Ann Morrison

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Ann Morrison
Born	April 9, 1956
Awards	Theatre World Award (1982)

Ann Morrison (born April 9, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, Merrily We Roll Along directed by Harold Prince for which she won the 1982 Theatre World Award.^[1] Off-Broadway she played Lizzie in the highly acclaimed Polly Pen/Peggy Harmon musical Goblin Market which garnered her a 1986 Drama Desk Award Nomination as Best Actress in a Musical and a Best Plays Theatrical Yearbook Citation as Best Actress in a Musical.^[2]

Early life

Her family co-created a summer theater company called The Banner Players performing on the shores of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin when Morrison was a teenager. This experience taught her true cooperation as she would star in Gigi one week and work on the back stage crew the next. Her high school plays and musicals gave her an outlet during the school year and her parents would continually have her join their programs and performances at George Williams College where they both were teachers. With graduation she won a scholarship to a new musical theater training program at Boston Conservatory of Music.

Career

Morrison left Boston Conservatory, attended the HB Studios in New York, spent time in San Francisco before arriving back in Chicago. At 19, she joined The Benny Kim Show, a 7-member family band created by Korean Big Band leader Benny Kim. As Emcee and singer/trombone player she wore a black afro wig and a '70s white jump suit with glitter and fringe. They played nightclubs and Holiday Inns in and around Chicago for the next year. This ended when while on stage it was announced that she would marry the second eldest son and left the show.

Morrison was admitted to an apprentice program that Burt Reynolds was sponsoring at his Jupiter, Florida dinner theater. Besides singing in the lobby before performances the 10 member group would work back stage on the crew. This gave Morrison the chance to watch and get to know the TV and film stars (Tyne Daly, Sally Field, and Kate Jackson) some of whom were making a stage debut. She was given an opportunity when it was decided she would play the Girl in The Fantasticks.

At the end of the year-long program each apprentice earned their Actors' Equity Association card by signing a contract for The Sound Of Music (Morrison played Sister Margaretta), the last show of the season. Prior to that they each appeared on Dinah! when Dinah Shore brought her daytime TV talk show to the stage of the Burt Reynolds Theater for one week. Morrison sang "I Can Cook Too" wearing a 1940s style costume with hat and gloves. After wowing Dinah and the live audience, Burt Reynolds declared that Morrison was the one to watch and that we would probably see her on Broadway in a year or so.^[3]

Having Earned her AEA card, Morrison moved to New York where within a month was cast in a new Waldman/Uhry musical Dream Time. Regional productions of Grease, Babes In Arms and Godspell followed. Then she was cast in a role that would change her life. After seeing her play silent film actress Mabel Normand in a new musical Keystone at the GEVA Theatre in Rochester, NY, famed choreographer Ron Field told her she should play Mary Flynn in the new Sondheim/Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along. All of the roles had been cast but Harold Prince was still looking for Mary. She was flown to New York for a first audition for the casting director, then returned to GEVA to finish her run. Back in New York, on her 25th birthday she was asked to sing for Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim. She recalls in interviews that Prince walked down to the stage and offered her the role of Mary. They would begin rehearsals 6 months later.

Much has been written about what happened when Merrily We Roll Along opened on Broadway. During 6 weeks of previews (52 performances) James Weisenbach was replaced by Jim Walton and Larry Fuller took over as choreographer when Ron Field was replaced. Morrison claims that there were changes in every performance until 3 days before opening. The morning after the show closed, the cast went into the studios at RCA Records to make the Original Broadway Cast recording. The next spring, Morrison received a Theatre World Award for her performance as Mary Flynn.

Together with former Merrily castmate Jason Alexander, she replaced the original cast of Forbidden Broadway at Palsson's in New York. She impersonated Mary Martin, Julie Andrews, Carol Channing and appeared on TV on The Merv Griffin Show as Patti LuPone in Evita. While playing in Forbidden Broadway she taped a TV version of Keystone for broadcast on New Jersey Network, reprising her role as Mabel Normand.

American producer Louis Busch Hager wanted to cast an American actress in the title role of a new musical version of