Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The opening musical of North Shore Music Theatre’s 63rd season is “Mame”, originally titled “My Best Girl”, it is based on the 1955 fictional novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 play starring Rosalind Russell. The musical version by Jerry Herman opened on Broadway on May 24, 1966, ran for 1,508 performances and starred Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur who both won Tony Awards for their roles as Mame and Vera.
This classic musical centers on the eccentric Mame Dennis, who lives a carefree life in 1920’s New York until she unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her ten year old nephew, Patrick. Rather than change her ways, Mame introduces Patrick to all the wonders of her wild Bohemian world while discovering the joy of having a family of her own. The show is set in NYC and goes from the Great Depression to World War II. Mame’s famous motto to her nephew is “Life is a banquet and most poor sons-of-a-bitch are starving to death.” She instills the credo in her nephew and we meet all the colorful characters in her life including her “bosom buddy” Vera Charles, the baritone actress, her personal secretary and nanny-in-law, Agnes Gooch, the stuffy and officious executor of Patrick’s estate, Dwight Babcock, the Southern aristocrat, Beauregard Burnside and the obnoxious, Gloria Upson and her bigoted parents to name a few. But Mame perseveres with good humor and an irrepressible sense of style even when she loses her fortune in 1929 and tries her hand at various jobs with comically disastrous results. Director Charles Repole infuses his cast with exuberance and energy from start to finish while musical director Milton Granger taught the talented cast the intricate and difficult Jerry Herman score. Choregrapher Michael Lichtenfield supplies them with many different dance styles which are breathtaking. Their combined expertise propels the audience to their feet during the curtain call to reward all their hard work.
This is Bill Hanney’s 9th season of owning and producing musicals at NSMT and this is one of his finest season opening shows. Charles does an excellent job directing “Mame”, creating many picture postcard moments along the way with his creative blocking in the theatre in the round. Milton conducts a spectacular 13 piece orchestra while he plays lead keyboards. It sounds excellent in the emotional ballads “My Best Girl” and “If He Walked into My Life” while the brass soars in “It’s Today”, “Open a New Window” and “Mame.” Michael creates crowd pleasing kick lines, cake walks, tangos, ballet and the Charleston to Jerry Herman’s musical numbers. The beautiful sets are by Kyle Dixon while Paula Ninestein handles the numerous gorgeous costumes from the original costumes by Gregg Barnes. Leading this talented cast is Paige Davis as Mame. Paige is the TV host of “Trading Places” on TLC. She is stunning as the hard drinking Manhattan socialite whose world is turned upside down when she is appointed guardian of her orphaned nephew, Patrick. Paige commands the stage in a bravura performance, capturing Mame’s motto of live, live, live splendidly. Her comic timing is terrific as she persuades everyone around her to live life to the fullest. Paige’s strong voice is heard in a multitude of songs including “It’s Today”, “Open a New Window” while she takes Patrick on a tour of NYC and eventually gets them arrested at a speakeasy, sings an obligato in the Moon song while balancing herself on a crescent moon, the tear jerking, poignant “My Best Girl” and her best number “If He Walked into My Life” which stops the show with her powerful rendition and poignancy. She also sings the upbeat “We Need a Little Christmas” with Ito, Gooch and little Patrick as well as the big dance number “That’s How Young I Feel” where she dances a Jitterbug and Lindy with Junior Babcock and the teen crowd in Connecticut. Paige once again stops the show in “Bosom Buddies” with Mame’s best friend, the drunken lush, Vera. They do a marvelous soft shoe to it with Vera leading the way. Brava on a job very well done. This version will definitely make you forget the awful 1974 movie version.
Mame’s alcohol-pickled best friend, Vera is excellently played by Ellen Harvey. Her acidic one liners are delivered perfectly. Her first exit is also a hoot as she falls over in a drunken stupor and they carry her off stage. Ellen also plays the leading lady in the operetta “The Man in The Moon” which stops the show with hilarity. The girls sing in the background during it while both the girls and boys do a comic ballet during one of the funniest numbers in the show. Ellen is hilarious as this bitchy Tallulah Bankhead star of the past and also does a nice turn in “Bosom Buddies” with Paige. Her funniest line is “The man in the moon is a bitch” when Mame is late for her entrance on the crescent moon. Ellen also has some fantastic caustic one-liners she hurls at the snooty Upsons near the end of the show. I last reviewed Ellen as the Mother Superior in “Sister Act” here and at TBTS. Let me tell you Vera is nothing like that role at all which displays her versatility as both an actress and vocalist with the use of her lower register in this role. Agnes Gooch, Patrick’s drab and decidedly repressed nanny is splendidly played by Lauren Cohn. Her glorious soprano voice soars in “St. Bridget” which opens the show as she leads Patrick through the evilness of NYC. Then in “Bosom Buddies” she is turned from a frump into a bombshell after Mame and Vera advise her. Lauren then appears in a tight red dress while doing a vampy dance to the number. After Gooch lives life to the fullest she returns pregnant to stay with Mame. Lauren then mesmerizes Mame and the audience in the show stopping “Gooch’s Song” which soars off the charts. Ito, the butler is well played by Carl Hsu who wins many laughs with his wild antics. He last appeared in “Anything Goes” at NSMT in 2014.
The biggest scene stealer in this show is 11 year old Jake Ryan Flynn who plays the irrepressible Patrick as a boy. He returns in triumph back to NSMT after he starred on Broadway last year in “Willy Wonka” as one of the Charlie Bucket’s. Jake as Patrick mixes a martini for Mr. Babcock with ease and recites the dirty words which he doesn’t understand from his pad. Jake also has a marvelous voice which he displays in “St. Bridget” with Lauren as well as “It’s Today” and “Open a New Window” with Paige. His most poignant and best done numbers occur in “My Best Girl” when he comforts Mame after she’s fired from Vera’s show and at the end of “Mame” when he runs to his aunt declaring she’s is still his best girl which melts the hearts of the audience. His acting is as marvelous as is his dancing prowess in the tango segment and throughout Act 1. Jake may be young but he has a very bright future in show business. Older Patrick is well played by tall, dark and handsome, Jonathan Shew. His strong baritone voice is heard in both renditions of “My Best Girl” which brings tears to the eyes of the audience when Patrick comforts Mame after his uncle’s accident and when he finally repents his idiotic college ways. He is naive about Gloria and her bigoted family but Mame sets him straight in not a very subtle way. The bubble headed Gloria Upson is wonderfully played by Brittney Bigelow while the Upson parents are played by Kenneth McGlynn and Stacey Geer who win many laughs as the villains of the show.
Another spectacular performer returning to NSMT is George Dvorsky. He does a wonderful job as Beauregard Pickett Jackson Burnside as he lends a debonair and suave quality as this Southern gentleman. George first appears as one of Mame’s casualties in the beauty shop then brings Christmas cheer to Mame and her clan. Beau then brings her to Georgia to propose to her in the show stopping closing number of Act 1, “Mame” with his powerful baritone voice. In this closing segment, George and the Southern Aristocrats dance and sing up a storm, leaving the audience cheering in the aisles. Playing the bombastic Mr. Babcock is audience favorite, David Coffee. Unlike Scrooge, Mr. Babcock isn’t transformed. However although he puts Mame in her place several times during the show, he receives his comeuppance when Mame tricks Babcock and the Upson family in “It’s Today” reprise. Other comic performers include Jacob Paulson as the tres gay assistant in the beauty salon, Ellen Peterson as the nasty, Mother Burnside who yells for Mame to fall off her horse during the Fox Hunt with Jesse Michaels as Uncle Jeff and Stacey Geer as Cousin Fan. The bitchy Sally Cato is played wonderfully by Alaina Mills while the comical smoking Junior Babcock is played by Dennis O’Bannion and Tricia DeSario plays the sympathetic and level headed Pegeen whom Patrick finally marries. Little Beckett Guest plays Peter Dennis and when he quotes Mame’s naughty motto receives a great deal of laughter. The dancing and singing prowess of this cast is astounding. So for a fabulous rendition of the classic Jerry Herman musical, be sure to catch “Mame” at North Shore Music Theatre before she cakewalks her way out of town. Run do not walk to the box office and tell them Tony sent you. This musical brought back happy memories for me, having played Ralph Devine in it back in 1984.
MAME (5 to 17 June)
North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA
1(978)232-7200 or www.nsmt.org
Cast was exceptional, they carried the show, thank God. Role was too big for Paige Davis and was not convincing as Mame. One of my favorite plays but couldn’t wait for the end.