MAME REVIVAL!!! Needs to happen!- Page 3

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 8/19/16 at 3:58am

Gonna set this here. Krakowski as Mame. Tina Fey as Vera. 

[The Other One]

Posted: 8/19/16 at 9:01am

When I think of someone bringing Dixie back to Dixieland, I don't think of Audra.  It is hard to imagine her wanting to play Mame, but her casting might work in an all-black version of the show.

Sutton Foster might be the best of all the choices listed here.  She has wacky comic timing, can be gawky, can be elegant, can sing like no one's business and is a terrific dancer.  But I don't think it's a great show to begin with, so it's a risky proposition no matter who you cast.

Updated On: 8/19/16 at 09:01 AM

[Jazzman714]

Posted: 8/19/16 at 9:37am

Kind of surprised that no one has mentioned Faith Prince yet.

[bryan2]

Posted: 8/19/16 at 10:42am

Faith Prince is a Vera...and would be a very good one...she really doesn't have the Mame quality at least I have never seen it...always great as a 2nd lead though

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/19/16 at 11:00am

bryan2 said: "Faith Prince is a Vera...and would be a very good one...she really doesn't have the Mame quality at least I have never seen it...always great as a 2nd lead though

Agree.  Bells Are Ringing was not her greatest moment, in a role that seemed perfect for her.  she seems too matronly for me too.  i don't think glamour when i think of her.

"

 

[Peter2]

Posted: 8/24/16 at 4:20pm

I'm sure I'm not the only one who, when it was announced Bette Midler was going to star as Dolly, thought that Mame could be a better fit for her. She's got all that warmth and personality and craziness and fun!

 

However, I love the idea of Toni Collette in the role. Or in any role that brings her to Broadway. (But they better use the Philip J. Lang orchestrations. He was wildly uneven, but Mame is his best work, and they should honor it!)

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/24/16 at 4:27pm

While I agree that Bette Midler has that bubbly/eccentric personality needed for a role like "Mame", she unfortunately has already aged out of that role. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/24/16 at 11:07pm

And I continue to believe that the optimal Mame is going to be able to dance.  While Midler would get a lot right, she couldn't dance Mame 20 years ago.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/24/16 at 11:51pm

Do you think they'd be able to resist the urge, in this fictitious revival, to overhaul the book? I know it's not very good, mostly because of its rather episodic nature (I enjoy the show a great deal, but it plays like a series of vignettes only loosely related to each other), but I'm not sure how anyone could make it better without completely starting over. Whatever the problems with the book are, that score more than makes up for it and deserves to be heard again!

And yes, Mame should be able to dance very well, otherwise That's How Young I Feel doesn't work. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 9:23am

I'm more or less in favor of revising the book- I'd love to see it more closely resemble the satirical dark comedy of the novels, but I realize that tone is at odds with the frankly cuddly musical score.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 9:38am

adamgreer said: "Do you think they'd be able to resist the urge, in this fictitious revival, to overhaul the book? I know it's not very good, mostly because of its rather episodic nature (I enjoy the show a great deal, but it plays like a series of vignettes only loosely related to each other), but I'm not sure how anyone could make it better without completely starting over. Whatever the problems with the book are, that score more than makes up for it and deserves to be heard again!

And yes, Mame should be able to dance very well, otherwise That's How Young I Feel doesn't work. 

 

...or the title number, where Mame kicks as high as the ladies of the chorus.  Take that away and the number doesn't have the same level of excitement.  There is also dancing in It's Today and Open a New Window, which would be easier to fake.

Re the book, I think there are some random lines that could be updated, e.g., 'BATS', but it does take place over a number of years, so the episodic nature would be hard to eliminate.  I don't think it is a problem, however.  The real challenge is casting the three female leads.

 

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 9:58am

I saw the headline and was immediately brought back to the hideous production I saw at the Kennedy Center 10 years ago!

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 10:40am

Catherine Zeta-Jones would be a fantastic Mame!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 4:37pm

DottieD'Luscia said: "I saw the headline and was immediately brought back to the hideous production I saw at the Kennedy Center 10 years ago!

i saw that also.  What a disappointment.  Christine Baranski was miscast -- she should have been Vera -- and Vera (I am forgetting her name) was terrible (I am not a fan, ergo forgetting her name).  Emily Skinner wasn't great, either.  and the sets were hideous, almost depressingly so.

"

 

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/25/16 at 5:36pm

@Jarethan, Harriett Harris played Vera.  I blocked her out, too!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/26/16 at 6:26pm

DottieD'Luscia said: "@Jarethan, Harriett Harris played Vera.  I blocked her out, too!

 

Yup, that's the one.  She was more suited to Mrs. Upton that Vera; I guess if you have Christine Baranski playing Mame, you need to do something with Vera...but she really was bad.  When it was revived in DC, Baranski was on a campaign for it to come to the Palace for a limited engagement; I was so glad it never happened, because it would have flopped and been the deathnell for a real Mame revival in the next 30 years.

Also, to another poster...i think Catherine Zeta Jones is a very good idea.

 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 8/26/16 at 6:48pm

What about Leslie Margerita? 

[little_sally]

Posted: 8/27/16 at 5:10pm

What about Maya Rudolph? 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/27/16 at 5:22pm

broadwayboy223 said: "What about Leslie Margerita? 

 

As what?

 

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 8/27/16 at 7:55pm

DottieD'Luscia said: "@Jarethan, Harriett Harris played Vera.  I blocked her out, too!

 

"

I disagree, while I did not care for the production, I thought Harriet Harris was hysterical in the role.

 

[binau]

Posted: 8/27/16 at 8:46pm

""Bernadette would SLAY "If he Walked Into My Life"!!!"

I think she might have slain it 15 years ago at the latest; at 68, her voice is, I believe, no longer sufficiently strong or flexible to sing and act this role even 6 times a week."

I don't know the score but just listening to that particular song, Bernadette could pull it off. My worry is it so obviously plays to her strengths that I know exactly how she would sing every phrase without hearing it - it will be Bernadette doing what she has done for decades. But I find it hard to believe she doesn't have the capability. Based on her concert performances, Bernadette's voice hasn't changed much in the last 5 years. To my ears, her voice experienced substantial ageing/degradation between the years of 1995 and 2005 but has remained pretty stable since. 

But then again, in qolbinau's eyes, she's young, she's beautiful. In qolbinau's eyes, she doesn't get older. She's still the princess, still the prize. And alllll I ever dreamed she'd be, is starring as Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd for meeee..and qolbinau will be there every performance to seeee...

Updated On: 8/27/16 at 08:46 PM

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 8/27/16 at 9:52pm

Jarethan said: "broadwayboy223 said: "What about Leslie Margerita? 

 

As what?

 

 

"

Mame. She certainly meets the dance requirements people seem to mention and she can sing.

[BwayLeadman]

Posted: 8/28/16 at 12:40am

I've Always mentioned Megan Mullally when a Mame revival is talked about. But I'm also liking the idea of Jane Krakowski. Maybe Jane and Megan as Mame and Vera ??

[10086sunset]

Posted: 8/28/16 at 12:44am

This show is clearly overdue for a revival...

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 8/28/16 at 12:54am

Mame, as a character, personifies a term I've heard much more as I've entered my 30s: PANK-- Professional Aunt, No Kids. Mame is textbook definition of a PANK, with her humor and personality. You need an actress that could convincingly be somewhat glamorous, but still show a transition as they age. Jane Krakowski sounds fabulous in my book, but so do Megan Mullally and Ana Gasteyer. If I think only about theater actors, I keep going back to Lisa Howard and Stephanie J. Block. Block seems more logical, but I think how Howard presents herself works. Thinking about her in Spelling Bee brought her into my mind and...I don't know. I think she's an under appreciated actress, for sure.