Mary Beth Peil

Mary Beth Peil (born June 25, 1940) is an American actress and soprano. She began her career as an opera singer in 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater. In 1964 she won two major singing competitions, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; the latter of which earned her a contract with the Metropolitan Opera National Company with whom she performed in two seasons of national tours as a leading soprano from 1965–1967. She continued to perform in operas through the 1970s, notably creating the role of Alma in the world premiere of Lee Hoiby's ''Summer and Smoke'' at the Minnesota Opera in 1971. She later recorded that role for American television in 1982. With that same opera company she transitioned into musical theatre, performing the title role of Cole Porter's '' Kiss Me, Kate'' in 1983. Later that year she joined the national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''The King and I'' as Anna Leonowens opposite Yul Brynner, and continued with that production when it opened on Broadway on January 7, 1985. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal.

After her Broadway debut, Peil has remained a stage actress in musicals and plays. She is the recipient of an Obie Award and has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. She received a second Tony nomination in 2017 for her portrayal of Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in ''Anastasia''. In 1992 she made her film debut in a small role in the movie '' Jersey Girl'', and made her first appearance on television in 1994 on the program ''Law & Order''. She is best known for her roles in the main casts of two television series: as Evelyn 'Grams' Ryan in ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003) and Jackie Florrick in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2016). Her notable film credits include portraying Jack Lemmon's love interest in ''The Odd Couple II'' (1999), and performances in '' The Stepford Wives'' (2004), ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (2006), '' Mirrors'' (2008), '' Maladies'' (2012), and ''Collateral Beauty'' (2016). In 2020 she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Digital Drama Series for the role of Helen in ''After Forever''.

In an ''Opera News'' interview in 2019, Peil stated, "Opera is big and scary. You constantly strive for perfection. I think I always had my fingers crossed every time I sang in opera. On Broadway, you do eight shows a week, and there is no such thing as perfection. Every night, you try to find something new and true, perfect or not. Film and television is an intimate medium. You are communicating to one viewer instead of thousands. It is more of a physical and mental adjustment. The emotions are the same."

Early life

Peil (pronounced ''peel'') was born in 1940 in Davenport, Iowa. She trained as a soprano at Northwestern University under Lotte Lehmann, and gave her senior recital on April 9, 1962. Other influential teachers in her development in the university's music department included Robert Gay, the director of the opera program, and Ewald Nolte, who taught courses in music theory and composition and conducted a university chorus in which Peil performed. While a college student she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

Career

Career as an opera and concert soprano: 1962–1982

In her senior year, Peil performed the role of Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's ''La traviata'' in a student production directed by Gay at Northwestern; a performance which was attended by Boris Goldovsky. This led to an invitation to audition for Goldovsky's opera company for an upcoming national tour of that opera. She was offered a contract, and moved to New York City in order to take that job. She made her professional debut as Violetta in the Fall of 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater.

In 1964 Peil won two major singing contests, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (MONCA), which significantly furthered her career as a classical soprano in concerts and opera. In March 1964 she won the MONCA which earned her a contract with the newly formed Metropolitan Opera National Company (MONC); a second touring company of the Metropolitan Opera. Mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens was one of the co-directors of the MONC, and Stevens mentored her during the two seasons that she performed with the company.

Peil made her opera debut with the MONC in September 1965 as Clorinda in Gioachino Rossini's ''La Cenerentola''; going on to perform that role in 72 cities on a nine-month national tour with the MONC through May 1966. She also performed the role of Micaëla in Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' with the MONC that first season. She toured nationally with the company again in its second season as Susanna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and Mimì in Giacomo Puccini's ''La bohème'' from September 1966 through May 1967; with periodic breaks during that period.

In 1965 Peil was the featured soprano soloist in a concert honoring Risë Stevens with the California Chamber Symphony at The Beverly Hilton. That same year she performed the role of Pamina in ''The Magic Flute'' with conductor Thomas Scherman and the Little Orchestra Society at Philharmonic Hall. In 1966 she was the soprano soloist in performances of Christian Ignatius Latrobe's ''Dies Irae'' at the Early American Moravian Music Festival at Salem College. In 1968 she made her much delayed New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall as part of her Young Concert Artists win from years earlier. She also sang with the New York City Opera, making her debut with the company in the Spring of 1972.

Peil performed as a chamber musician during the late 1960s and 1970s, often in conjunction with her then husband, the clarinetist Jerry Kirkbride. Both were members of the Divario Chamber Ensemble in 1969 and 1970. In 1976 the two of them were guest artists with the Boehm Quintette in a concert organized by the New York Flute Club entitled "The Flute In American Music- A Concert commemorating the Bicentennial of the Independence of the United States" at Carnegie Hall. On her own, she was the featured soprano soloist in a concert of Bach cantatas with the Hampshire Quartet at Alice Tully Hall in 1972. In the mid 1970s she performed with the Musical Arts Studio chamber opera ensemble, including performances at the Library of Congress in 1973. In 1977 she performed in a concert of Gerald Ginsburg's 'theatre lieder' at Alice Tully Hall.

In 1971, Peil originated the role of Alma in the world premiere of Lee Hoiby's opera adaptation of Tennessee Williams's play ''Summer and Smoke,'' at the Minnesota Opera. She performed it again with the Chicago Opera Theater when it was broadcast on television in 1982 (based on a 1980 performance). She returned to the Minnesota Opera several more times. With that company she portrayed Leonora in the United States premiere of Carl Nielsen's '' Maskarade'' in 1972.

Transition to stage actress: 1983–1991

Peil made a transition into musical theatre with the Minnesota Opera, performing the title role of Cole Porter's '' Kiss Me, Kate'' in 1983. Of that experience Peil stated, "That was when the light bulb went on. Doing ''Kiss Me, Kate'' with my beloved John Reardon made me realize I was a singing actor, not an acting singer."

She soon found herself on Broadway. In May 1983 she was cast in a national tour as the twelfth and final Anna Leonowens opposite Yul Brynner's monarch of Siam in a revival of ''The King and I''. The production toured the United States, closing on Broadway shortly before Brynner's death in 1985. In an interview in ''The New York Times'', she described how Brynner could barely walk from his dressing room to the stage, due to his radiation therapy to treat his cancer, but when it was time to go on he somehow managed; "gliding into the light, erect, with the body of a sleek jungle cat." She was nominated for a 1985 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She later returned to the role of Anna Leonowens for a revival of the musical at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut in 1990 with Stacy Keach as the King.

In 1986 Peil starred in Michel Tremblay's play ''The Impromptu of Outremont'' at the Lincoln Theater on the campus of the University of Hartford. She starred in the 1987 Off-Broadway musical ''Birds of Paradise''. In 1988 she portrayed Desiree Armfeldt in Stephen Sondheim’s ''A Little Night Music'' with the Opera Ensemble of New York. In 1989 she performed in William Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'' at The Public Theater under the direction of JoAnne Akalaitis. She portrayed President J.F.K.'s secretary, a central character in the musical, in Michael John LaChiusa's ''Over Texas'' with the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 1991. That same year she starred in Ödön von Horváth's '' Tales from the Vienna Woods'' at the Actors Theater of Louisville.

Career on screen and stage: 1992–2003

In 1993 Peil moved back to New York City after divorcing Jerry Kirkbride with whom she had raised two children, Gwyneth and Michael, in Leonia, New Jersey

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