Mary Martin — the quintessential Peter Pan — captivated theatergoers for nearly 40 years. The loving but misguided revue “Inventing Mary Martin” only feels that long.
Stephen Cole, who conceived, wrote and co-directed this tribute, fills the stage with giant picture frames, all of which feature images of the star throughout her life (she died in 1990). And his cast — Jason Graae, Emily Skinner, Lynne Halliday and Cameron Adams — fairly bursts with enthusiasm performing songs from Martin’s first musical (“Leave It to Me!”) to her last (“I Do! I Do!”).
But the biography-heavy show plays out like a campy Wikipedia entry. Sporting plastic wings as Peter Pan ally Tinkerbell, Graae complains, “My contract did not say that I had to play a fairy!” Referring to Mainbocher, the famed fashion designer who created Martin’s gorgeous gowns for “One Touch of Venus,” he says, “Just saying his name makes you gay.”
The musical choices are bizarre. The only song we hear in its entirety from “The Sound of Music” — in which Martin originated the role of Maria — is “The Lonely Goatherd,” complete with a silly puppet show.
Instead, we’re treated to such mediocre obscurities as Noël Coward’s “Alice Is at it Again,” possibly the worst song he ever wrote, and the novelty number “Swattin’ the Fly” from a 1943 musical called “Dancing in the Streets” that closed out of town, apparently rightly so.
Graae, a normally charming and impish trouper, makes a strained narrator. He’s also forced to mug his way through an endless routine, “Shapes,” illustrating the changes in women’s fashion throughout the first half of the 20th century, a bit Martin once performed on a television special.
The female performers, seemingly cast for their disparate red, blond and brunette hair, handle the lion’s share of the singing, and for the most part do it well. But for every terrific number (Skinner’s sultry “I Got Lost in His Arms”), there’s an ill-conceived one (Adams’ “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair,” with frenzied choreography by Bob Richard).
A program note tells us that Cole, the show’s creator, befriended Martin late in her life. Sadly, his tribute, however affectionately intended, doesn’t do this beloved artist any favors.