Mame at the Tonys

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Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 12:28am

I once saw footage of "Mame" from the musical of the same name being performed at the Tonys. I'm pretty sure it was from the '83 revival but I can't be positive.

Can anyone confirm/deny? And if anyone has that footage I'd like to do a trade or something.

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 10:40am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilV5K8tw_6o

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 2:12pm

Don't know about Tony footage, but I saw the show in it's pre-broadway run at the Academy of Music in Philly. It was terrific. Anne Francine was a hilarious Vera.

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 3:13pm

??? Bea Arthur was the original Broadway Vera. Anne Francine replaced her on Broadway.

Jane Connell, Bea Arthur and Angela Lansbury:
re: Mame at the Tonys

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 7:30pm

Yes, Brody, I know that. I'm sorry...I should have written the pre-Broadway run of the early 80s revival.

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/9/08 at 7:38pm

Mame

George Gershwin Theatre, (7/24/1983 - 8/28/1983)
Preview: Jul 20, 1983 Total Previews: 7
Opening: Jul 24, 1983
Closing: Aug 28, 1983 Total Performances: 41

Opening Night Cast

Angela Lansbury Mame Dennis
Jane Connell Agnes Gooch
Anne Francine Vera Charles

I don't think the youtube clip is from the revival.

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:12pm

IIRC the YouTube clip is just a one-off performance Angie and Bea did in the late '80's.

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:37pm

I think you are talking the clip where she walks down a set of stairs in a fur whilst actors dressed as butlers sing "Mame" and she eventually winds up dancing with the then mayor of NYC.

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re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:41pm

Yes, that's the clip that he must be referring to. It's a good clip and Angela is quite surprised when he shows up at the end of the number.

#10

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:49pm

Wow, either I was asleep, or I must have blinked in 1983 and totally missed that revival. I don't recall that happening at all. Only 41 performances? Was that the original "limited run" planned?

#11

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 4:32pm

No, not the actual "limited run". I think I read somewhere that the economic times of the early '80s had something to do with the show's unsuccessful run

#12

re: Mame at the Tonys

Posted: 8/10/08 at 4:40pm

The 1983 Mame revival was a national tour that producer Mitch Leigh hastily booked on Broadway to capitalize on the Jerry Herman renaissance that was occurring with La Cage aux Folles, which was a huge hit in Boston and about to open on Broadway. There was no time to build an advance or promote it properly. Even the Playbill didn't have the show's artwork - just black printer's type that said "MAME" (you can see it used in that YouTube clip earlier in this thread, even though that appearance was a one-off that Lansbury and Arthur did for the 1987 Tony Awards). After some chilly reviews, particularly from Frank Rich, the Mame revival died in about a month. I remember seeing it at a Saturday matinee with maybe 50 other people in the Gershwin. A consummate professional, Lansbury still gave it her all.

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