Dixon, Gottschall & More Join Cast of Kennedy Center Mame

Complete casting is now set for the upcoming Kennedy Center production of Mame, which will open at the performing arts complex' Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, D.C. on June 1st after beginning previews on May 27th. The show, starring Christine Baranski, will run through July 2nd.

Recently added to the cast were Harrison Chad (Caroline, or Change) as Young Patrick, Ed Dixon (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Miserables) as Lindsay Woolsey/Uncle Jeff, Michael L. Forrest as Babcock, Ruth Gottschall (The Music Man, ...Forum) as Doris Upson/Madame B., Ethan Langsdorf-Willoughby as Peter, Mary Stout (Jane Eyre, Beauty and the Beast) as Mother Burnside, and Harry A. Winter as Claude Upson.

They join the previously-announced Baranski in the title role, Harriet Harris as Vera Charles, Max von Essen as older Patrick, Jeff McCarthy as Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside, Emily Skinner as Agnes Gooch and Alan Muraoka as Ito.

Joe Paparella, Michael Buchanan, James Patterson, Dennis Kenney, Chad Schiro, Parker Esse, Shane Braddock, Jeremy Benton, Sean McKnight, Clark Johnson, Susan Derry, Tory Ross, Sarah Jane Everman, Alison Cimmet, Suzanne Hylenski, Melissa Rae Mahon, Laura Taylor, Kelly Kohnert, Kira Schmidt, Megan Hart, Kevin Worley and Erin Crouch will comprise the ensemble. Amy McWilliams will serve as standby in the roles of Mame and Vera.

Eric Schaeffer (Putting It Together) will direct the buoyant Jerry Herman musical.

Joining Schaeffer on the creative team will be choreographer Warren Carlyle, set designer Walt Spangler, costume designer Gregg Barnes and lighting designer Ken Billington.
 
The story of a boy's loving but complex relationship with his unconventional aunt, Mame was first adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee from Patrick Dennis' 1955 fictionalized memoir into a hit play starring Rosalind Russell (who also starred in the film version). Lawrence and Lee, with Herman, refashioned the piece into a musical in 1966, and it starred Angela Lansbury. She, Beatrice Arthur and Frankie Michaels all won Tonys, and the show was nominated for five others, including Best Musical. The musical was then turned into another film starring Lucille Ball, and an ill-fated 1983 Broadway revival that also starred Lansbury folded in a little after a month.

Mame will play Tuesday-Sunday evenings at 7:30 PM with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 PM. Tickets, which range from $25 to $90, can be ordered by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-132. Visit www.kennedy-center.org for more information.