Mame will not play Broadway :-(

[tthomas76]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:53am

I didn't see this already posted... I'm sad....

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/100555.html

Christine Baranski Mame Will Not Play Broadway
By Andrew Gans
27 Jun 2006


The Kennedy Center production of Mame — starring Tony Award winner Christine Baranski in the title role — will not have a New York run. A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center confirmed to Playbill.com that the current production of the Jerry Herman musical will not transfer to Broadway. A Broadway run had been under consideration after the musical ends its run at the Kennedy Center July 2.

The New York Post recently reported that the Nederlander Organization and producer Fran Weissler attended a performance of the classic musical in D.C. The Nederlanders and the Weisslers (Fran and husband Barry) hoped to co-produce a limited Broadway engagement at the Palace Theatre, beginning July 15. However, the cost of producing the musical — with a possible running cost of $600,000 per week — seems to have prevented the D.C. to N.Y.C. transfer.

Mame began previews at the Kennedy Center May 27 and officially opened June 1. The cast also features Harriet Harris as Vera Charles, Emily Skinner as Agnes Gooch, Jeff McCarthy as Beauregard, Max von Essen as the adult Patrick, Alan Muraoko as Ito, Harrison Chad as Young Patrick, Michael L. Forrest as Babcock, Ed Dixon as Lindsay Woolsey/Uncle Jeff, Mary Stout as Mother Burnside, Harry A. Winter as Mr. Claude Upson, Ruth Gottschall as Mrs. Doris Upson/Madame B. and Ethan Langsdorf-Willoughby as Peter.

Mame, according to press notes, "follows the whirlwind adventures of an unconventional aunt and her nephew with a rogue's gallery of memorable characters - including the has-been actress Vera Charles, timid secretary Agnes Gooch, and southern gentleman Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside - plus encounters with proper society."

Mame, based on Patrick Dennis' novel "Auntie Mame," features a score by Jerry Herman and a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The original Broadway production opened in May 1966 at the Winter Garden Theatre with Angela Lansbury as Mame and Bea Arthur as Vera Charles. Both Lansbury and Arthur won Tony Awards for their work. A subsequent film version cast Lucille Ball as the vivacious Mame. The classic Herman score includes such tunes as "If He Walked Into My Life," "It's Today," "Open a New Window," "Mame," "Bosom Buddies" and "We Need a Little Christmas."

Mame plays Tuesday-Sunday evenings at 7:30 PM with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 PM. Tickets, priced $25-$90, are available by calling [phone] or [phone]. For more information visit www.kennedy-center.org.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:54am

very sad indeed!

i was so looking forward to that too...

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:55am

oh well...glad i saw it in DC when i did!

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:58am

What a shame. I was really hoping to be able to see this production. I am just disgusted that The f*cking Grinch gets a run and this doesnt. That pretty much speaks volumes about the current state of Broadway...

Updated On: 6/27/06 at 11:58 AM

[MCfan2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 11:58am

I'm sorry to hear this. I had hoped more people would get the chance to see it.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:01pm

It is a sad state of affairs when the likes of "Lestat", "Ring of Fire" and "The Grinch" are able to play Broadway and "Mame" is not!

[tthomas76]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:01pm

I REALLY wanted to catch it in DC but could not travel there during the run... It makes me sad that it's not coming... I do agree I would much rather "Mame" have a run on Broadway than the "Grinch"

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:02pm

This was probably the best decision. After seeing the production in DC, I don't think it would have done well on Broadway. I just hope cutie, Kevin Worley gets another show soon.

[OOTI2004]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:03pm

I am really upset now. I wanted to see this, but couldn't get to DC and now I'll never see it.

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:03pm

That's unfortunate, but best of luck to the cast and crew after the run ends!

[morosco]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:05pm

It's a shame the Kennedy Center can't/won't extend the run in DC. The Eisenhower Theatre appears to be dark the weeks after July 2nd.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:06pm

I'm surprised they didn't extend, because the show would continue to do well here (at least until August when things in DC really die down).

[Smaxie]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:20pm

So...now the question of the hour is: will the Palace be held for eight months or so for Legally Blonde?

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:23pm

Smaxie, there was talk that Doctor Dolittle was going to go in there too... so maybe it'll be that?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:27pm

I had heard that Dolittle was just going to stay on the road, since it's not setting the world on fire.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 12:49pm

I thought the production was a total delight. It is New York's loss. Once again proof that theater produced across the country can easily be equal or better to what is produced on Broadway.

[harrietharrisfan]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:23pm

It's really sad that it won't come to Broadway. There would've been a small chance I could see it. =(

Anyone knows about future projects of Harriet Harris or Christine Baranski?

[gustof777]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:32pm

oh that's too bad. i really want to see Max von Essen on broadway again!

[Mama Mo]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:34pm

I thought the show was fantastic and world's better than a whole lot of other things I've seen on B'way lately. (I thought Skinner was the only real weak link in the production.) I think it is definitely "Broadway-class" - by the old standards that this phrase used to mean. I feel bad for those of you who didn't get a chance to see it and I'm THRILLED that I'm seeing it one more time before it closes!

[AshleyBrownFan123]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:35pm

If doctor Dolittle does not do little (pun not intended), it will probably get a 3 month run at the Palace.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:39pm

It was a good production. Without a name that's going to have out-of-towners coming in by the busloads daily, I don't think the mentioned producers are wrong for balking at a $600,000 weekly nut.
It's too bad. Christine Baranski was actually a quite solid anchor in the show as Mame. Harriett Harris, while good, was terribly underutilized (I had no idea how small the role actually is!) and there are several wonderful supporting performances (Mary Stout = pure comic gold and Emily Skinner was fabulous).

Harrisfan, I do believe miss Sansom Harris is signed on for the next season of Desperate Housewives as a recurring, so she'll be off doing that.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:44pm

I am very sad that Mame is not coming to broadway, but even more sad hat you guys are saying that the grinch sucks, when NONE of you have really seen it. It is a delightful musical, and the fact that you feel entitled to critisize a show and label it as bad before you have seen it, is really disgusting.

[harrietharrisfan]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:45pm

I really hope she's doing another season of DH. In the most recent interview with her I read she wasn't sure if she's coming back for third season.

Hopefully she's doing theatre soon again.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 1:50pm

Dottie D'Luscia wrote:
"This was probably the best decision. After seeing the production in DC, I don't think it would have done well on Broadway"

I couldn't disagree more. I thought the production was wonderful in every way. I'm so glad that I managed to see it.

I also take issue with all the doomsayers who insist, based on the 1983 revival, that this MAME wouldn't have succeeded on Broadway. FWIW, the political climate in this country is much the same as it was in 1966-1970 when the show first played. We are mired in an overseas war where the US casualties are brought into our living rooms each night and a majority of Americans feel the country is on the wrong track. I think the time is perfect for the type of funny, clever, escapist entertainment MAME provides.

Contast that to the relatively sunny Morning in America, Ronald Reagan-era in 1983 when the mood of the country was much more upbeat. The revival of MAME closed just as LA CAGE was opening. Perhaps if MAME had been able to hang on longer, it would've been able to benefit from the newfound love of Jerry Herman (remember, he had not had a hit since the original production of MAME. DEAR WORLD, MACK & MABEL, and THE GRAND TOUR were all flops).

It was a terrific show and it's a shame New York won't get a chance to see it. I was amazed at how much the audience laughed at all those old lines gay boys have been tossing around in bars for years ('If I kept my hair natural like yours, I'd be bald'). Despite the critical carping, it was a real audience-pleaser that deserved the transfer to Broadway.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 6/27/06 at 2:12pm

Are you all out of your minds?!?!?!?!? DC's Mame was the WORST production of Mame I have ever seen, and Mame is one of my all-time favorite shows. Baranski was just awful, not an ounce of warmth to her, and she absolutely did not "get" Mame. Harris was embarrassing and way over the top, Skinner lost every laugh ... the entire cast was miscast, the choreography was laughable and had nothing to do with the action of the play. Best thing that could have happened was for this dud of a production not to come to Broadway .. it would have been crucified. NY audiences are much tougher than DC audiences, and I saw plenty of walk-outs during intermission the night I saw it. For all of you that thought it was delightful .. have you ever seen Mame done properly? This version sucked big time.