MAME - Broadway Revival
MAME - Broadway Revival
#1MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 1:27am
How come Mame hasn't been revived on Broadway in recent memory?
#2MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 1:32am
because Broadway is waiting for Jessie Mueller to be old enough to play it :)
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#3MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 2:08am
Because we live in the worst of all possible realities.
#4MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 2:30am
Because the revival with Angela didn't run past Labor Daaaaaaay!
(my all-time favorite Forbidden Broadway bit)
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#5MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 2:49am
the original ran for a long time so I'm not surprised the revival didn't run long
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#6MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 3:00am
La Cage stole all its fire
And their Queeny Choir
Upstaged Ann Francine
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#7MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 3:21am
oh i didn't even realize that! well that was dumb! why would they revive Mame when Jerry Herman had a new show opening a month later?
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#8MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 3:24am
NO MORE REVIVALS
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#9MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 4:39am
Toni Collette as Mame surrounded by lots of young spunk.Vera--Tracey Ullman.
Agnes--AN UNKNOWN
spelling edit
Updated On: 8/3/15 at 04:39 AM
#10MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 6:48am
I don't know why this hasn't been revived yet either.
I recall some discussion recently about Bette Midler bandying the idea around, but in the end she opted not to do it.
Conventional wisdom has it that without the right star, this star vehicle would sputter and crash.
I personally disagree. I've seen many productions of the show (with local or unknown talent) and it's always a great night of theater.
....but the world goes 'round
#11MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 6:53am
Mame Dennis, much like Fanny Brice, is an extremely difficult role to cast. In addition to having to be able to play Mame at a variety of ages and stages of her life, the actress must possess both a warmth and undeniable charm for the whole thing to work. She almost never leaves the stage, sings about 11 songs, and as if all that weren't enough, has to be able to "dance her shoes off." No one with the right amount of box office clout and star power has been around to give it a go.
All of which makes the performance Lansbury gave that much more special and legendary.
Its also an extremely expensive physical production to mount. Mamie's NY apartment needs to look significantly different in each decade, and you need to also depict a southern plantation, Connecticut, and other locales.
Updated On: 8/3/15 at 06:53 AM
#12MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 7:42am
Here's my casting for Mame and Vera....
Mame-Donna Murphy
Vera-Bebe Neuwirth
#13MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 8:25am
"I personally disagree. I've seen many productions of the show (with local or unknown talent) and it's always a great night of theater."
Clearly you didn't see the production at Bucks County Playhouse with Andrea McArdle (just OK at best) and Lea Delaria as Vera (simply awful!)
Updated On: 8/3/15 at 08:25 AM
GreasedLightning
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/11/14
#15MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 9:25am
""I personally disagree. I've seen many productions of the show (with local or unknown talent) and it's always a great night of theater."
Clearly you didn't see the production at Bucks County Playhouse with Andrea McArdle (just OK at best) and Lea Delaria as Vera (simply awful!)"
Yea, I missed that production.
The one's I've seen are very amateur theater so perhaps sub-consciously my expectations are low.
....but the world goes 'round
#16MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 11:19am
I've always been under the impression that Jerry Herman wasn't willing to make any updates to the script/score - i.e. he wants it performed just as it was in the original run. The show (especially the jokes) needs to be updated for a modern audience.
That said, as mentioned above, casting, production costs, and timing have all presented major problems for a possible revival.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#17MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 11:23am
It is a show that would not resonate with todays theatergoers unfortunately.
Great score but I simply do not think it would succeed even though it should. Add to that, it is not on the list of musicals that are OK for revival.10 or 15 musicals are on it. All the great shows not on that list will never be revived. It is a shame but there it is
.
Poster Emeritus
Finch
Stand-by Joined: 9/14/08
#18MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 11:25am
About 6 years ago, a pre-B'way/revival/reconstitution of MAME was done at Kennedy Center/DC with Christine Branski (Mame) and Harriet Harris (Vera), directed by Eric Schafer. Sounded like a good idea, but overall the production was weakly directed. I remembered seeing the third performance of Mame in Philly (pre Broadway, 2nd day)and feeling the warmth and love of this heroine reach well into the balcony along withe the splash, and class of Gene Saks working with the Ekarts fabulous sets and the perfect cast. The Kennedy center prod was almost the direct opposite-- it was flat and nowhere near where it should, and could of been.
i would love to see this again, but this is one show that need too much in performers, directors and technicians to make it work. Also, it needs a lot of $$$$!!!
#19MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 12:22pm
"It is a show that would not resonate with todays theatergoers unfortunately.
Great score but I simply do not think it would succeed even though it should. Add to that, it is not on the list of musicals that are OK for revival.10 or 15 musicals are on it. All the great shows not on that list will never be revived. It is a shame but there it is
."
Does this list actually exist? What are the musicals listed on it? I've never heard of this list before.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#20MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 12:53pm
Because the revival with Angela didn't run past Labor Daaaaaaay!
(my all-time favorite Forbidden Broadway bit)
Should I have walked out on it all?
And let Lucille Ball wreck the show again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpdu7ENIv8&list=PLUSRfoOcUe4ax2aGtNbMwsMlf9RMdeG_s&index=9
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#21MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/3/15 at 5:49pm
""NO MORE REVIVALS"
Well, that'll never happen. "
LOL i was continuing Newark's quoting of Forbidden Broadway.
I agree that this show would be hard to do on Broadway without a big star, and I can't think of many people who would be perfect for it.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/22/14
#22MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/4/15 at 12:01am
I rather see a staged production of the original Auntie Mame.
#23MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/4/15 at 1:04am
Mellisa Errico.
"when I’m on stage I see the abyss and have to overcome it by telling myself it’s only a play." - Helen Mirren
#24MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/4/15 at 1:20amErrico would be inspired casting for Gooch.
"...ah, gays and their wit. Hell must be a laugh a minute!"
-Evie Harris
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#25MAME - Broadway Revival
Posted: 8/4/15 at 9:43am
""It is a show that would not resonate with todays theatergoers unfortunately.
Great score but I simply do not think it would succeed even though it should. Add to that, it is not on the list of musicals that are OK for revival.10 or 15 musicals are on it. All the great shows not on that list will never be revived. It is a shame but there it is
."
Does this list actually exist? What are the musicals listed on it? I've never heard of this list before.
"
You've apparently ignored Mr. Roxy then, since anytime there's any mention of a revival of any show we get a post about this "list." Of course, the fact that just off the top of my head I can think of numerous revivals we've gotten (Promises, Promises, The Apple Tree, On a Clear Day, Side Show, Gigi) and upcoming revivals for this season alone (She Loves Me, Dames at Sea, Falsettos, The Color Purple) that would not appear on this list in his mind kind of negates his point. Yes, there is another upcoming revival of Fiddler on the Roof, and Gypsy is always going to be a popular choice for a revival as well (both because of the potentially thrilling star turns that can come out of them), but we definitely see more than the 10 or 15 musicals he continually claims are the only ones we ever see revived.
