Mame (musical)

Mame
Original Broadway Poster
Music	Jerry Herman
Lyrics	Jerry Herman
Book	Jerome Lawrence Robert Edwin Lee
Basis	Novel by Patrick Dennis Auntie Mame
Productions	1966 Broadway 1969 West End 1983 Broadway revival

Mame is a musical with the book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play, by Lawrence and Lee, that had starred Rosalind Russell. Set in New York and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian, Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.

In 1958, a film titled Auntie Mame, based on the play, was released by Warner Brothers once again starring Rosalind Russell in the title role. Russell was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for her portrayal.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1966, starring Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur. The production became a hit and spawned a 1974 film with Lucille Ball in the title role and Arthur reprising her supporting role, as well as a London production, a Broadway revival, and a 40th anniversary revival at the Kennedy Center in 2006.

Background and productions

The musical was inspired by the success of the 1956 Broadway comedy and subsequent 1958 film version starring Rosalind Russell, as well as the 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis. Dennis wrote several more comic novels, including a sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, and Little Me, which was made into a Broadway musical starring Sid Caesar. The success of that musical may have prompted Lawrence and Lee to turn Mame into a musical.^[1] Mary Martin turned down the title role, and after numerous actresses had been considered, the part went to Angela Lansbury.^[2]

After five previews, the original Broadway production, with orchestrations by Philip J. Lang, directed by Gene Saks and choreographed by Onna White opened on May 24, 1966 at the Winter Garden Theatre. Three years later, it transferred to The Broadway Theatre, where it remained until closing. Between the two venues, it ran a total of 1,508 performances. Besides Lansbury as Mame, the opening night cast included Bea Arthur as Vera Charles, Frankie Michaels as Patrick, Jane Connell as Agnes Gooch, and Willard Waterman (who had played Claude Upson in the 1958 film) as Dwight Babcock. Lansbury, Arthur and Michaels all won Tony Awards, while Saks, White, the writers, Herman, and set designers William and Jean Eckart all received nominations. Celeste Holm, Ann Miller, Jane Morgan, and Janis Paige succeeded Lansbury in the title role. Lansbury left the Broadway production on March 30, 1968, to take the show on a limited US tour while it was still playing on Broadway. The tour played in San Francisco starting in April 1968 and also played Los Angeles.^[3][4][5]

The 1969 West End production of Mame starred Ginger Rogers in the title role. It ran for a fourteen month engagement at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with a special performance for Queen Elizabeth.

Despite the presence of Lansbury, a much-heralded Broadway revival was ultimately unsuccessful. After seven previews, it opened on July 24, 1983 at the George Gershwin Theatre, where it ran for only 41 performances.

Also in 1983, a Mexican production of the play was performed in Mexico City with Silvia Pinal in the title role and Aida Pierce as Vera; two decades later, they would reunite for several episodes of Pinal's TV series, Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real.

A 1974 film version of the musical starring Lucille Ball, Bea Arthur as Vera and Robert Preston as Beauregard, attracted an audience but was considered disappointing by the critics because Lucille Ball was considered not up to the musical demands of the title role.

The Kennedy Center production ran from June 1, 2006 until July 2, and starred Christine Baranski as Mame, Harriet Sansom Harris as Vera, with Emily Skinner as Gooch.^[6]

Synopsis

The madcap life of eccentric Mame Dennis and her bohemian, intellectual arty clique is disrupted when her deceased brother's 10-year-old son Patrick is entrusted to her care. Rather than bow to convention, Mame introduces the boy to her free-wheeling lifestyle, instilling in him her favorite credo, "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons-of-bitches are starving to death." Also figuring in the story line are Mame's personal secretary and nanny-in-law, Agnes Gooch; her "bosom buddy" Vera Charles, the baritone actress and world's greatest lush; and Dwight Babcock, the stuffy and officious executor of Patrick's father's estate. Mame loses her fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and tries her hand at a number of jobs, with comically disastrous results, but perseveres with good humor and an irrepressible sense of style.

Mame eventually meets and marries Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, a Southern aristocrat with a Georgia plantation called Peckerwood. The trustees of Mame's late brother (Patrick's father) force Mame to send Patrick off to boarding school (the fictional St Boniface, in Massachusetts), and Mame and Beau travel the world on an endless honeymoon that finally ends when Beau falls to his death while mountain climbing. Mame returns home a wealthy widow to discover that Patrick has become a priggish snob engaged to an equally priggish debutante, Gloria Upson, from a bigoted family. Mame brings Patrick to his senses just in time to introduce him to the woman who eventually will become his wife. As the story ends, Mame is preparing to take Patrick's young son Peter to India (Siberia in the 1974 film version) with her usual flair.

Musical numbers

Act I Overture (Open A New Window, If He Walked Into My Life, That's How Young I Feel, Mame) St. Bridget − Patrick Dennis, age 10 and Agnes Gooch It's Today − Mame Dennis and All Open a New Window − Mame Dennis and All The Man in the Moon − Vera Charles, Mame Dennis and All My Best Girl − Patrick Dennis, age 10 and Mame Dennis We Need a Little Christmas − Mame Dennis, Patrick Dennis, age 10, Agnes Gooch, Ito and Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside The Fox Hunt − Uncle Jeff, Patrick Dennis, age 10, Cousin Fan, Mother Burnside and Cousins Mame − Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside and All

Act II Mame (Reprise) − Patrick Dennis, age 10 and Patrick Dennis, age 19-29 My Best Girl (Reprise) − Patrick Dennis, age 19-29 Bosom Buddies − Mame Dennis and Vera Charles Gooch's Song − Agnes Gooch That's How Young I Feel − Mame Dennis and All If He Walked into My Life − Mame Dennis It's Today (Reprise) − Mame Dennis and All My Best Girl (Reprise) − Patrick Dennis, age 19-29 Open a New Window (Reprise) − Company and Mame Dennis Finale

In 1966, Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong, and Herb Alpert all charted in the United States and Canada with their cover records of the musical's title song. Eydie Gormé had a huge success with her recording of "If He Walked into My Life", for which she received a 1967 Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance. "We Need a Little Christmas" is a well known holiday tune and can be heard in several Disney Christmas parades.

Cut song "Camouflage", between Mame Dennis and Vera Charles before the discussion of whether Patrick could stay with Mame, was released on the 1999 CD release, performed by Jerry Herman and Alice Borden.

Awards and nominations

1966 Tony Awards

• Tony Award for Best Musical - Book by Jerome Lawrence; Music by Jerry Herman; Lyrics by Jerry Herman; Produced by Fryer, Carr & Harris Inc
• Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist - Music by Jerry Herman; Lyrics by Jerry Herman
• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical - Angela Lansbury (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical - Frankie Michaels (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Beatrice Arthur (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Scenic Design - William and Jean Eckart
• Tony Award for Best Choreography - Onna White
• Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Gene Saks

Theatre World Awards

• 1966 Theatre World Award - Jerry Lanning (WINNER)
• 1967 Theatre World Award - Sheila Smith (WINNER)

See also

• Auntie Mame, the fictional novel by Patrick Dennis
• Auntie Mame (film)
• Mame (musical film)

References

1. ^ Allmusic's review of Mame
2. ^ Jerry Herman tried desperately to cast Judy Garland, and wrote the show with her n mind. He was talked out of it by her managers who thought she could not handle the stress of eight shows a week on Broadway.Information from the AngelaLansbury.net site
3. ^ Zolotow, Sam (December 29, 1967). The New York Times: p. 17. 
4. ^ "Mame Realigning Cast for Departing Star". New York Times: p. 39. March 13, 1968. 
5. ^ Windeler, Robert (June 29, 1968). "Angela Lansbury a Hit in Coast 'Mame'". New York Times: p. 19. 
6. ^ Playbill News: Christine Baranski Mame Will Not Play Broadway

External links

• Mame (musical) at the Internet Broadway Database
• Variety's review of the 2006 production
• NY Times review of the Broadway revival