Record eagle/Lara Neel
Old Town Playhouse makes it 'Mame'
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Old Town Playhouse makes it 'Mame' |
By Jill Beauchamp
Special to the Record-Eagle
TRAVERSE CITY –
When the musical “Mame,” opened on Broadway in 1966, it had an auspicious beginning. It was nominated for eight Tony awards, with its three lead actors – Angela Lansbury, Beatrice Arthur and Frankie Michaels – each winning a Tony.
Luckily for Old Town Playhouse, Cadillac resident Sally Goggin plays the role of Mame in their current production, which opened Friday under the direction of Conrad and Ann Mason. Goggin has sparkle and verve, a commanding stage presence, and a powerful singing voice.
In each song she sings or is a part of, the whole stage lights up with her personality. The solo “If He Walked Into My Life,” is especially well rendered and poignant. Of course the well-known numbers, “ We Need a Little Christmas” and “Mame” are made more memorable because Goggin knows how to sell a song. When Goggin is not on stage, the musical loses some sparkle.
The story of “Mame” revolves around party-girl Mame, who believes in the motto “Live, Live, Live!” Mame's young nephew, Patrick Dennis, comes to live with her because she is his only surviving relative.
Mame adopts Patrick and attempts to become as much of a mother as she knows how. She tries to get close to Patrick and make him live his life well.
Among the other notable performers in this production, Christy Anderson is the most outstanding in the role of Agnes Gooch. Anderson sings divinely, but is cast in a role that goes against her good looks. That's what makes her so terrific, because she portrays the nerdy, prudish Agnes with such exuberance and spirit that you'd swear she wasn't pretty. Anderson is a joy to watch in this production, especially when she is on stage with Goggin.
OTP veteran Don Kuehlhorn, as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, is a strong stage presence. He handles the role of Mame's love interest with charm and a swagger.
Another OTP familiar, Phil Murphy, is suave and dashing as Mame's long-time friend, Linday Woolsey. Unfortunately, Murphy's character has no singing solos, which is a waste of a fine singing voice, as anyone who has seen him in past OTP musicals can attest.
Other standouts included Billie Thompson as the formidable Mother Burnside and Jeanine Easterday as Sally Cato, the Southern Belle who has been jilted and is showing her claws.
Obviously, Mame is the central character in this musical, but her nephew Patrick is also a major part of the story. He is shown in the first half of the show at age 10, and then in the second half in his 20s. Taylor Beia plays the young Patrick, and he does a nice job of making you care for Mame's nephew.
In addition, there are two dozen more actors, singers and dancers, who all play a big role in creating Mame's world of parties and fun. Also, a strong orchestra led by Joe Rice contributes heartily to Mame's world.
“Mame” takes place during 1928 to 1946, so costume designer Kathy Verstraete had a big challenge on her hands. With a cast of 32 and multiple costumes for each of those bodies, there are a myriad of period costumes parading across that stage. The parade is delightful, with Mame's costumes being the standouts among an array of gowns, tuxedos, riding habits and knickers.
By MARTA HEPLER-DRAHOS
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - Sally Goggin was home from school with the chicken pox when she turned on the "Today" show and heard tunes from the new Broadway musical "Mame" for the first time.
"I was just enthralled by this music," said Goggin. "I was 14 at the time, I'd never been in a show before, but I said, 'I want to do this, I want to do this.'¡"
Nearly 40 years later, Goggin is getting her chance. The 53-year-old Cadillac performer and business owner stars in the Old Town Playhouse production of "Mame," opening Nov. 5 in Traverse City.
Based on a novel by Patrick Dennis and a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the Tony award-winning musical tells the story of a well-to-do New Yorker in the 1920s whose life changes drastically when her 10-year-old nephew comes to live with her. With music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, who also wrote "Hello Dolly," the 1966 show is best known for the songs "Mame," "If He Walked Into My Life," "Bosom Buddies" and "We Need a Little Christmas."
"It's one of those wonderful Broadway musicals of not so long ago," said Conrad Mason, who directs the OTP show with his wife, Ann. "Back then people went into musicals and came out of musicals and they could hum them. Everyone knows 'Mame.'¡"
"It's classic, American musical theater," Ann Mason added. "Big production numbers and a lot of music."
OTP's production features a cast of 37, including playhouse veteran Nan Worthington, who stepped into one of the leading roles just three weeks before the show opened. But Goggin, who has been driving about 450 miles a week to rehearse, claims the distinction of coming the farthest. She'll miss opening night of her daughter's high school musical in order to star in the show.
"My husband and daughters have been so supportive," said Goggin, co-owner of the Cadillac home decor store Possibilities for Your Home. "They knew this was something that was near and dear to me and they were insistent that I audition for the show."
Casting Goggin in the title role was their easiest directorial decision, said the Masons, part-time Leelanau County residents. Besides holding a college degree in theater, she appeared in several productions of the Midland Center for the Arts before moving to northern Michigan. More importantly she embodies the glamorous Auntie Mame.
"She walked in (to auditions) and we said, 'That's it - she's 'Mame,'¡" Ann Mason said.
Bigger challenges were fitting all the show's characters on OTP's small stage and achieving seamless transitions between its 16 scenes. The couple will rely on the audience's imagination and minimalist sets - using periactoids or tall triangular columns - to define spaces and scenes.
All in all, it will be a different "Mame" from the one they worked on in 1985 in Ann Arbor, where they make their permanent home. That show, held in the spacious Power Center, featured a huge stage and a cast of 50, making it more like the original starring Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur.
Between them, the couple figures they've been involved in more than 100 productions in Ann Arbor, Saline, Dexter and, more recently, Traverse City.
"We're involved up to our necks and over our heads in community theater," joked Conrad Mason, who made his OTP debut as Soady in 2002's "Escanaba in da Moonlight."
Although they worked together in last year's production of "The Fantasticks," "Mame" is the couple's first directorial outing at the playhouse. They've recruited some of OTP's most experienced veterans for their production crew: Phil Murphy, stage manager; Don Kuehlhorn, set design; Steve Morse, lighting design; Kathy Verstraete, costume design; and Mary Gillett, producer. Joe Rice is music director and Treva Dejong is vocal director.
Besides Goggin and Worthington, who plays Mame's best friend, Vera, the musical stars Taylor Beia as Mame's young nephew, Patrick; Christy Anderson as his nanny, Agnes Gooch; and Larry Hains as Mame's banker, Dwight Babcock.
Unlike other directors, the Masons say they're more interested in staying true to the original than in putting their own mark on the show.
"We want audiences to come and see what they expect to see," said Ann Mason.