Donna McKechnie Cancels Mame Engagement at BSC

Due to other engagements, Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie will no longer be taking on the title role of Mame in a semi-staged concert version of the Jerry Herman classic at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, according to Variety.

McKechnie was to have starred alongside the Vera of Diane J. Findlay from October 5th through 14th. Instead, she will promote her autobiography "Time Steps: My Musical Comedy Life" and rehearse for her (previously announced) role in the upcoming London revival of the '40s nostalgia musical Over Here! this fall. Artistic director Julianne Boyd is currently looking for a new star to play the eccentric aunt of the title.

In addition, due to renovation work on the balcony of the Berkshire Music Hall, the previously announced Ella has been postponed. A musical about the great jazz singer conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison, with a book by Jeffery Hatcher, Ella was to have concluded the 2005-2006 season in November. "The show is being eyed for its mainstage schedule for next summer," according to the article.

McKechnie won a Tony Award for her performance as Cassie in A Chorus Line, and has also appeared on Broadway in Company (both the original and revival), On The Town, Promises, Promises, and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, among others. She played Carlotta in the Barrington Stage Company's production of Follies; she had previously played Sally in the same show at Paper Mill Playhouse.

BSC is currently presenting, through August 27th, Christopher Fry's adaptation of Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon, starring Carole Shelley and others.

Visit www.barringtonstageco.org for more information.