Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:35am
Here is a rather commonly circulated video. It is a 29 minute home movie bootleg shot in 1966 of Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur, Jane Connell and the cast of Mame. It usually comes with the Cast Album patched on top, as home movies were silent. However, I have dubbed it and synchronised with the soundboard recording from the 1968 Los Angeles tour. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0FGdLYIUG0
Posted: 5/3/15 at 10:43am
Once again, you are doing a wonderful job. I was born in the early 90's so obviously I never seen these productions, but watching the footage makes me really happy.
Posted: 5/3/15 at 10:50am
Thank you. I wish they'd filmed numbers such as "We Need a Little Christmas" and "Gooch's Song" as well, but at least we've got these. There is also some separate footage Don Pippin (the show's conductor) filmed during a dress rehearsal. It includes footage shot from the wings, backstage and candids with the actors before the show. I wish I had it....
Posted: 5/3/15 at 4:49pm
If only she had starred in the movie.....
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:09pm
I saw her in the ill-fated revival in the early 80s. Lansbury is extraordinary here, her vocals (no body mics) were full out, later in the run, she sang as strongly as when it opened. What's startling to observe here is how demanding the role was as first conceived, the original staging requiring true triple threat skill. I'd forgotten that (the 11 o'clock spot, or rather one of two), "That's How Young I Feel," made such demands on Mame. Watching Lansbury's unflagging energy in the number you realize: she really danced. But through the whole show, she moved like no other Mame. So many stock and other productions minimize the dance requirements (I saw Edie Adams, who didn't dance at all). The original production was a model of craft, designed for a performer at the top of her game. This remarkable footage proves it.
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:14pm
I never saw Lansbury in it. By the time I got to it Janis Page played Mame. Have no clue of she was good or not in the role.Too far back to remember.
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:28pm
Worth noting: Lansbury was 41 here, in 1966. So many people 55-60 are consistently mentioned for revivals. The show, properly done, is a workout. I'm not suggesting that older singing and dancing actors can't play it, and well. Yet it's not an easy part to nail, the comedy, the style, and a big sing. When the dancing is factored it, it's quite a challenge. And 8 times a week. Lansbury herself said the matinee days were killers. Could Mame be 41 today? We might think her too young. But if it is revived, certainly it might be more electric with someone who ignites it anew, as the 40 year-old Lansbury was when she took it on.
Updated On: 5/3/15 at 09:28 PM
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:29pm
Seeing this footage is truly amazing!
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:35pm
It it Beatrice Arthur in the footage? I don't believe it's her voice.
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:38pm
Isn't that Ann Francine? That's the Vera I saw.
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:47pm
Auggie27,
That early 80's revival was my first Broadway show. It changed my life forever. I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Lansbury backstage after Deuce. Gracious and lovely, she made me feel like I was the single most important person she had to see that day. What an honor to tell the person who was the key to a life-long passion what she meant to me!
Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:56pm
I guess it is Anne Francine. Flora Simpson Reilly herself!
I was lucky enough to have seen her in Anything Goes at the Viv Beaumont.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 2:15am
No, the film was shot in the early 1966 production, I'd say after the Tonys. So, it's Bea Arthur as Vera. However, it was Anne Francine in the 1968 tour, so I just had to dub Ms. Arthur with Ms. Francine's voice. It's a shame that except for a short recording from opening night, there isn't a full recording of the original 1966 Broadway cast.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 6:50am
A really obscure detail question: Did Mame's "It's Today!" costume change at some point in the run? I thought the original (photographed in LIFE?) was with straps, yet here her arms are covered. In the revival (she was 15 years older), she wore a more a demure set of pajamas that created the same overall effect.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 7:26am
Yes Auggie27, I believe it did, but I don't remember when, why or what the differences are at the moment. I just remember it had straps first, and then sleeves. But there was also a fully different costume which had a skirt (I have a picture somewhere, maybe I'll find it).
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:12am
Another wonderful piece of work! Thank you again.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:22am
Thank you so very much for sharing with us! Oh, how I wish that Dame Angela's Mame was recorded professionally.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:29am
So do I. However, if I'm not mistaken, the 1983 revival was in fact professionally filmed by TOFt. Plus, there are two full video bootlegs: one from the middle of the run, and the other from closing night. There is also an audio bootleg from closing night too.
By the way, there is also a second set of footage from 1966, shot by Don Pippin during dress rehearsals. It includes backstage and candid footage from before the show. I wish I could find it...
Updated On: 5/4/15 at 08:29 AM
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:32am
I've seen the Don Pippin footage of the title song, which I believe is intact in its entirety, but employing the OBC as a dub. Could be wrong.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:38am
Auggie27, that could be possible, but could it be you are mistaking it for the Hello Dolly number performed at the White House in 1965? Then again, the Don Pippin footage was dubbed with the cast recording, but I don't know if the full number was shot.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 9:36am
1966 -- I was in college in Ohio as a theatre major. For Thanksgiving I hitched an overnight ride with some New York City students going home who dropped me at the GW Bridge on my very first trip ever to NYC. Arrived Wed, the day before Thanksgiving at about 4 AM, got a couple hours sleep at the YMCA and worked my way down Broadway stopping at The Winter Garden and bought a $6 ticket to Mame -- "some new show by the guy who wrote Hello, Dolly." Saw the matinee that day. I was in heaven.
(incidentally I saw Hello, Dolly that night and Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman the next day).
Posted: 5/4/15 at 9:38am
The hat trick. Well done.
Posted: 5/4/15 at 3:58pm
No, I'm sure it's the title song to "Mame," likely on the NY stage.
Edit/Update: I just found it. It's the 1983 revival, using the OBC recording as a dub. Uploaded March 18, 2009 by Angelalansburyfan.
Updated On: 5/4/15 at 03:58 PM
Posted: 5/5/15 at 1:12am
Right, I'm sorry. It's strange though, because that video does have it's own audio as well.
