Davenport actress is starring on Broadway

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By Shirley Davis | Thursday, May 8, 2008 3:10 PM CDT | () comments

Former Davenport resident Mary Beth Peil is starring on Broadway in “Sunday in the Park With George,” a revival of the 1984 musical, making it a “must-see” if you’re headed for New York City anytime soon.

The musical, the run of which has been extended through June 29 at the Studio 54 Theater, 254 W. 54th St., has been described as “simply glorious” by a reviewer of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine revival.

When “Sunday in the Park with George” had its Broadway debut starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters almost a quarter-century ago, it won a Pulitzer Prize.

The current version opened in London. One reviewer called this new five-time Olivier Award-winning production “a celebration of life, love, art and the spirit of creation.” Another described it as “a profoundly moving piece of musical theater history,” and yet another said, “This production shimmers with a new humanity and clarity.”

The New York show has some of the original London stars, but as “an American addition to the cast,” one reviewer wrote that “Mary Beth Peil exquisitely plays (George) Seurat’s mother in the first act, decrying the construction of the Eiffel Tower as a blight on the Parisian sky. In the second act, it’s 100 years later, and she is a mannish art critic, upbraiding the 21st-century George for being stuck in his chromolumes.”

I’ve always wanted to see this show, which revolves around the 120-year old art masterpiece painted by Georges-Pierre Seurat, which is called “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

I’ve “oohed” and “aahed” over the famous painting by Seurat at its home in the Chicago Art Institute. The artist, who was known as a “pointillist” (“achieving effects of color by using dots of paint in proximity to each other,” according to an art expert), died at the age of 31 without ever selling a painting. Regardless, his “Sunday Afternoon” work is world-famous.

Mary Beth says she “loves being part of the show.”

“Tony Award season is upon us,” she told me, “and there is much conversation and speculation about ‘best revival,’ as we’re competing against ‘Gypsy’ and ‘South Pacific.’ ”

Mary Beth was nominated for the Helen Hayes Awards this year as “outstanding lead actress” for her role in “33 Variations” at the Arena Stage Theater. “I had no expectations of winning. I just thought it would be fun to go down to the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., to watch the awards ceremonies,” she admits. Those presentations were made April 28.

“It was a lovely event,” she adds, “and it was an honor to have been nominated. The great British actor Sir Derek Jacobi gave a most inspiring speech that made me proud and grateful to be an actor. These awards in D.C. are equivalent to the Tonys.”

Over the years, I’ve seen Mary Beth on stage in a number of productions, beginning with “Carmen,” when I accompanied her parents to Chicago to do a story on her first big break.

Later, I saw her in various productions, including the one in which she co-starred with Yul Brenner, “The King and I” in Chicago. (She was nominated for a Tony when she made her debut as Anna along with Brenner on Broadway.)

Mary Beth is no stranger to Broadway; she starred several years ago as one of the women in “Nine” opposite Antonio Banderas. She did “Sweeney Todd” at the Kennedy Center and national and international tours of “Sound of Music.”

She’s sung with the Metropolitan Opera National Company, the New York City Opera (where she sang the role of Desire in “A Little Night Music”) and the New York Philharmonic, and her friends remember her as an impending love interest in “Grumpy Old Men 2.”

On TV she’s been seen in “Dawson’s Creek,” “The Reagans,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU.” Her films include “Stepford Wives, “Flags of Our Fathers,” and “Mirrors.”

My favorite Mary Beth story? It goes back to when Bill Wundram was my boss and he assigned me to be a taxi driver in a series I did called the “other woman’s job.” My first pickup was in McClellan Heights, and my first customers were Mary Beth and her mother.

When they spotted me, they began to laugh (because they were familiar with the series), and the three of us giggled all the way to their destination. Mary Beth and I occasionally still reminisce about that outrageous ride.

Shirley Davis can be contacted at (563) 383-2281 or sdavis@qctimes.com.