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Mame
 Original Broadway Poster | |
| Music | Jerry Herman |
| Lyrics | Jerry Herman |
| Book | Jerome Lawrence Robert Edwin Lee |
| Basis | Novel by Patrick Dennis Auntie Mame |
| Productions | 1966 Broadway 1969 West End 1983 Broadway revival |
Mame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.
Originally titled "My Best Girl", it is based on the 1955 novel "Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play, by Lawrence and Lee, that had starred Rosalind Russell.
Set in New York and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian, Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."
Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her.
They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.
In 1958, a film titled Auntie Mame, based on the play, was released by Warner Brothers once again starring Rosalind Russell in the title role.
Russell was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal.
The musical opened on Broadway in 1966, starring Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur.
The production became a hit and spawned a 1974 film with Lucille Ball in the title role and Beatrice Arthur reprising her supporting role, as well as a London production, a Broadway revival, and a 40th anniversary revival at the Kennedy Center in 2006.
The musical was inspired by the success of the 1956 Broadway comedy and subsequent 1958 film version starring Rosalind Russell, as well as the 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis.
Patrick Dennis wrote several more comic novels, including a sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, and "Little Me", which was made into a Broadway musical starring Sid Caesar.
The success of that musical may have prompted Lawrence and Lee to turn Mame into a musical.
Mary Martin turned down the title role, and after numerous actresses had been considered, the part went to Angela Lansbury.
Jerry Herman tried to cast Judy Garland, and wrote the show with her in mind.
He was talked out of it by her managers who thought she could not handle the stress of eight shows a week on Broadway.
The musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on May 24, 1966.
Three years later, it transferred to The Broadway Theatre, where it remained until closing on January 3, 1970.
Between the two venues, it ran a total of 1,508 performances and five previews.
The musical was directed by Gene Saks, choreographed by Onna White with scenic design by William and Jean Eckart, costume design by Robert Mackintosh, lighting design by Tharon Musser and orchestrations by Philip J. Lang.
Besides Angela Lansbury as Mame, the cast included Beatrice Arthur as Vera Charles, Frankie Michaels as Patrick, Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch, and Willard Waterman (who had played Claude Upson in the 1958 film) as Dwight Babcock.
Lansbury, Arthur and Michaels all won Tony Awards, while Saks, White, the writers, Herman, and set designers William and Jean Eckart all received nominations.
Celeste Holm, Ann Miller, Jane Morgan, and Janis Paige succeeded Lansbury in the title role.
Lansbury left the Broadway production on March 30, 1968, on a limited US tour while it was still playing on Broadway.
The tour played in San Francisco starting in April 1968 and also played Los Angeles.
The 1969 West End production of Mame starred Ginger Rogers in the title role.
It ran for a fourteen month engagement at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with a special performance for Queen Elizabeth.
Angela Lansbury lead the second National Tour after her first Broadway replacement Celeste Holm lead the first.
Susan Hayward appeared in the Las Vegas production, while such stars as Ann Sothern, Janet Blair, Elaine Stritch, Patrice Munsel, Carol Lawrence and Juliet Prowse have appeared in stock or touring productions.
Despite the presence of Lansbury, a much-heralded Broadway revival was ultimately unsuccessful.
After seven previews, it opened on July 24, 1983 at the George Gershwin Theatre, where it ran for only 41 performances.
Also in 1983, a Mexican production of the play was performed in Mexico City with Silvia Pinal in the title role and Aida Pierce as Vera.
Paper Mill Playhouse produced the musical starring Christine Ebersole.
The Kennedy Center production ran from June 1, 2006 until July 2, and starred Christine Baranski as Mame, Harriet Sansom Harris as Vera, with Emily Skinner as Gooch.[7]
A 1974 film version of the musical starred Lucille Ball, Bea Arthur as Vera and Robert Preston as Beauregard.
Although it attracted an audience it was considered disappointing by the critics because Lucille Ball was considered not up to the musical demands of the title role.
The madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian, intellectual arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother's 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care.
Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, instilling in him her favorite credo, "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons-of-bitches are starving to death."
Also figuring in the story line are Mame's personal secretary and nanny-in-law, Agnes Gooch; Mame's "bosom buddy" Vera Charles, the baritone actress and world's greatest lush; and Dwight Babcock, the stuffy and officious executor of Patrick's father's estate.
Mame loses her fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and tries her hand at a number of jobs, with comically disastrous results, but perseveres with good humor and an irrepressible sense of style.
Mame eventually meets and marries Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern aristocrat with a Georgia plantation called Peckerwood. The trustees of Mame's late brother (Patrick's father) force Mame to send Patrick off to boarding school (the fictional St Boniface, in Massachusetts), and Mame and Beau travel the world on an endless honeymoon that finally ends when Beau falls to his death while mountain climbing. Mame returns home a wealthy widow to discover that Patrick has become a priggish snob engaged to an equally priggish debutante, Gloria Upson, from a bigoted family. Mame brings Patrick to his senses just in time to introduce him to the woman who eventually will become his wife. As the story ends, Mame is preparing to take Patrick's young son Peter to India (Siberia in the 1974 film version) with her usual flair.
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Eydie Gormé had a huge success with her recording of "If He Walked into My Life", for which she received a 1967 Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance. "We Need a Little Christmas" is a well known holiday tune and can be heard in several Disney Christmas parades.
The cut song "Camouflage", between Mame Dennis and Vera Charles before the discussion of whether Patrick could stay with Mame, was released on the 1999 CD release, performed by Jerry Herman and Alice Borden.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Tony Award | Best Musical | Nominated | |
| Best Composer and Lyricist | Jerry Herman | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Angela Lansbury | Won | ||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Frankie Michaels | Won | ||
| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Bea Arthur | Won | ||
| Best Direction of a Musical | Gene Saks | Nominated | ||
| Best Choreography | Onna White | Nominated | ||
| Best Scenic Design | William and Jean Eckart | Nominated | ||
| Theatre World Award | Jerry Lanning | Won | ||
| 1967 | Sheila Smith | Won | ||
- Auntie Mame, the fictional novel by Patrick Dennis.
References
- ^ Allmusic's review of Mame
- ^ " 'Mame' " AngelaLansbury.net, accessed December 31, 2011
- ^ Zolotow, Sam (December 29, 1967). The New York Times: p. 17.
- ^ "Mame Realigning Cast for Departing Star". New York Times: p. 39. March 13, 1968.
- ^ Windeler, Robert (June 29, 1968). "Angela Lansbury a Hit in Coast 'Mame'". New York Times: p. 19.
- ^ Rich, Frank. "Stage: Angela Lansbury Stars In 'Mame' Revival", The New York Times, July 25, 1983
- ^ "Christine Baranski 'Mame' Will Not Play Broadway", Playbill, 2006
[edit] External links
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