MAME Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee : Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman Based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and the play, Auntie Mame by Lawrence and Lee Dance and Musical numbers for the Broadway production staged by Onna White, and Directed by Gene Saks: Produced for the New York Stage by Fryer, Carr & Harris. Winter Gardens Theatre, Broadway - May 24, 1966 (1508 perfs) Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - 20 February, 1969 (443 perfs) SYNOPSIS Who is Mame? There's surely one in every community, often there's one in every family. Some of the wild, exploratory spirit of Mame bubbles in each and every human being who believes that life is a banquet! Mame is Eve, St. Joan, Lady Godiva, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Bow and Florence Nightingale, all rolled into one. She epitomises optimism, the power of positive -thought and sheer joie-de-vivre, and projects them to everyone that meets her, influencing and improving the lives of them all. She is ageless, timeless, graceful, beautiful, kind and elegant. She dances, too, and cuts across all barriers, whether of age, colour; creed or gender. We have all seen hundreds of Auntie Mames and in each and every one, there seemed to be a flash of something a bit different, a new discovery in the way that this particular remarkable lady thinks, feels and moves. Musically the show is packed with Jerry Herman songs that are in perfect accord with the whole positive attitude of the story, and includes what is probably the most memorable title song ever written. STORY: Agnes Gooch brings young Patrick Dennis from a farm in Des Moines to his only living relative, Mame Dennis. This notorious Auntie Mame is a swinger; a vogue-following, high-living friend to everyone. Knowledge, love, and the stock market are her dearest possessions. She is overjoyed with Patrick. Unfortunately her authority over him is shared with Dwight Babcock, a trustee for the Knickerbocker Bank. They clash on schooling, but Patrick's father's will spells out a conservative education. Babcock wins, but Mame is busy opening exciting windows for Patrick behind Babcock's back. Babcock catches Patrick enrolled in Ralph Devine's Laboratory of Life - a foreward thinking establishment. This is hardly a conservative education as stipulated in the will and so he packs Patrick away to boarding school. To add to her problems, the stock market has crashed and Mame must attempt the only thing in the world for which she is unsuited - work. She gets a job in the theatre in the show that her friend is starring in. Howevr, she upstages her actress-friend, Vera Charles, and is fired. Jobs come easy - but go just as fast. Mame is so broke the servants have paid the bills with their rainy-day money. Suddenly Santa Claus appears in the person of Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside. It is obvious that he and Mame are a born pair. The proposal comes fast, but Mame must meet his Southern relatives. As a prospective Yankee in the family, her reception is not the warmest. Especially from Sally Cato, who has been engaged to Beau since grammar school. Sally gets Mame to agree to go to a hunt and which has been designed to make a fool of her. But the plot backfires. Mame captures the fox alive and wins the respect of all.
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