Complete casting is now set for the upcoming Kennedy Center
production of Mame, which
will open at the performing arts complex' Eisenhower Theatre in
Washington, D.C. on June 1st after beginning previews on May 27th. The
show, starring Christine Baranski, will run through July 2nd.
Recently added to the cast were Harrison Chad (
Caroline, or Change) as Young Patrick,
Ed Dixon (
The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Miserables)
as Lindsay Woolsey/Uncle Jeff, Michael L. Forrest as Babcock,
Ruth Gottschall (
The Music Man, ...Forum) as Doris Upson/Madame
B., Ethan Langsdorf-Willoughby as Peter,
Mary Stout (
Jane Eyre, Beauty and the Beast) as Mother Burnside, and Harry A.
Winter as Claude Upson.
They join the previously-announced Baranski in the title role, Harriet Harris as Vera Charles, Max von Essen as older Patrick, Jeff McCarthy as Beauregard Jackson Picket Burnside, Emily Skinner as Agnes Gooch and Alan Muraoka as Ito.Joe Paparella, Michael Buchanan,
James Patterson, Dennis Kenney, Chad
Schiro, Parker Esse, Shane Braddock,
Jeremy Benton, Sean McKnight,
Clark Johnson,
Susan Derry, Tory Ross,
Sarah Jane Everman, Alison
Cimmet, Suzanne Hylenski, Melissa Rae Mahon, Laura Taylor, Kelly
Kohnert, Kira Schmidt, Megan Hart,
Kevin Worley and
Erin Crouch will comprise the ensemble. Amy
McWilliams will serve as standby in the roles of Mame and Vera.
Eric Schaeffer (Putting It Together) will direct the buoyant Jerry Herman musical.
Joining Schaeffer on the creative team will be choreographer Warren
Carlyle, set designer Walt Spangler, costume designer Gregg Barnes and
lighting designer Ken Billington.
The story of a boy's loving but complex relationship with his
unconventional aunt, Mame was first adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert
E. Lee from Patrick Dennis' 1955 fictionalized memoir into a hit play
starring Rosalind Russell (who also starred in the film version).
Lawrence and Lee, with Herman, refashioned the piece into a musical in 1966, and it
starred Angela Lansbury. She, Beatrice
Arthur and Frankie Michaels all won Tonys, and the show was nominated
for five others, including Best Musical. The musical was then turned
into another film starring Lucille Ball, and an ill-fated
1983 Broadway revival that also starred Lansbury folded in a little
after a month.
Mame
will play Tuesday-Sunday evenings at 7:30 PM with matinees
on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 PM. Tickets, which range from $25 to
$90, can be ordered by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-132. Visit www.kennedy-center.org for more information.
