Mame needs to command the stage... And have a voice that doesn't sound like Minnie Mouse.
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Though she would be a somewhat unorthodox choice, Vicki Clark would be a knockout as Mame. Put her opposite Beth Leavel (who has already done the show) as Vera and you'd have a pair for the ages.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Well, to say that Ms. Peters wouldnt sell tickets to tourists is absurd, sorry. She's a huge draw for FOLLIES, and she probably would be as well for MAME.
But no. Next, please.
Frankly, I dont think producers and directors know how to stage these big, over-the-top musicals. We'd have to see it "re-imagined" somehow because otherwise it would cost a small fortune to produce. So the set would be reduced to some sort of single-room environment with a tree in the middle of it whose leaves show the passing of time or some other piece of Euro-trash nonsense. No thanks. Better to leave that show in happy memmory than have it brought back to a fitfully damaged re-awakening.
Peters is a huge draw, even for tourists - In the right show. You can't judge her selling power on FOLLIES, that show was never going to sell out completely unless it starred Madonna, Lady GaGa, Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. And even then I'm sure you'd be able to get last minute tickets somehow.
It's not fair to judge someone's appeal based on one show. Just look at Harry Connick in CLEAR DAY right now. The man is an enormous star but couldn't sell out that theater if he stood out on the street corner selling tickets, himself.
(And I love the Jones/Leavel idea!). Even more so I would love to see Charles Busch do it. I loved his take on Auntie Mame and think he and Julie Halston would be amazing, if only for a one night benefit of that show.
If anyone should play Mame it's Marin Mazzie. She may not be box office clout, but she could act the hell out of the role, sing the score and look smashing in the costumes.
Since she is very well known on The Good Wife.. Give Mame to Christine Baranski .... She did it at the Kennedy Center a few years ago.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
Christine Ebersole seemed like she was completely inspired casting when she was announced to do the show at Papermill back in the late nineties, but it was rather universally agreed upon that she just didn't quite soar in the role (her Vera was Kelly Bishop, who was terrific.) Similarly, Christine Baranski didn't work in the Kennedy Center production either- as one of the reviews said, she seemed like a second banana wearing ill-fitting clothes. She's much more of a Vera than a Mame, and that was the problem.
The absolutely perfect commercial casting for a revival of MAME remains Bette Midler (Goldie Hawn would have also been incredible,) but the odds of her ever returning to theater are few and far between. There was talk of her doing a television version for CBS following her GYPSY, but, like the Barbra Streisand film adaptation, it never came to pass.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Okay, she'd never do it, not as even a limited run, but mentioning Midler made me realize who would also be perfect for it.
Dont laugh.
Madonna.
God knows she's old enough. She has the voice. She'd be a fabulous draw. And let's face it: it doesnt take a whole lot of acting skill to carry off the role — she's pretty much a one-note character. And cant you imagine the billboards?
Jerry Herman told a friend of mine that Garland was his dream casting when he was writing the show, but she just wasn't well enough to do 8 shows per week reliably.
(ETA He was NOT, of course, complaining to have ended up with Lansbury. Just stating who he originally imagined in the part.)