Second Tony win caps Melrose native’s shift to producing | ExclusivePortrait of Ruth Thompson Ruth ThompsonWicked Local/USA Today
After putting her theater career on hold years ago for motherhood, Marylee Fairbanks stepped out of her comfort zone by returning to the creative workforce as a co-producer.
It appears to have been a wise decision.
During last month's 79th Annual Tony Awards, Fairbanks took home the coveted award for Best Musical as co-producer for the musical adaptionof Schmigadoon! The win marks her second major Tony milestone in three years; she was honored in 2024 for Best Musical after co-producing the stage adaption of The Outsiders.
“Winning this second Tony is an absolute dream,” said Fairbanks, who is originally from Melrose and now lives in Boxford. "But my heart will always belong to the local stage, where I found my voice.”
From a horrible birthday to a leading voice on theater
Fairbanks, an Emerson College alum, said hers is not just a success story of actor-turned-producer, but more of a middle-aged empty nester who had to reevaluate what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
My story really starts on my 55th birthday,” said Fairbanks, now 60. “It was a horrible birthday. I had just gotten over COVID, and my son and only child had graduated high school and was packing up for a year away in Europe.”
Boston company of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, and with the Boston Symphony Orchestraand Boston Pops — Fairbanks found herself at a crossroads.
“My whole career had sort of dissolved into motherhood,” she said. “I loved it and I did other things — I had a yoga company and taught yoga workshops, but it wasn’t my true love. Theater was my true passion.”
She went to the beach by herself and watched the sunset.
“I made a promise that from that day on, if an opportunity comes my way and my first reaction is fear, my decision has to be yes," Fairbanks recalled. "The only exceptions were roller-coasters and skydiving.”
After co-founding a podcast, "Stages," with fellow Tony winner Stephanie J. Block in 2021 and becoming a regular voice on PBS’s Stories from the Stage, Fairbanks shifted to producing.
How Marylee Fairbanks moved from acting to producing on Broadway
Fairbanks enjoys wearing a co-producer hat, and wishes she had understood more about it when she was in her 30s.
Early on, though, she did have misgivings.
“I definitely thought, ‘What am I doing, I don’t know how to do this,’” Fairbanks said. “My husband told me I just have to jump in and ask questions and don’t pretend to know things I don’t.”
She chose to work on Schmigadoon!, which is a tribute to the classic musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, because “it’s a wonderful silly clever piece of theater,” she said.
“The world feels very dark and negative now, so if I had the opportunity to focus my energy onto something bright and joyful, maybe others would be able to focus on that too,” Fairbanks said.
The story follows two New York doctors who are on a couple’s retreat and get lost in the woods. They are arguing while walking across a bridge into the land of Schmigadoon, a musical theater land where they're not allowed to leave until they find the meaning of true love.
“I love the show,” Fairbanks said. “There’s an element of kindness that happens in the theater. When you watch strangers laughing together and then, during intermission, turn to talk to each other to laugh about what they just saw, you think this show is doing its job of bringing people together.”
What it takes to work on Broadway
Fairbanks didn't return to acting because it's “too exhausting,” she said.
“It’s like running a marathon," she said. "I am eternally grateful for the years I got to spend on stage. But it’s a lot of work — keeping your voice up, maintaining the energy.”
Since that time as a child when her mother took her to see My Fair Lady in Boston, theater will always hold a special place in Fairbanks' heart.
“I remember hearing the orchestra, seeing the ornamentation of the theater, and thinking, this is really someone’s job?”
Fairbanks is happy with where she's now in her career and the decisions she has made.
“I forced myself into very uncomfortable positions and learned to fall and make mistakes,” she said. “But I taught myself what I could teach myself, and the outcome has been really positive and really wonderful.”
Fairbanks stresses it's never too late to reinvent yourself.
“It’s not about finding the old versions of ourselves, it’s about embracing the melded versions and highlighting the parts that keep us questioning.”
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