a woman in love, and everything the dual roles called for. Again, I was entranced by her voice. Another CD, all worn out.
I am greatly saddened by her death, even though I haven’t followed Broadway as closely as I used to. She gave me a greater appreciation of singers because she showed me how to be a true performer. My own efforts in theater were greatly improved because of her examples. She felt everything she performed; nothing was superficial. In turn, she made the audience feel those same emotions. That is a true gift. And it will be sorely missed.
