Marcus Crowder Interviews Mara Davi

Catch her while she's here!:

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" is a Tony Award-winning musical based on the Julie Andrews movie of the same name. Both tell the comic story of Millie Dillmount, a girl from Salina, Kan., who moves to 1922 New York determined to become a flapper and marry for money, not love.

Recently, Davi has been holding her own in New York, where she made her Broadway debut as Maggie Winslow in the 2006 revival of "A Chorus Line." She followed that by replacing Sutton Foster as Janet van de Graaff in the 2007 Broadway production of "The Drowsy Chaperone."

The singer-dancer-actress was also featured in the stage musical version of "The Band Wagon" at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego before starring as Nanette in the New York Encores concert presentation of "No, No, Nanette." There she appeared with Rosie O'Donnell, Sandy Duncan and Fred Willard.

Davi also prominently figures in the current film "Every Little Step," which documents the audition and rehearsal process of the new "A Chorus Line."

Back-to-back Broadway appearances notwithstanding, Davi has had the current sequence of events in her sights for a while.

"I told myself when I was in high school, 'I'm going to have to get on Broadway before I can work at the Music Circus,' " said Davi, who just got into town for the start of "Millie" rehearsals and was staying at her parents' home in Folsom.

Her family moved to Folsom, where Mara attended Folsom High School. Though she had been singing and dancing since her childhood in Colorado, she blossomed in Sacramento's regional community theater.

"I was a Little Bus Player, did shows with Runaway Stage and Davis Musical Theatre Company," Davi said. "That was my training until I went away to school and really started learning how to do what I do."

Davi's mentor with the legendary Little Bus Players was its artistic director, John Lee, who wrote, produced and directed the company's shows. Lee first saw her as the Little Mermaid in a show directed by Michael Coleman, then cast her in his own show featuring a Little Mermaid.

Davi impressed Lee not only with her talent but her willingness to try different things. Whether it was Elf Girl for one of his comedic "Santa in Space" shows or Lady Guinevere in a King Arthur spoof, the teenage Davi was game.

"She became someone we cast in every show," Lee said. "She could do anything. I always made sure there was a part for her."

Lee also introduced her to a young actor, Aaron Gaines, who became Davi's husband at a ceremony in Clarksburg last fall.

Davi and Gaines both went to Cal State Fullerton, but she left after her sophomore year to join a non-Equity tour of "42nd Street" as lead Peggy Sawyer. She also got an agent in Los Angeles. After moving to the East Coast, the New York office of the agency told her it didn't have anything for her except an audition for "A Chorus Line."

...Davi made the choice simple when she sang Maggie's centerpiece song, "At the Ballet."

"She was the only one who made the note!" Lee said. "She sang that top note and held it for life. She wanted the job!"

And she got it.

But Davi knows that many factors come into play when getting or not getting work.

"There are so many talented people in New York. It just comes down to being the perfect fit in the puzzle that they're putting together," Davi said.

Her next job in the "Drowsy Chaperone" was another significant step as it moved her from the ensemble to the leading actress in a Broadway show.

...This fall, Davi will head to Chicago's prestigious Goodman Theatre for a new stage production of the Marx Brothers' classic "Animal Crackers."

"We're trying to rejigger it," Davi said. "It's written to be a 30-person musical and we're doing it with nine. So I play two different roles, and everyone plays multiple roles."

After a heady run from one job to the next, Davi doesn't know what will happen after her three-month commitment to "Animal Crackers."

"It's definitely scary, but I never would've thought I'd be performing at Music Circus this summer," Davi said. "It's really nice to not have life planned out right now, because these surprises are fantastic."