Auntie Mame (play)

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Auntie Mame
Written by Jerome Lawrence
Robert E. Lee
Date premieredOctober 31, 1956
Place premiered Broadhurst Theatre
Original language English
GenreComedy
Setting East Village, Manhattan, 1900s.

Auntie Mame is a comedic stage play written by American playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. [1] The play was adapted from the novel of the same name first published in 1955 by Patrick Dennis. The play was a critical and commercial success, and was nominated for five Tony Awards, running for 639 performances. [2]

Contents

Production history

The play premiered on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on October 31, 1956, and closed on June 28, 1958, after 639 performances. The original Broadway production was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Actress for Rosalind Russell, Best Stage Technician (Joseph Harbuck), and Best Scenic Design (Oliver Smith). Peggy Cass won the award for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Agnes Gooch. Russell and Cass reprised their roles for a 1958 film of the same name, for which they were both nominated for Academy Awards. [3]

Following the Broadway production, the show went on a national tour starring Eve Arden in the title role, [4] and opened on Londons West End at the Adelphi Theatre, starring Beatrice Lillie. [5] Lillie had also taken over the role of Auntie Mame in the Broadway production. After Rosalind Russell's contract ended, the role was taken over by Greer Garson, and then Lillie. Florence MacMichael replaced Peggy Cass as Agnes Gooch in the Broadway production, and then continued playing the role on tour. [6]

Rosalind Russell and Polly Rowles in the original 1956 Broadway production of Auntie Mame RozRussellAuntieMame.jpg
Rosalind Russell and Polly Rowles in the original 1956 Broadway production of Auntie Mame

Original cast and characters

CharacterBroadway1st Tour2nd TourCalifornia TourWest End
19561957195819581958
Mame Dennis Rosalind Russell Constance Bennett Sylvia Sidney Eve Arden Beatrice Lillie
Beauregard BurnsideRobert SmithMark O'DanielsBrooks WestGeoffrey Toone
Vera Charles Polly Rowles Jane van DuserShannon Dean Benay Venuta Florence Desmond
Dwight Babcock Robert Allen Blaine CordnerLeo Lucker Robert Allen David Bird
Patrick DennisRobert HigginsMichael ThomasWilliam Berrian Ray Fulmer Dinsdale Landen
M. Lindsay WoolseyJohn O'HareKendall ClarkPhil ArthurDavid LewisGerald Welch
Agnes Gooch Peggy Cass Bernice McLaughlin Sudie Bond Florence MacMichael Rosamund Greenwood
Young Patrick Jan Handzlik Robert LindnerGuy Russell Dennis Joel John Hall
Gloria UpsonJoyce LearDorothy SeftonFrancesca TrantumSuzanne TurnerJacqueline Ellis
Pegeen RyanPatricia JenkinsMartha RandallLaura LeeJacqueline Holt Jill Melford
Doris UpsonDorothy BlackburnDulcie CooperRuth HoldenDorothy BlackburnPamela Simpson
Claude UpsonWalter KlavunArthur BarnettT. J. Halligan Willard Waterman Donald Stewart
Brian O'BannionJames MonksGerald Metcalfe Philip Bosco Manning Ross Patrick Holt
Norah Muldoon Beulah Garrick Ann SullivanBetty SinclairIsabel PriceAnita Sharp Bolster
Ito Yuki Shimoda Yoji MatsuokaYoshi Naka Yuki Shimoda John A. Tinn
Sally Cato MacDougall Marian Winters Fayne Blackburn Winifred Ainslee Elizabeth Talbot-MartinHelen Horton
Mother BurnsideEthel CodyDorrit KeltonJoan Davenport Spivy Natalie Lynn
Ralph Devine Grant Sullivan Otis Bigelow John GrangerLoren TindallTom Gill

References

  1. ↑ 'dramatists.com Official Play licensing website accessed 04/15/2024
  2. ↑ Atkinson, Brooks (November 11, 1956). "ROZ RUSSELL IN TOP FORM; as Pivotal Character in 'Auntie Mame' She Compensates for a Lack of Coherence in the Stage Adaptation Characterization Comic Combustion". The New York Times.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Eve Arden "AUNTIE MAME" Benay Venuta / Yuki Shimoda 1958 San Francisco Broadside at Amazon's Entertainment Collectibles Store". Amazon.
  5. ↑ Wearing, J. P. (1993). The London stage, 1950-1959 : a calendar of plays and players. Metuchen, New Jersey. ISBN   0-8108-2690-9. OCLC   27897126.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ "Eve Arden as Auntie Mame Russ Auditorium San Diego, Calif Play Bill August 1958".
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