P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Mary Guaraldi - Actress, Costumer, and Waitress By: Roy Riedy |
Mary Guaraldi debuted as Veta Louise Simmons at Highlands Little Theatre in January, 1989, in Tena Conyer's reprise of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize play, Harvey. She was not a first-time performer though. She began acting in college and was involved in Little Theater work in California and Massachusetts before moving to Sebring. In April of 1989 she was a Wardrobe Seamstress for Frank Oberhausen's original production of The King and I and she worked with Leena Violette on Costumes for Janelou Buck's reprise of Mister Roberts in August, 1989. At the Fourth Zenon Awards in late September Mary was nominated for a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role as Veta Louise Simmons in Harvey, and won her first Zenon as a member of the Costuming team for The King and I.
Marian Dunham's The Unsinkable Molly Brown opened the Sixteenth Season at HLT with Mary again concerned with the play's costumes and also in the cast as Mrs. McGlone. In January, Peter Pollard directed On Golden Pond and chose Mary for the part of Ethel Thayer. Janelou Buck directed Hello Dolly in June with Leena Violette and Mary responsible for the Costume Design for the musical; and in August, Tena Conyer directed a reprise of Don't Drink the Water and Mary, once again, worked with Leena Violette with the costumes. At the Fifth Annual Zenon Awards Ceremony in October, Mary received three nominations, one for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her Mrs. McGlone; a Best Costuming Award for her work with Leena Violette on Hello Dolly, and the third, a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her part of Ethel in On Golden Pond.
The musical Oklahoma! opened the Seventeenth Season at the Little Theatre and Mary and Leena Violette were in charge of its Costumes. In March, 1991, Frank Oberhausen directed The Music Man and Mary and Leena Violette were again in charge of the Costumes. During Tena Conyer's presentation of Little Shop of Horrors in June, Mary worked as a waitress with the Gourmet Staff. Walter Zelenenki directed The Seven Year Itch in August with Mary in charge of the Wardrobe. At Zenon time, Mary's name appeared three times as a nominee for a Best Costuming Zenon, her name was nominated with Leena Violette's for Oklahoma! and again the pair were nominated for The Music Man; Mary's name appeared alone as the nominee for The Seven Year Itch. The Zenon went to Mary and Leena Violette for their Costumes in Oklahoma! It was Mary's second Zenon.
Jet Hansen opened the Eighteenth Season of the Lakeside Playhouse with the musical Mame with Mary as one of his Wardrobe Seamstresses. In January, 1992, Peter Pollard presented They're Playing Our Song and Mary again worked in the dining room with the Gourmet waiting staff. Funny Girl was directed by Frank Oberhausen in April with Mary playing the part of Mrs. Winston on stage, and backstage as a Wardrobe Seamstress. In June, Janelou Buck directed Inherit The Wind in which Mary played Mrs. Brady. The last play of the season was Marian Dunham's reprise of The Teahouse of the August Moon, and once again Mary worked with the Gourmet Staff. At the Seventh Annual Zenon Awards in early October, Mary received two Costuming nominations: she was on the team that was nominated for Mame, and she and Leena Violette were nominated for their work for Funny Girl.
The hilarious comedy, directed by Tena Conyer, Nunsense, ushered in the Nineteenth Season. Mary worked with the Gourmet Team in the dining room during the show. In January, Walter Zelenenki directed the comedy Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and once again, during the run of the show Mary worked with the Gourmet Staff. Mary was backstage with the Wardrobe Seamstresses for Frank Oberhausen's reprise of Camelot in April, and in June, during Marian Dunham's The Philadelphia Story, she was back in the dining room with the Gourmet Staff. Mary was the Wardrobe Seamstress for Jet Hansen's August production of Show Boat. At the Eighth Annual Zenon Awards Ceremony in early October, she received a nomination for Best Costuming for her work with Helen Curcio and Leena Violette for Show Boat.
During the Twentieth Season Mary worked with Gourmet during three shows and was a Wardrobe Seamstress for Frank Oberhausen's reprise of South Pacific in April, 1994, and Marian Dunham's Meet Me in St. Louis in August.
The Twenty-first Season was Mary's last season with HLT. She worked as a Wardrobe Assistant in four of the six shows present that season: Jim Lanier's Gypsy in November; Roy Riedy's And the World Goes 'Round in December; Frank Oberhausen's 1776 in March, and Marian Dunham's Gigi, in August. At the Tenth Annual Zenon Awards Ceremony in October, Gypsy, 1776, and Gigi, were all nominated for Best Costuming.
During her 6 years with Highlands Little Theatre, Mary was associated with 29 plays and 6 Zenon Ceremonies. She received 2 Zenons for her Costuming and was nominated for 9 other awards. Her name appeared in 15 HLT Newsletters and in 13 local news articles for a total of 63 Citations. Highlands Little Theatre is indebted to her for sharing her many abilities with its members, there is nothing like working with a professional to improve one's abilities, and Mary did that for the Little Theatre.
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