What happened to this alleged MAME revival?- Page 2

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 11/28/23 at 12:52pm

inception said: "The rumour of a revival came from an unreliable source who may have just been making something up.

There was more credibility to the rumour of a new production of Kiss of the Spiderwoman. That may come in 24/25. It takes time to put the finances together for big shows, and gets more difficult every time an expensive show flops. This past year saw at least four expensive flops in Bad Cinderella, NYNY, & Here Lies Love, and Once Upon a One More Time."

I can absolutely confirm that Kiss of the Spiderwoman was gearing up for spring on Broadway. They did an extensive workshop at New 42 with Ariana DeBose, Javier Munoz, and Robin de Jesus. However, they wanted it to be the big stary revival event of the spring (it will have a hefty capitalization and running cost). And producers realized that they would have major competition from the extended Merrily and soon-to-bow Cabaret. DeBose will theoretically also have an even bigger box office draw if they wait, with films like Kraven, and Argylle releasing ahead of her return to Broadway. They believe next season will position them better and be a less crowded marketplace.

 

Anyway, back to your previously scheduled Mame convo! (Which, I agree with other posters, will not return at this point without a Midler-level star). 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/28/23 at 1:21pm

Kad said: "I think Mame is a mid-tier show as written but had the great fortune of having an absolutely legendary original production in which everything aligned perfectly, not the least of which was Lansbury. For it to work again on Broadway, it would really need another alignment of stars just like that. And that seems very difficult to make happen."


This sums it up precisely.

It also needs a heavy book rewrite –– not for modern sensibilities, but because it's poorly written. (The play & original film are slightly better but not much.) It's a series of vignettes & zippy musical numbers that, at best, serve as a vehicle for a great leading lady. It can easily become saccharine with the wrong tone. The south stuff is the least of this book's problems, because that's so clearly satire.

As for casting: a lot of the "usual suspects" on a MAME list fall into one of the following categories:
(A) too old, miscast, or gay pipedreams (Cher, Streisand, Streep, Midler, Blanchett, Kidman, Emma Thompson, Close, Zeta-Jones, Lady Gaga)
(B) not big enough stars to sell this show in a commercial revival (Toni Collette, Waddingham, Krakowski, Sutton Foster, Murphy, Baranski, Audra, Renee Elise Goldsberry). I'd gladly see a limited-run Roundabout revival of MAME instead of PIRATES or some of the other shows they've done in recent years, and maybe then one of these ladies would be more realistic.
(C) "but you can get a star Vera too!" No, most actual stars who would be good as Vera wouldn't want to be second-banana and/or wrongly feel that they are a Mame.
(D) "the show doesn't need a famous star, it will sell well enough on its own!" No, it won't.

Updated On: 11/28/23 at 01:21 PM

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 11/28/23 at 1:25pm

Inception said: 
If RuPaul could handle the singing 8 times a week they'd be perfect for today's market.

That's inspired. Jinkx Monsoon would be interesting too.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 11/28/23 at 5:02pm

joevitus said: "jimmycurry01 said: "Baranski's Mame had a "pre-Broadway" run several years ago. It was very poorly recieved, and the pre-Broadway part just became a regional production that fizzled into nothing."

Was the over-all production the issue, or was Baranski specifically found wanting? I'd have thought she'd make a marvelous Mame."

When you have a weak Mame and a weak Vera, does it matter?  That said, it was a mediocre production and the Eisenhower stage was too small for a dancing show like Mame.  The sets were also awful.  I was very happy it didn’t transfer because I hoped we’d eventually get a more worthy production.

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/28/23 at 9:19pm

Mame is a lovely score with a draggy, superficial book that has aged about as well as an episode of The Adventures of Tugboat Annie. 

[PennClassic]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 7:39am

The plantation scene and the lyrics in the title song are problematic.  Perhaps Mame could meet a wealthy western rancher and be a "fish out of water" in a ranch setting and the lyrics of the title song could be changed to fit that setting.  Not sure if changes like these would be allowed by the estate of Jerry Herman.

Updated On: 11/29/23 at 07:39 AM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 9:08am

The title song is too iconic, as is the location of the plantation scene - which is also a big part of the source material play and novel, Auntie Mame. It really wouldn't work, IMO to completely overhall all those elements. 

Maybe in a few more years society will be able to look at pieces of artwork as they were written, in the time they were written, and be less sensitive to absolutely everything in the material needing to be be politically correct to sensibiities today.

[inception]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 9:34am

If I suddenly won the lottery and had money to back a production, I think I would rather bring in a revival of Dear World instead of Mame.  The Encores production earlier this year was just wonderful. Sure maybe it would have to be a limited run since the show isn't fir everyone   To help sell tickets I would cast a star in the role of Julian since he doesn't have much singing, and mostly just has to look handsome & be a romantic hero.  Put little Timmy Chalamet above title and it would sell gangbusters. 

One of my sisters won 25mil last year - Canadian dollars so basically nothing - but I imagine I would need much more than that.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 11:23am

inception said: "If I suddenly won the lottery and had money to back a production, I think I would rather bring in a revival of Dear World instead of Mame. The Encores production earlier this year was just wonderful. Sure maybe it would have to be a limited run since the show isn't fir everyone To help sell tickets I would cast a star in the role of Julian since he doesn't have much singing, and mostly just has to look handsome & be a romantic hero. Put little Timmy Chalamet above title and it would sell gangbusters.

One of my sisters won 25mil last year - Canadian dollars so basically nothing - but I imagine I would need much more than that."

 

You would lose every dollar of your investment (Timothy Chalamet or not).

 

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 11:38am

My reading on Mame's success and legend status has always been a sociopolitical one: I'm not sure that Mame the musical would be a rousing success in the 21st century, because its legend status relied on three things.

First, Angela Lansbury, Jerry Herman and Patrick Dennis were already show business names to be reckoned with at the time the musical premiered.

Second, the "glorious old-fashioned American show tune" was not a stylistic affectation at the time: it was the sound of the moment for mass culture before the rise of rock and roll and youth culture. Let's not forget that Dolly and Mame were the one-two punch that resurrected the career of Louis Armstrong, making him relevant enough again that the Beatles covered him in Hamburg.

Third, and perhaps most crucial, WHY did Mame resonate the way he is? This may be controversial, and I hope it doesn't come across as straightsplaining, but Mame (much more than Dolly) was queer catnip for the 1960s mainstream, as well as a queer wish-fulfillment fantasy. For the gays and theys, probably before such terminology was used, Mame was a double fantasy: both the loving, nurturing and open-minded mother to a sensitive boy that many wished they would have had, and the sophisticated, glamorous, campy, "living out loud" femme fantasy that so many wished they could embody. Auntie Mame is the bright yin to Judy Garland's dark yang, and it's hard to watch the show and NOT see the prototype of modern drag culture and drag sensibility in Mame, Vera and Agnes. In addition, that campy queer archness and shade-throwing, before shade-throwing was mainstream, would seem relatively new and novel to the tired businessman and the out-of-town family audience, in a similar way to how queer-scene comedians like Justin Sayre, Julio Torres and Bowen Yang have slightly watered down their queer underground material for a straight mainstream audience on 2 Broke Girls or recent seasons of SNL.

All this is to say, I'm not sure there's ANY star big enough to create era-defining warm fuzzies from a Mame revival, because the culture has MOSTLY moved on. Lea Michele in Funny Girl was big because the Lea Michele narrative was big, not because there was a cultural demand for Fanny Brice or Jule Styne. Mame is a better musical (slightly), but it's a museum piece from a cultural point of view.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 2:40pm

These are really interesting views and discussions. 

How do we compare Mame to Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! in terms of relevance and what audiences want? Why are audiences starving for a new Gypsy every few years and not Mame? 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 2:42pm

A Mame revival was probably one of Scott Rudins pipe dreams and likely died with his career.

Updated On: 11/29/23 at 02:42 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 2:58pm

Musicaldudepeter said: "These are really interesting views and discussions.

How do we compare Mame to Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! in terms of relevance and what audiences want? Why are audiences starving for a new Gypsy every few years and not Mame?"

Well… Gypsy is largely considered a vastly superior show- it’s often ranked as one of the best musicals, if not the best- and Mama Rose is a far meatier role for actresses than Mame is. 
 

And to be fair, Broadway has now not had a revival of Gypsy for 14 years. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 3:56pm

And as written, Rose is a role that can be successfully played by a broader range of performers.  The role, while taxing, is written in a one octave range and doesn't require much movement.

Dolly can essentially be played by ANY woman who exudes any kind of personality. It doesn't even require more than a passable singer.

Mame, as writen requires a performer to play a WASPY, Park Avenue Sophisticate who can age from 35-60 who can act, do pyhsical comedy, sing a challenging score, and not just move, but really dance.  That is pretty specific. 

[nealb1]

Posted: 11/29/23 at 4:19pm

Jerry Herman said that he thought Catherine Zeta-Jones would be a terrific Mame.  I completely agree.