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Mary, Mary
1962 - 1963
Blackstone Theatre, Chicago
Written by Jean Kerr
Directed by Joseph Anthony
Associate Director: William Ross
Presented by Roger L. Stevens
Associate Producers:
Lyn Austin, Victor Samrock
Setting by Oliver Smith
Costumes by Tehoni V. Aldredge
Lighting by Peggy Clarke
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With:
Julia Meade, Scott McKay, Tom Helmore
Hiram Sherman, Gale Gladstone |
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Julia Meade starred as Mary McKellaway in Jean Kerr's comedy hit Mary, Mary. Julia won the Sarah Siddons Society's Chicago Actress of the Year award for her role in the 1962 - 1963 stage production in Chicago's Blackstone Theatre. Originating on Broadway, the play became one of the longest-running productions of the decade.
Julia is wisecracking cynic Mary and Scott McKay is the infuriatingly sensible Bob. The two are only recently divorced and haven't seen each other in nine months. They meet at his apartment in the hope they can avert an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. A snowstorm forces Mary to spend the night, and the following morning mutual friend and lawyer Oscar, Hollywood heartthrob and neighbor Dirk Winston, and Bob's considerably younger fiancée Tiffany arrive on the scene. The comedy's humor is derived from discussions about income taxes, marriage, alimony, divorce, remarriage, extra-marital affairs, weight-loss programs, exercise, and sex.
Jean Kerr was an Irish-American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and best known for her humorous bestseller, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and the plays King of Hearts and Mary, Mary. She was married to New York Times drama critic Walter Kerr.
The Sarah Siddons Society is a non-profit organization promoting excellence in the theatre. The Society was founded in 1952 by prominent Chicagoans who loved the theatre. For over 60 years, the Society has presented the annual Sarah Siddons Award to an actor for an outstanding performance in a Chicago theatrical production.
About the award:
Sir Joshua Reynolds' painting, Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, played a crucial role in the creation of the film All About Eve. While puzzling over the mise-en-scène, the director Joseph Mankiewicz happened upon the portrait and decided that it would provide the keynote of his production. He opened the story in the ballroom of the fictitious Sarah Siddons Society, in which a replica of Reynolds's painting hangs. The occasion is the presentation of the Sarah Siddons award statuette, modeled on Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse. In the climactic party scene, the painting takes center stage, prominently displayed between the framing figures of Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe. It also presides over the culminating scene, in which the chastened Anne Baxter skulks past a towering reproduction of Reynolds' portrait. Seven years after the release of the film, Bette Davis posed as Sarah Siddons in a re-creation of the painting staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters.
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