This is so sad. I saw Marin Mazzie in Ragtime and Passion, which made me a lifelong fan. She was incredibly powerful onstage, her beautiful soprano filled with so much breath and intention it almost felt like a belt. And she could belt too. An amazing actress. The LA Times has an indepth obituary. The loss to the New York theatre world is incalculable.
Watch this performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “Losing My Mind”, sung at the concert celebrating Sondheim’s 80th birthday. I know I say this all the time, but watch where it starts … and then watch where it goes. That progression is in her hands. She has clearly worked on the song – but the performance shows the song working on her (she allows it to work on her), and the implications of the lyrics grow more and more powerful for her. She starts the song nostalgic almost, quietly remembering the man she loved, sharing how haunted she is by losing him. Her voice is gentle, her head voice fluidly mixing with the lower registers (one of her gifts). But where she ends up … the song leading her there … is howling with grief, loss, rage. By the end, she’s belting, and she allows her voice to sound not-so-pretty. Her breath heaves, she needs it, she doesn’t hide it. This is what the song requires. This is what the journey of the lyrics requires of an actress. Amazing voice, aMAZing actress. She acts the hell out of this.
Rest in peace. Huge loss. She was only 57 years old.
Holy cow, that final exhale of that performance just shattered me. So many performers can struggle to connect to a character in an instant like that. Amazing work and a terrible loss.