Mary Todd...A Woman
Apart
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| Mary
Todd... AWoman Apart written by our own Carl Wallnau Performed Off-Broadway: April 24 - May 17, 2003 Performed New Jersey: March 1 - 16, 2001 |
 Colleen Wallnau plays Mary Todd in an Off-Broadway production of Mary Todd...A Woman Apart |
| Contact: Carl
Wallnau Colleen Smith Wallnau repeats her "stunning performance" (Robert L. Daniels, variety.com) as Mary Todd Lincoln, a very complex and misunderstood figure in American History. |
| Mary Todd Lincoln played by: Written and Directed by: |
Colleen Smith Wallnau Carl N. Wallnau |
Journey into the mind of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the most complex and misunderstood figures in American History.
"I would rather marry a man of mind.., with a hope and bright prospects ahead for position, fame and power, than to many all the houses of gold," proclaimed the genteel and aristocratic Mary Todd, shortly before her controversial marriage to the humble, but ambitious lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, in Springfield, Ill, in 1842. Now, more than 150 years later, the life of Mary Todd is the subject of the new play to premiere at the Centenary Stage Company (CSC) in March, Mary Todd...A Woman Apart.
Written by Centenary Stage Company's artistic Director, Carl Wallnau, Mary Todd...A Woman Apart explores the intriguing life of a woman who in her youth was said to be "the very creature of excitement." Mary Todd's life as the wife of Abraham Lincoln was destined to be mercurial. Born to an affluent family of Lexington, KY, Todd received an excellent education uncharacteristic of women in her day. She was outspoken and steadfast in her belief in her husband's abilities and potential, although their early years together brought financial struggles.
Todd's tenure in the white house as "First Lady" mingled misery with triumph. An extravagant entertainer, Todd set her guests at ease at opulent social gatherings in the White House, but it was in the White House that she also suffered the death of her favorite son, Willie, and then her husband's assassination as she sat in the box next to him at the Ford's theatre that fateful night in 1865.
Shattered by the death of loved ones, Todd hovered between depression and a tortured fear of poverty. In 1875, Todd's son Robert brought insanity proceedings against his mother, which led to a four-month residency in a private sanitarium. To this day the question of Mary Todd's "sanity" is the subject of speculation. In July of 1876, with the help of a political ally, Todd received a new hearing and another jury declared her "sane." Mary Todd died in 1882 in Springfield, Ill, in the same house from which she walked out as the spirited and hopeful bride of Abraham Lincoln, 40 years before.
Reviews from the Mary Todd...
A Woman Apart
NYC May 2003:
|
"Colleen ...MARY Laurie Lawson |
"Mrs. Wallnau's characterization of Mrs. Lincoln is so flawlessly done one could easily believe that Mrs. Lincoln herself had appeared through the medium of one of her beloved seances." Wendy R. Williams |
Reviews from the Mary Todd...
at Centenary Stage Company, Hackettstown, N.J. (from
March 2002):
| "No question
that this Mary Todd has a need to explain herself, and Wallnau
delivers her lines briskly, rarely taking the time to lick
her lips. But she isn't going too fast to be understood --
either in speech or in capturing the essence of Mary Todd
Lincoln... Peter Filichia |
"...a glorious complex of construction as Mary's story, told in a non-linear manner of flashes that move forward and back in time, keeps us (the audience) moving through arcs upon arcs: arcs of experience, arcs of emotions, and arcs of meaning." Dr. Linda Cahir |
| "...Play provides a role many an actress would cherish, and before it falls into the hands of a Zoe Caldwell or a Rosemary Harris, I trust Colleen Smith Wallnau will have the opportunity to reach larger audiences in her stunning performance." Robert L. Daniels |
|
Colleen Smith Wallnau In The Title Role
CSC
welcomes back the gifted Colleen Smith Wallnau to portray
this poignant, moving and often comic personal story of Mrs. Abraham
Lincoln. Ms Wallnau, who performed on Broadway and with the European
tour of Crazy for You, will be remembered by CSC audiences
for her many portrayals on the Centenary Stage in such productions
as Marvin 's Room, The Killing of Sister George and
The Haunting of Hill House.
Playwright
Written by CSC Artistic Director, Carl
Wallnau, Mary Todd.. .A Woman Apart explores the intriguing
life of a woman who in her youth was said to be "the very creature
of excitement." Mary Todd's life as the wife of Abraham Lincoln
was destined to be Mercurial.
Contact Carl
Wallnau |
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