MARY
“There is a story of us that has a life of its own, but it’s not our story.”
-Mary Kay Letourneau
MARY is a musical inspired by Mary Kay Letourneau, the 34-year-old schoolteacher who in the mid-90s had an affair with her 12-year-old former student, Vili Fualaau. The affair became a two-decade-long relationship that saw the pair eventually wed and have two children.
In telling the story of how these two individuals came together, MARY examines the nature of power dynamics, the influence of modern media, and raises questions about who gets to determine societal taboos.
Playwright/lyricist Melisa Tien and I have been developing this project from its beginnings as a workshop assignment in 2015. Following this was a reading in 2017, and a series of song and scene previews at cabaret venues throughout 2018 and 2019. In 2020 further development of this project was put on hold due to the pandemic.
Melanie Long as Mary at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, August 2019.
Melanie Long and Karl Josef Co as Mary and Vili at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, August 2019.
the song that sparked it all
I met co-writer Melisa Tien in the 2015 Composer-Librettist Studio at New Dramatists. We became fascinated by this unlikely couple while researching a project for the studio. The assignment? Create a scene for a character whom the audience does not want to like.
We tossed around a few ideas: what is a subject that at face value society condemns, but upon deeper examination could be slightly morally ambiguous? Remembering the bizarre case of Mary Kay, we began to dig into her story, and became fascinated by the way both she and Vili have insisted on the legitimacy of their relationship for the last 20 years. We wrote One Kiss, Mary Kay’s plea for society to see her for herself and not judge her by her actions alone.
Tracy Michailidis and Napat Mingkwanyuen at the Cornelia Street Cafe, January 2018.
this is the story of Mary and Vili that few people know
2017 Cast & Creative Team: (back L to R) Lisa Timmel, Kim Brockington, Eileen Rivera, Austin Ku, Erin Anderson, Tim Nicolai, Shanna Lesniak, Jonathan Kim Phillips, Michael Tisdale, Kara E. Young; (front L to R) Maria Mileaf, Melisa Tien, Matt Frey.
The more Melisa and I became immersed in their story, the more we became determined to create a full-length musical treatment of the Letourneau-Fualaau relationship. This led to a first draft and workshop reading in 2017 at New Dramatists.
Along the way, we’ve discovered that our collaborators, performers, and audiences have also become fascinated with the moral complexities of this unconventional romance. MARY investigates the how and the why of this illicit affair-turned-relationship and requires us all to re-examine our preconceived notions of what love can be.