BWW Interviews: Mary Testa Talks Her Career and Solo Cabaret ON BROADWAY... AND A LITTLE OFF!

Mary Testa, a two-time Tony Award nominee and celebrated veteran of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and film, is coming to Houston this summer for two performances only. In addition to her theatrical and film work, she has done numerous solo cabaret performances, but she has a real treat in store for Houston audiences. For the first time ever, she is doing a cabaret performance comprised of musical numbers she performed in various shows. Both of these evenings are sure to fun-filled treats that audiences simply won't want to miss. In anticipation of these thrilling performances, Mary Testa and I talked about her lauded career in theatre and her upcoming cabaret at Houston's Music Box Theater entitled ON BROADWAY... AND A LITTLE BIT OFF!

BWW: How did you first get involved in theatre?

Mary Testa: Oh, God! Well, I was 16, and I was trying to decide what I was going to do with my life. I was thinking either of law or theatre, and I chose theatre out of the blue. I didn't really have a background. I didn't really go to the theatre. I had no theatre in my high school. I started the Drama Department in my high school, So, I just decided.

BWW: When did you know that you wanted to be involved in theatre professionally?

Mary Testa: I went to college, majored in theatre, and knew I wanted to move to New York. I didn't finish. I had taken all my theatre courses by the time I finished my first semester of my junior year. I just wanted to move to New York, so I did in 1976. It was September 6th or 7th. I can't remember now which date.

BWW: You had your New York stage debut while you were still in college at New Dramatists in a musical called THE RESURRECTION OF JACKIE CRAMER. What was that experience like?

Mary Testa: Well, you know, it's funny. I was 18, 19, or something there, and I was playing a 55-year-old woman. It was a little weird. I was staying by myself, and I had never been to New York before. Some agent saw me and thought I was a fantastic 55-year-old woman. He did not know I was a teenager. I came down the stairs-I had big, afro-y hair, my farmer jeans, and stuff-and he was like, "Oh my God! Where's the woman who played the 55-year-old woman?" (Laughs) I was like, "Well, that's me." I can't remember his name. I had a meeting with him, and he told me promptly that I should get my eyes fixed. I thought he was kind of (pauses) stupid. So, I never followed up on anything. But, that was my stage debut. New Dramatists was fun. It was a nice place to work at the time, from what I remember, but that was quite a while ago.

BWW: You also worked in William Finn's Off-Broadway musical IN TROUSERS. Tell me a little about that.

Mary Testa: Well, I met Bill [William Finn] when I was in college. We had a Rockefeller grant and did a ten show season that was all new works. We had equity actors that were hired. Then, the students would take smaller roles, but I was very fortunate in that I did major roles in the pieces.

Bill saw me in the production of ANTIGONE, where I was really just in the chorus. He came because they were doing one of his shows called SCRAMBLED EGGS. He was fresh out of college himself. [In ANTIGONE,] We had to sort of circle around and make noises, and he said, "I want that big voiced girl for the show. I want her." That's how I met Bill.

So, when I moved to New York in '76, he got together myself, Alison Fraser, and a woman named Kay Pesek. We just started singing together and working on songs of Bill's. We had a bunch of songs together, which ultimately became IN TROUSERS. We would clean Bill's apartment, put out wine, cheeses, and stuff, and people would come and hear it. Ira Weitzman came and said, "We want to do this at Playwrights Horizons." That's how it happened.

BWW: You had your Broadway debut in the 1980 musical BARNUM. What was that experience like?

Mary Testa: I had a friend who was a production assistant on it. She made me come up and audition on a Saturday for a swing and an understudy. I didn't want to go because I was working on MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS at the time, in workshop. I said, "I don't want to be in the chorus. That's not what I want to do." She just made me go.

I went, and I sang. I was so wrong for everything because I had to cover all these circus skills, none of which I could do. I could juggle; that was about it. Joe Layton, Cy Coleman, and Michael Stewart were all sitting in the audience. I sang, and their heads flipped around. I could sing really low, so they hired me because I could understudy the one black role in the show. So, it was a very interesting experience.

I really didn't want to be there because I would rather have been doing MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS. It was the first time I came across the art versus commerce problem. I wanted to be doing the art, but here I was being offered my first Broadway show. I was getting paid so much more to do the Broadway show, so I chose the Broadway show. It was a really painful decision. Then, I ended up having a good time and knowing the entire show. I was with BARNUM for the two years of its run. It was an interesting experience.

BWW: You often collaborate with acclaimed musical dramatists such as William Finn and Michael John LaChiusa. What are those experiences like?

Mary Testa: They're wonderful! They're the kind of work I love doing. They're both brilliant writers, and Michael John [LaChiusa] just wrote me a show, which was just sensational, called QUEEN OF THE MIST. It's the best. My favorite thing to do is work with them because their stuff is incredible. So, every experience is always wonderful. I haven't worked with Bill [William Finn] in a while though; but, Michael John I continue to work with, and I'm thrilled to do so.

BWW: In Houston, you'll be doing your first cabaret that is built around roles you have played. How did you decide on this concept?

Mary Testa: Yeah! It's very weird! I've done a ton of different shows! Michael Starobin and I collaborate and put shows together. I guess you can call them cabarets, although they're a little left of center. But I've never done a show where I've done all stuff that I've sung in shows. This is going to be new for me and interesting. Tyce [Green] is the one who put it together. Once I saw the list, I went "Wow! That's an impressive list of things."

We haven't started working on it yet, but I'm excited to. I'll be there on the 30th of July, and we'll work on it for a few days. Hopefully, (Laughs) it will all gel and be together. Because it's all stuff I've done, I have to revisit some of these things. I haven't done some of these things in a very long time, but it's an interesting list of songs.

BWW: Without giving away too much, what can Houston audiences expect from your cabaret performances at The Music Box Theater?

Mary Testa: I'm always a lot of fun on stage. I'm sure I tell some fun stories. I've got to think of them first. I'm sure it will be a delightful evening. We'll have a good time, and they'll get sort of a mini-history of stuff I've done.

BWW: How do you prepare for your cabaret performances?

Mary Testa: Well, you just go over with the piano player, rehearse some songs, and say "I'd love for you to play this here" or "this feels good here." I don't know this piano player at all, and I understand it's not even a real piano. It's one of those keyboards, so that'll be interesting as well. But, I'm sure it will all work out well and will be great.

BWW: What are your favorite aspects of performing in the solo cabaret setting?

Mary Testa: I like connecting with an audience, entertaining the audience, and having their energies. I like that interplay. I always have. I just came back from doing a solo play in Florida. It was great fun. It's so magical to work with an audience. They're another character, either in the play or they'll be another character in the cabaret. That, I think, is my favorite thing.

BWW: In your theatre career, what has been your favorite role to perform?

Mary Testa: [Anna Edson Taylor in] QUEEN OF THE MIST. (Pauses) Hands down, QUEEN OF THE MIST. It's my first lead. It's a beautiful piece. It's emotional. It's beautiful music. I loved performing it every single time.

BWW: What is a dream role that you hope to play?

Mary Testa: I do so many new things; I just want new and interesting projects. My next project, actually, is an opera. I have a very small part, but I've never done an opera before, so it's going to be fun to see all of that.

I don't really have established roles that I long to play because I long to play new things. It's great to do Mama Rose and those kinds of things. It's wonderful. But, they've been done by a million people. I just fell like I want to do new frontiers.

BWW: You've already touched on this a little. After you perform in Houston, what's next for you?

Mary Testa: An opera called ANNA NICOLE at Brooklyn Academy Of Music [BAM]. I'm excited to do it. It's directed by the brilliant Richard Jones. That's my next adventure.

BWW: That should be fun, and it has a nice Houston connection to it too. (Laughs)

Mary Testa: Yeah it does, actually. (Laughs)

BWW: I think Houston audiences will be very excited to hear that.

Mary Testa: Yeah.

BWW: As an artist, what inspires you?

Mary Testa: You know, beautiful music inspires me. The world inspires me. Kindness inspires me. New and interesting pieces inspire me. My friends inspire me. (Pauses) Lots of things inspire me. (Pauses) Just like being open to take in new things, that inspires me.

BWW: What advice would you offer to others hoping to make a career in theatre?

Mary Testa: Well, I think, perseverance. If they really want to do it, it's perseverance. You just have to keep going, and that's really all I can say.

Mary Testa's ON BROADWAY... AND A LITTLE OFF! runs August 2 & 3, 2013 at The Music Box Theater, 2623 Colquitt Street, Houston. For more information and tickets, please visit http://www.themusicboxtheater.com or call (713) 522-7722.

Photo courtesy of Tyce Green.

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