Sandy Duncan's Mame at Barrington Stage Co Oct 4-15
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 22, 2006
"Mame," based on the best-selling novel by Patrick Dennis and the Lawrence and Lee play, Auntie Mame, follows the madcap adventures of the eccentric, life-affirming Mame Dennis bringing up her orphaned nephew, Patrick, to live life as a banquet. Herman's award-winning score contains the standards "We Need a Little Christmas," "If He Walked into My Life," "Bosom Buddies," and, of course, the rousing title song.
Sandy Duncan received Tony Award nominations for her performances in "Canterbury Tales," "The Boy Friend" and "Peter Pan." Her other Broadway credits include "Love Is a Time of Day," "My One and Only," and the long-running revival of "Chicago" in which she received great acclaim for her portrayal of Roxie Hart. Also a star of television and film, Duncan was nominated for Emmy Awards for her performances in "Funny Face" and "Roots."
Diane J. Findlay, who stopped last season's "Follies" nightly with her rendition of "Who's That Woman?", returns to BSC to play Mame's 'Bosom Buddy' Vera Charles. Also returning to BSC are Gordon Stanley ("Follies") as Mr. Babcock, James Van Treuren ("Funny Girl") as M. Lindsay Woolsey, Eric Ulloa ("Follies") as Patrick Dennis, Ginifer King ("Ring Round the Moon") as Gloria Upson.
Broadway veteran Mark Jacoby joins BSC playing Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Jacoby has been seen on Broadway in "Sweeney Todd," "Man of La Mancha," "Ragtime," "Show Boat," "Grand Hotel," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Sweet Charity." He was Tony-nominated for his performance as Gaylord Ravenal in "Show Boat.
Joyce Chittick who sang and danced 'Steam Heat' in the smash-hit revival of "The Pajama Game," makes her BSC debut as Patrick Dennis' nanny, Agnes Gooch. Joyce has appeared in 10 Broadway shows including "Sweet Charity," "Wonderful Town," "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "Seussical," "Cabaret," and "Big."
Also featured in the cast are Johnny Shaffer as Young Patrick, Grant Chang as Ito, Ariana Balayan, Daniel Cohen, Maria Couch, Jack Doyle, Patti Perkins, Megan Rozak, and Jeremy Scott.
"Mame" is designed by Brian Prather (sets), Guy Lee Bailey (costumes), D. Benjamin Courtney (lights) and Matt Kraus (sound). Tony Parise will choreograph, and F. Wade Russo is musical director. Renee Lutz is production stage manager.
Jerry Herman (Music and Lyrics) There is never an evening when, somewhere in the world, the music and lyrics of Jerry Herman are not being sung by a lady in a red headdress, or a lady with a bugle, or a middle-aged man in a wig and a boa. "Hello, Dolly!," "Mame," and "La Cage Aux Folles" are home to some of the most popular, most-often performed and most successful musical heroines of all time, and have given Jerry Herman the distinction of being the only composer-lyricist in history to have had three musicals that ran more than 1,500 consecutive performances on Broadway. His first Broadway score was "Milk and Honey" (1961), followed by "Hello, Dolly!" (1964), "Mame" (1966), "Dear World" (1969), "Mack & Mabel" (1974), "The Grand Tour" (1979), "La Cage Aux Folles" (1983), "Jerry's Girls" (1985) and "Mrs. Santa Claus" (1996), a CBS TV special starring Angela Lansbury. "Showtune," a revue of his life's work, is performing in regional theatres around the country. His string of awards and honors includes multiple Tonys, Grammys, Drama Desk Awards, the Johnny Mercer Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Oscar Hammerstein Award, the Frederick Lowe Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (Book) met in 1939 and shortly thereafter became an inseparable playwriting pair. In addition to adapting Patrick Dennis's novel "Auntie Mame" into a comedy hit on Broadway, the prolific pair are also well-known for "Inherit the Wind," which ran for three years on Broadway. Other Broadway productions include "First Monday in October," "The Incomparable Max," "Dear World," "Diamond Orchid," "A Call on Kuprin," "Only in America," "The Gang's All Here," "Shangri-La," and "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'!" Lawrence and Lee won two Peabody Awards for distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Theatre Association.
The original production of "Mame" opened May 24, 1966 to critical acclaim at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre and ran 1,508 performances. Starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur, both won Tony Awards for their portrayals of Mame and Vera. The 1974 Warner Brothers film version cast Lucille Ball as the vivacious Mame.
Performances of "Mame" are October 4 through 15, at Barrington Stage, 30 Union Street in Pittsfield. Performance times are Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 2pm and 8pm, Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm and 7:30pm. Barrington Stage is fully-accessible with parking close by. Tickets are $35-$45, and are on sale now by calling 413-236-8888 or online at www.barringtonstageco.org.
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity theatre, located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by artistic director Julianne Boyd. BSC's mission is three-fold - to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre. BSC garnered national attention with William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's Tony Award-winning musical hit "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," which began as a workshop at BSC in February, 2004, was produced in its world premiere to critical acclaim that summer season, prior to taking New York by storm at Second Stage Theatre and later transferring to Broadway's Circle-in-the-Square Theatre where it is currently running. For more information, log on to www.barringtonstageco.org.
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