Mame (musical)
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mame |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Jerry Herman |
| Book: | Jerome Lawrence , Robert Edwin Lee |
| Lyrics: | Jerry Herman |
| Premiere: | May 24, 1966 |
| Place of premiere: | Winter Garden Theater, New York, USA |
| Place and time of the action: | New York, 1920s-1940s |
| Roles / people | |
& Ensemble |
|
Mame is a musical that premiered on New York's Broadway in 1966 , where it had more than 1,500 performances until 1970. The premiere in London's West End followed in 1969 and the German premiere in Nuremberg in 1970. In 1983 there was a revival on Broadway.
It is based on the book "Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis and is considered a musical classic.
action
first act
The nanny Agnes Gooch and the ten-year-old orphan boy Patrick are looking for his aunt Mame Dennis, who led an exciting, dazzling life in New York at the end of the 1920s. When they find her, they burst into the middle of a turbulent party of the wealthy, fun-loving woman who appears a little extravagant and shrill, but has her heart in the right place and approaches everything in her life with a lot of passion and enthusiasm. She has made enough money in show business and spends a lot of time with her numerous friends, all of whom are just as unconventional free spirits and eccentric bohemians as she is. Mame takes Patrick into her heart straight away, and Patrick likes his aunt right away. So the party is quickly repurposed and everyone celebrates that Mame will take care of Patrick from now on.
But Mame did the math without Mr. Babcock, the boy's asset manager, who wants to fulfill the last will of Patrick's father, Mame's brother, and give his protégé a conservative upbringing. Since conservative people are an abomination to Mame and she doesn't believe in conventional parenting methods, she decides to forego the inheritance in order to enable Patrick to have a happy youth without rules and conventions. Instead, every day should be a new adventure - she goes to art academies with him, goes to the theater with him and shows him the adventurous life that she herself enjoys. But she underestimated Mr. Babcock, who finally got Patrick to boarding school.
The stock market crash of 1929 brought Mame to the brink of ruin, and so she had to return to show business. With the help of her friend Vera Charles, she achieves a small role as "Woman in the Moon" at Vera's side. While their performance turns into a disaster, only Patrick, who has secretly sneaked into the performance, is enthusiastic about his aunt. But no matter what role she takes on, she loses it again immediately. When she no longer knows how to make a living, she meets the rich farmer Beauregard Burnside, who wants to marry her on the spot. With her charm and her open manner, she quickly wins over his family, and so they can finally get married.
Second act
Years go by and Patrick has now become a young man. He fell in love with the wealthy Gloria Upson, whose conservative, arrogant family is full of prejudice. Patrick suddenly learns that Mame's husband Beauregard had a fatal accident and that Mame is now a widow. In Mame's New York apartment, her friends try to cheer her up. When Vera suggests that she do something for Patrick's former nanny, Agnes, who has not yet known real life, Mame is immediately enthusiastic and ready to help. She finally has a job again. When Agnes becomes pregnant, Mame wants to take care of her and her child.
Since Patrick's fiancée and her family are not supposed to get to know the pregnant, single Agnes, the engagement party takes place at the Upsons. Mame is so horrified by these narrow-minded, conceited people that she simply plans a counterparty at home. The interior designer Pegeen Ryan is supposed to redesign her apartment. At the party, Gloria and her narrow-minded parents are shocked by Mame and her striking friends. When the pregnant Agnes finally shows up, Gloria explains to Patrick that there is no way she can marry into such a family. She and her parents leave the party in a rage. But then Patrick seems relieved, and he quickly realizes that Gloria was not the right one for him.
Again a few years passed. Patrick married interior designer Pegeen and they have a son, Peter. When Mame wants to travel with Peter to show him the world, Patrick and Pegeen are initially against it. But they have no chance against resolute Mame, and they know that Mame is just as good for little Peter as she was for Patrick.
Music track
first act
- Overture (Open a New Window, If He Walked Into My Life, That's How Young I Feel, Mame)
- St. Bridget - Agnes & Patrick (10 Years)
- It's Today - Mame & Ensemble
- Open a New Window - Mame & Ensemble
- The Man in the Moon - Vera & Ensemble
- My Best Girl - Patrick (10 years) & Mame
- We Need a Little Christmas - Mame, Agnes, Patrick (10 years), Beauregard, Ito
- The Fox Hunt - Uncle Jeff, cousin fan, mother Burnside, Patrick (age 10) and cousins
- Mame - Beauregard & Ensemble
Second act
- Mame (Reprise) / The Letter - Patrick (10 years) & Patrick (19-29 years)
- My Best Girl (Reprise) - Patrick (19-29 years old)
- Bosom Buddies - Mame & Vera
- Gooch's Song - Agnes
- That's How Young I Feel - Mame & Ensemble
- If He Walked Into My Life - Mame
- It's Today (Reprise) - Mame & Ensemble
- My Best Girl (Reprise) - Patrick (19-29 years old)
- Open a New Window (Reprise) - Mame & Ensemble
- Finale - Mame & Ensemble
Original line-up for the Broadway production
- Angela Lansbury (Mame Dennis)
- Beatrice Arthur (Vera Charles)
- Jane Connell (Agnes Gooch)
- Frankie Michaels (Patrick Dennis, 10 years)
- Jerry Lanning (Patrick Dennis, 19-29 years old)
- Willard Waterman (Dwight Babcock)
- Charles Braswell (Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside)
- Diana Walker (Gloria Upson)
- Diane Coupe (Pegeen Ryan)
& Ensemble
Awards
At the 1966 Tony Awards , the musical Mame was nominated in a total of eight categories, three of which were won: Angela Lansbury for Best Actress, Beatrice Arthur for Best Supporting Actress and Frankie Michaels for Best Supporting Actor. At the age of ten, Frankie Michaels is the youngest Tony Award winner of all time.
In addition, Jerry Lanning in 1966 and Sheila Smith in 1967 received the Theater World Award for their performances in Mame .
filming
Due to the enormous success of the musical with the public and the press, the musical was filmed in 1974 under the same title. However, the music was partially changed, and Lucille Ball was signed instead of Angela Lansbury as the leading actress . Only Beatrice Arthur and Jane Connell appeared in both the stage version and the film.
Sound carrier
- Mame - 1966 Original Broadway Cast starring Angela Lansbury (record, audio cassette: 1966)
- Mame - 1966 Original Broadway Cast starring Angela Lansbury (CD: 1999 Columbia Records)
literature
Original novel:
- Patrick Dennis - Auntie Mame
- German translation: Patrick Dennis - Darling, I'm your aunt Mame! (Hardcover: Manhattan Verlag / Paperback: Goldmann Verlag)
Documentation:
- Richard Tyler Jordan - But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame! The Amazing History of the World's Favorite Madcap Aunt (Kensington Books, with a foreword by Jerry Herman)
Web links
- Mame in the Internet Broadway Database (Engl.)
- Mame in Guide to Musical Theater (Engl.)
- Mame on Musical Heaven (Engl.)