Talking theater with Mary Martello

No Philadelphia actress is busier than Mary Martello - or less recognizable from role to role. Maybe she'll be a femme fatale singing "The Saga of Jenny." Or a grizzled Irish mom in The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Her current role in Walnut Street Theatre's 9 to 5 surprised even her: When first offered the part of Roz Keith, she was sure she wasn't right. Now, it's a perfect fit.

The art of frequent reincarnation is no mystery - as she revealed over a pre-show snack.

   Q: You've done extensive acting in your native Michigan, Princeton's McCarter Theater, Denver, and New York. But you've never been more successful than here. Why?

A: I happened to come to Philadelphia at the right point in my life [age 45], my type, my style, my energy . . . . Before, I had a pretty voice, and I was kind of pretty, and I was going for pretty stuff.

Q: Now, there's a subversive undercurrent saying your character is up to more than meets the eye.

A: If you don't find the opposite [of the surface qualities] in a character, then you can't really portray the truth. Like Mag Folan in Beauty Queen, who was this hateful, bitter, cruel character. Well, I believe that she loved her daughter beyond all explanation. It's a love that starts out as pure as anything . . . and it can morph into some strange and scary shapes.

Q: That's not something you could've conceived as a younger actress.

A: When I used to go on auditions in New York, whatever they were looking for I could become. But at age 45, you look in the mirror and say, "Well, honey, you can hire a personal trainer or have a little surgery, but outside of that, this is what you have to work with."

Q: Yet you look radically different in every role.

A: In my mind, I literally and physically become the character . . . . I see myself as that person in my mind's eye. When I first put on the costume, it can be a shock. It's me in that costume! Sometimes I have to readjust it. Nonetheless, when I go out on that stage, I think there's some shape-change that goes on - something to do with molecules.

Q: Meryl Streep is famous for arriving on the first day of work with a ready-made character. Is that your style?

A: No. So much depends on the lines and how they hit the other actors and bounce off of me. . . . The last element is what the audience tells me.

Q: Do you worry about being overexposed?

A: It hasn't happened yet. . . . But one thing that helps is to go back and forth between musicals and straight plays.

Q: And classical theater? That's a land unto itself.

A: I wish we had more. I love Shakespeare, anything by Shaw.

Q: In 2011, you had three roles in quick succession.

A: It was truly glorious. When I was doing The Music Man, I was in rehearsals for Beauty Queen. And then the last week of Beauty Queen, I was in rehearsals for Vincent in Brixton.

Q: How long have you gone without work?

A: Last year I went 4 1/2 months. . . . One of my sons is a jazz musician and we performed at the Strand Hotel in New York. It was very cool. And we talked about how we should go on tour.

Q: Will you?

A: I would have to say "no" to theater for two or three seasons, and once you do that, does anybody remember you?

Q: Over three marriages, you've had four kids. Some of your career had to be that of a single mom. Could you do that today?

A: No. Not without support from somebody, somewhere. . . . But I think there's nothing you can't do if you really really want to. Would I like to have a vacation house in the Poconos, two cars, private schools for my grandchildren? Yes, but it's not going to happen. But if I wanted to go to Italy, I think I could save up and make that happen.

Age: 62

Currently: 9 to 5 at Walnut Street Theatre, through Oct. 19.

Barrymore Awards: Five, 16 nominations.

Favorite past roles:

Sweeney Todd, Mrs. Lovett (Arden): "So vulnerable, so eager for love yet crazily manipulative."

Arsenic and Old Lace, Abby Brewster (Walnut): "Truly sweet, loving, loyal . . . and committed to relieving lonely old men of their empty lives."

Vincent in Brixton, Ursula Loyer (Walnut): "A widow, past her prime, with creative passion locked up that she desperately wants to express."

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