Ummm. Wasn't there a fox hunt in Mame? And didn't Mame turn the whole thing around by rescuing the fox, passing the hounds, and bringing back the fox alive? Didn't that change the face of fox hunting and bring back a new gentility to the sport of the hunt? Isn't that what all that "you brought style" and "You came, you saw, you conquered and absolutely nothing is the same" all about? Funny. I never thought it was that complex an idea that a Yankee taught the Southerners something new and her charm managed to charm them unlike any other Yankee had ever been able to before.
"I'd rather spend time in Liverpool than our South."
Ahhhhhhh....
*a light goes on in the dim recesses of Scripps' mind*
So if Mame were to show up in Blood Brothers she'd stop Mickey from shooting Eddie, get jobs for all the Scallys and arrange contraception for "our Donna Marie who's already got three."
My very first Broadway show was a matinee of Mame just after it opened. That night I saw Hello, Dolly. If I had gotten hit by a bus that night it would have taken the undertaker at least two days to wipe the grin off my face.
Soon after that they passed a law that no one should ever be allowed to see Mame and Hello, Dolly in the same day.
theatre kid, your guess is right, except for one thing. La Cage had not yet been created -- that coupled with Mame or Hello, Dolly would have been the Gayest day ever --- LOL. Is now the time to say that the very next day I saw Ethel Merman in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun??
The success of the piece truly hinges on who is cast in the title role.
Over the years the show has morphed into a sad showpiece for past their prime personalities hungry for a little diva worship.
I think the REAL secret to casting Mame is to have a TOP NOTCH actress in the role.
I "think" I remember Angela Lansbury commenting on other actresses playing the role. She said that they tended to play MAME! while she (Lansbury) played the character Mame Dennis.
It's a fun musical comedy with some brilliant songs ("It's Today", "Open a New Window", "Bosom Buddies" and espeically "If He Walked into my Life") and has what I consider to be Jerry Herman's very best score. It should definately see a revival. It's about a free-spirited, non-comformist that doesnt accept bigotry or hatred. We need that nowadays.
Right before Angela Lansbury began her long stint on MURDER, SHE WROTE, she starred in a Broadway revival of MAME. It was a lavish, faithful production. Lansbury was as vibrant, glamorous, and exciting as ever, and ...
Nobody came.
I personally like the show, but for it to work today, I think you'd need to stage and cast it in a fresh way. This might sound mad, but I think it would be very interesting to see MAME given a more intimate production with fluid staging, less sets and a smaller chorus that would focus on the well-constructed script, tuneful, clever songs and the central relationship between Mame and Patrick.
According to MANY critics and written accounts of the production, the '83 revival was anything but lavish. "Cheap" "Bus and Truck" were often used to describe the show's design.
I've always felt that the show was too much a watered down version of the original Lawrence and Lee play.
A fresh look at the book wouldn't hurt. I even think THATS HOW YOUNG I FEEL could work with some minor book adjustments.
Having thought about it a bit more, I'm becoming uncomfortable with the Mame/Blood Brothers combo. I think the scally's would steal her mink and sell it down the pub. Gooch would probably get knocked up again. At least Vera would have the commonsense to stay at home.
Better to send Dolly Levi to Easington to find a new Mrs for Billy Eliott's Dad. Updated On: 8/16/08 at 07:51 AM