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"My Three Mames"-- new and improved


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I uncovered a better print of the Angela Lansbury 1983 revival version and decided to take another whack at this.  The soundtrack combines all three arrangements---although the movie is the least represented: only Preston's solo and the "whoo"'s at the end of the twirls when Mame conducts the dancers later.   The last Angela version I worked with was grainier than this one (which is pretty bad) and had a greenish tint to it.  Apparently the rumor is that Showtime taped it but never finished because the show had such a short run: a shockingly paltry 41 performances.

 

https://youtu.be/MKaSUju8L9c

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I had heard the thing about the Showtime taping as well. Do we know how close this was to the original production? I'm sure Angela did it exactly as well as in the 60s. And also, how much of the original cast reunited?

The Mame revival was in 1983. Repeating their roles from the original cast were Angela Lansbury (Mame), Jane Connell (Gooch - having a Yours, Mine and Ours pregnancy at age 57), Willard Waterman (Mr. Babcock), and Sab Shimono (Ito). Anne Francine, who replaced Bea in the original production, played Vera. This production had been a stock tour and I think one of the engagements was cancelled, so the producers brought the show to New York with no advance publicity. It was in Broadway's largest theater, The Gershwin, and playing to nearly empty houses. I think the critics liked the production, but thought it looked cheap. Jerry Herman's La Cage Aux Folles opened during the short run and took even more attention from Mame. Mame closed after 41 performances

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The Mame revival was in 1983. Repeating their roles from the original cast were Angela Lansbury (Mame), Jane Connell (Gooch - having a Yours, Mine and Ours pregnancy at age 57), Willard Waterman (Mr. Babcock), and Sab Shimono (Ito). Anne Francine, who replaced Bea in the original production, played Vera. This production had been a stock tour and I think one of the engagements was cancelled, so the producers brought the show to New York with no advance publicity. It was in Broadway's largest theater, The Gershwin, and playing to nearly empty houses. I think the critics liked the production, but thought it looked cheap. Jerry Herman's La Cage Aux Folles opened during the short run and took even more attention from Mame. Mame closed after 41 performances

That really is a shame. Was its failure just due to lack of publicity or did La Cage Aux Folles really take away that much of an audience?
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That really is a shame. Was its failure just due to lack of publicity or did La Cage Aux Folles really take away that much of an audience?

It was probably mostly opening with a lack of publicity in the middle of summer, but I think the new Jerry Herman musical made the Mame revival seem like less of an event.

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