Taking her act on the road

Tom Titus

Shortly after earning this column’s accolade as the Daily Pilot’s

woman of the year in theater, Mary Sullivan Slack decided it was time

for a change.

The actress and director, who’d amassed a plethora of stage

credits at the Newport Theater Arts Center and surrounding

playhouses, took her act to Montana, where she proceeded to enrich

the lives of theater lovers in the northwestern corner of that state.

She changed not only her venue, but her name. After a divorce and a

remarriage, she’s now billed as Mary Sullivan Reckin.

Thus far, she’s performed and directed in three Montana

communities -- Bigfork from 1994 to 1999, Kalispell from 1999 to

2001, where she founded the Kalispell Repertory Theater, and Libby

for the last two years. Now she’s back in Kalispell, having just

relocated with her husband of three months, Jerry.

On the occasion of her finale in Libby, I happened to be in the

audience, having flown to Montana on vacation with my lady friend,

who was born and raised in that little corner of the world. Since

Libby was just a two-hour drive from her home town of Whitefish, we

couldn’t resist.

The show -- in which Mary both directed and performed -- was

“Jerry’s Girls,” a compilation of musical numbers from Broadway

composer Jerry Herman, whose creations include “Mame” and “Hello,

Dolly.” Mary enacted both those heroines with her usual professional

polish.

At the curtain call, there were tears and flowers to spare, since

the Libby audience was aware that this was Mary’s farewell

appearance. Libby’s loss will be Kalispell’s gain.

Audiences in Newport-Mesa and the surrounding area have been

treated to Mary’s talent for more than three decades -- as Margo

Channing in “Applause,” Madame Hortense in “Zorba” and in the title

role of “Mame.” She also directed the critically acclaimed premiere

of “A Distance From Calcutta” at the Newport Theater Arts Center in

1996 during a return visit to Newport.

During her stint in Libby, Mary treated audiences to such

productions as “Steel Magnolias,” “The Octette Bridge Club” and “The

White Arrow” -- a musical version of the Robin Hood legend written by

local director and playwright Kent Johnson, which had premiered in

Newport. She also brought another locally born piece to Montanans --

the children’s play “The Pale Pink Dragon,” written by the late Costa

Mesa Civic Playhouse founder Pati Tambellini.

“I was born and raised in Orange County, and it was home through

1994,” she remarked. Mary began performing while attending Mater Dei

High School in Santa Ana and continued in Santa Ana College, playing

the leading role of Fiona in “Brigadoon.”

She began her career as a musical theater performer in Gilbert and

Sullivan and Victor Herbert operettas. Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse

audiences will recall her headlining stints in such musicals as

“Something’s Afoot” and “Call Me Madam.”

And while life in Montana suits her quite nicely, it’s doubtful

that local audiences have seen the last of Mary Sullivan Reckin. As

one of our gubernatorial candidates once remarked, “I’ll be back.”

A production of the two-character dramatic comedy “Lettice and

Lovage” with local luminary Teri Ciranna has been mentioned as a

possibility for the arts center.

“I’m all for it,” she declared. “Tell [arts center President] Rae

Cohen if she wants me to do it, I’ll be there.”

* TOM TITUS writes about and reviews local theater for the Daily

Pilot. His stories appear Fridays.