For as long as she can remember, Mac Marino ’67 has found her home in the theater. Growing up in North Little Rock, she caught the acting bug early, first as the “nightbeam” in her elementary school’s production of “Pinocchio”, then as the wicked queen in “Snow White.”
“By age seven, I was a diva,” she laughs. “Theater was my passion. I was going to be an actress.”
Her father, the town’s postmaster, wasn’t quite as sure. He gently asked what she planned to do for money.
“Realistically, my thought was ‘not act,’” she recalls.
When Marino enrolled at the University of Central Arkansas, theater wasn’t yet offered as a major or minor. Instead, she pursued degrees in English, social science and education, choices that opened unexpected doors.
“I met three instructors who meaningfully influenced my life as they supported, questioned, listened and advised,” she said, naming Ralph Beherns, Eugene Nolte and H.B. Hardy. “They gave me the tools to be a lifelong learner and the courage to prove my worth.”
Even without a formal theater program, Marino found her way to the stage at UCA, making her debut in Federico García Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba.”
“At one point, I had to wail. Southern girls do not wail,” she says. “But, when the opening night curtain went up, I was a Spanish servant quite capable of wailing.”
The thrill of performing never left her. That comfort on stage became a skill she carried through life, especially during the years her husband’s Air Force career took their family across the world, from Alaska to England and beyond.
Along the way, Marino built a diverse professional life as a teacher and school dean. Acting, she says, helped her navigate each new chapter.
“It gave me the ability to interview well, to be what the interviewer needed to see.”
Today, Marino continues to support her alma mater through the UCA Theatre program, helping students experience professional productions beyond campus.
“The reason I fund these experiences isn’t to encourage them to pack a bag and head to Broadway,” she explains. “It’s so they can see what people mean when they talk about the theatre, to understand its power and quality at the highest level.”
In every sense, Mac Marino has kept the curtain up on a life defined by learning, performance, and generosity. Even when life takes you far from the stage, the show can still go on.