Mention "Martha" to Nashville theatre insiders and they instantly know of whom you speak. She is the diva of all Nashville divas, the doyenne of musical comedy in Music City, and the object of ardor and affection for scores of gay men in the Volunteer State and beyond.
"Martha" is Martha Wilkinson, an actress who's been on the scene for more than 20 years, performing on stages all over town, racking up glowing notices other actresses would kill for, carting off nine - count 'em, nine! - First Night Awards, being named the Nashville Scene's best actress, ranking atop Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com's year-end review for 2009, and winning hearts every time she walks onstage.
What Martha Stewart is to homekeeping, what Meryl Streep is to Oscar nominations and what Bette Midler is to millions of budding gay boys the world over...that's what Martha Wilkinson is to Nashville theatre.
She is, quite frankly, a force of nature who reminds me that I once wrote in a review that I wished I could be her. Well, hell, who wouldn't? And even today I'd probably do some sorta Freaky Friday switch with her given the chance.
Martha is the quintessential triple threat: a singer, an actress, a dancer - and she does it all marvelously, while looking damn good. She's played some of the most challenging, and most coveted, roles in musical theatre: Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Rizzo in Grease (as Rizzo she played alongside Alice Ripley as Sandy - the same Alice Ripley who last year won the Tony Award as best actress in a musical for her work in Next to Normal. While Ripley had some free time from her work as a Hee Haw Honey on the syndicated cornfest that was Hee Haw, she trod the boards for Tennessee Repertory Theatre. But it was Martha Wilkinson who won the lion's share of stellar reviews for that production of Grease.), Roxie Hart in Chicago, Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific - well, those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head and that list doesn't include the archetypal roles she's played in straight plays, like Emily Webb in Our Town. Her resume is staggering in its depth.
Apparently, she never rests. Witness our interview last week, only ten days before the opening of her latest theatrical endeavor - john & jen, opening Thursday, February 4, for a three-week run at Backstage at the Barn - with her co-star Patrick Waller and musical director Tim Fudge in tow. The purpose? An interview about the trio's work on the Andrew Lippa-Tom Greenwald musical.
More often than not, Waller and Fudge (and yes, even me) watched in awestruck amazement as Wilkinson morphed from one hilarious characterization to another, entertaining and performing along the way. Yet never forgetting the task at hand: Promoting john & jen.
It's who she is - she's a larger than life personality who understands her audience, who trusts her instincts (for the most part) and who knows her strengths, as well as her weaknesses. With every role she plays, she goes for broke, testing her own limits, pushing the envelope and taking her rapt audience along for the ride. While some actresses walk that same tightrope and fall flat, Martha soars. Although she may come perilously close to the ground with some choices, she never falls.
How does she do it? Clearly, it's her self-awareness: Every character she plays is grounded in reality.
"I first did john & jen at Tibbitts Opera House in 2003 - a ten-performance run with Kevin Thornton as John," she recalls. "I wanted to come back and do the show immediately here in Nashville, with the same musicians, but it just couldn't happen then. But the timing is right now."
Lippa and Greenwald's chamber musical focuses on the tumultuous relationship between a brother and sister (John and Jen) and later on Jen's relationship with her own son, also named John. It's a heartfelt script, accompanied by a memorable score that exemplifies the notion that characters in musical theatre burst into song when their emotions can only appropriately and justifiably be expressed in that manner.
