Yesterday at Town Hall, there was a memorial for the wonderful Mary Rodgers Guettel, the composer, author, and philanthropist. Stephen Sondheim played a new melody in Mary’s honor, and Hal Prince spoke movingly of their decades-long friendship. Andre Bishop told a hilarious and revealing story about how he’d once worked with Mary on a troubled out-of-town production. His tale involved the replacement of practically all the key figures on the show, suffocating summer heat, and the presence of a German documentary film crew, but through it all, Mary had remained disciplined and inspiring. Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett appeared together, and there was a black-and-white video clip of Carol’s career-making performance as the raucous Princess Winnifred in Mary’s hit Broadway musical Once Upon A Mattress. Carol also recalled how, in order to get the show a Broadway theater, the cast, in full costume, had picketed their own producers.
Mary’s son Alec introduced a highlight of the occasion, explaining that what we were about to see illustrated the exact opposite of his mother’s parenting style: it was a TV commercial from either the 60’s or the early 70’s. in which a smiling, twinkling Mary served her wholesome family a trayful of desserts topped with Cool Whip. Mary was an elegant, wry, take-no-prisoners sort of person, so watching her emerge from a kitchen in hostess-y splendor was an unnerving treat. There were many other photos and film clips of Mary, documenting the emergence of her chic, fine-boned, confident personal style. Once Mary had established her sleek and witty persona, she never seemed to age, and she and her beloved husband, Hank Guettel, were the Nick and Nora Charles of Central Park West.
Another of Mary’s children, the superb composer Adam Guettel, assembled a chorus of major Broadway talent to sing Something Known, a gorgeous number from Mary’s musical version of the Carson McCullers novel, The Member of the Wedding.The memorial’s printed program included a trove of remembrances, and a flip book of Mary laughing what was referred to as her trademark, beguiling and dirty cackle. Mary was much beloved, as Broadway royalty, and as a woman who encouraged countless young artists.
