Mary Testa is an American stage and film actress. She is a three-time

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominee, for performances in revivals of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's '' On the Town'' (1998), ''

42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...

'' (2001) and''

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

'' (2019).

Early life

Testa was born in Philadelphia and has one sister. At age four, her family moved to Rhode Island.Buckley, Michael
"Stage to Screens: A Chat with Mary Testa"
Playbill, December 21, 2003, accessed December 19, 2014 She studied acting at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

. Testa left school to move to New York in 1976 to pursue a performing career.Gans, Andrew
"Diva Talk: Chatting with ''Xanadu's'' Mary Testa Plus News of Buckley, Kuhn and Callaway"
Playbill, August 3, 2007, accessed December 19, 2014

Stage

Testa made her debut

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. ...

as Miss Goldberg in

William Finn William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...

's one-act musical ''

In Trousers ''In Trousers'' is a one-act musical that premiered off-Broadway in 1979 with book, music and lyrics by William Finn. It is the first in a trilogy of musicals, followed by ''March of the Falsettos'' and then ''Falsettoland''. Plot The one-act m ...

'' (1979), part one of his "Marvin Trilogy." She next performed in Finn's ''

March of the Falsettos ''March of the Falsettos'' is a 1981 musical with book, lyrics, and music by William Finn. It is the second in a trilogy of musicals, preceded by '' In Trousers'' and followed by '' Falsettoland''. ''March of the Falsettos'' and ''Falsettoland'' l ...

'', and later in ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

'', at Playwrights. Her Broadway roles include Joyce Heth in ''

Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He wa ...

'' (1982), movie columnist Hedda Hopper in '' Marilyn: An American Fable'' (1983), Angel in '' The Rink'' (1984), Domina in ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specif ...

'' (1996–1997), Madame Dilly in '' On the Town'' (1998), Magdalena in ''

Marie Christine ''Marie Christine'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. While loosely based on the Greek play ''Medea'', it is set in the 1890s, in New Orleans and Chicago, and draws heavily on the bi ...

'', Maggie Jones in ''

'' (2001–2002), the Matron in ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' (2005), Melpomene in '' Xanadu'' (2007–2008), General Matilda B. Cartwright in ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' (2009), Madame Morrible in ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

'' (2014), and Aunt Eller in ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' (2019). She is a frequent collaborator with such acclaimed musical dramatists as William Finn (''Infinite Joy'', ''A New Brain'', ''In Trousers'') and

Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa (born July 24, 1962) is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for musically esoteric shows such as '' Hello Again'', '' Marie Christine'', '' The Wild Party'', and '' See W ...

(''Marie Christine'', ''See What I Wanna See'', ''First Lady Suite''), while also having appeared in the works of

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

, Kander & Ebb, Flaherty & Ahrens, and

, among other Off-Broadway and regional theatre credits. She also frequently performs in concerts and cabaret shows. On December 28, 2020, it was announced that Testa would star as Skinner in a benefit concert presentation of ''

Ratatouille the Musical ''Ratatouille the Musical'' (also known as ''Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical'', or ''Ratatousical'') is an Internet meme and crowdsourced musical based on the 2007 Disney/Pixar film '' Ratatouille''. TikTok user Emily Jacobsen created a short ...

'', an

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

that originated on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, inspired by the 2007

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. The concert streamed exclusively on

TodayTix TodayTix is a digital ticketing platform for theatrical and cultural events. Founded by two Broadway producers, TodayTix's free mobile apps for iOS and Android provide access to theater shows in New York City, London, the San Francisco Bay Area ...

on January 1, 2021.

Film, television and recording

Testa made her film debut in ''

Going in Style ''Going in Style'' is a 1979 American heist comedy-drama film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg (in his final film role) and Charles Hallahan. It was Brest's first commercial feature film ...

'' (1979), and has appeared in numerous movie and television roles since, including Sophia in the 2003 sitcom '' Whoopi'', Zia Maria Luisa in the 2014 film '' Big Stone Gap'', and Sister Clare in the 2004 film adaptation of ''

Tony n' Tina's Wedding ''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' is an " environmental/ immersive theatre" event based on a traditional Italian-American wedding and reception, with warm and intrusive stereotypes exaggerated for comic effect. Audience members are treated as guests ...

''. She also appeared in such films as '' The Business of Strangers'' (2001), ''

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

'' (2005), ''

Eat Pray Love ''Eat Pray Love'' is a 2010 American biographical romantic drama film starring Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert, based on Gilbert's 2006 memoir of the same name. Ryan Murphy co-wrote and directed the film, which was released in the United ...

'' (2010), '' The Bounty Hunter'' (2010) and the TV series ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

Whoopi's Littleburg ''Whoopi's Littleburg'' is a musical puppet animated television miniseries of three specials produced for Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block. It was created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull, the latter of whom co-directed the show along with Tim Hill ...

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...

, Smash,

White Collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a professional who performs office-based or similar service-based jobs, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor * White-collar boxing * White-collar crime The term ...

, Cosby,

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', and ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that ...

''. From 1999 to 2002 she appeared frequently as the voice of Shirley the Medium on ''

Courage the Cowardly Dog ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Films. The eponymous character is an anxious dog who li ...

''. In addition to her show albums, Testa and

Michael Starobin Michael Starobin (born January 25, 1956) is an American orchestrator, conductor, composer, arranger, and musical director, primarily for the stage, film and television. He won Tony Awards for the orchestrations of '' Assassins'' (2004) and ''Next ...

released an album, ''Have Faith'', in 2014. It contains contemporary interpretations of songs by artists such as

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, Finn and LaChiusa.Holdenjan, Stephen. Music Review; "Fleeting Sweetness, and Pits; Mary Testa, Onstage With Selections From Have Faith". ''New York Times''. January 6, 2015

Selected stage credits

Selected concert appearances

*''Broadway Unplugged 2004'' ("Hard-Hearted Hannah: The Vamp of Savannah") *''Broadway Unplugged 2005'' ("The Thrill is Gone") *''The Broadway Musicals of 1930'' ("I Happen to Like New York" and "My First Love—My Last Love") *''The Broadway Musicals of 1933'' ("I'll Be Hard to Handle" and "Harlem on My Mind")

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Testa, Mary 1955 births American stage actresses American musical theatre actresses Living people American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia Actresses from Rhode Island University of Rhode Island alumni