Theater News

Kennedy Center’s Mame with Baranski, Skinner, and Von Essen Rescheduled to Open in May 2006

Christine Baranski
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)
Christine Baranski
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

The Kennedy Center’s upcoming production of Jerry Herman’s Mame, with Christine Baranski in the title role, will now run May 27-July 2, 2006 and will open officially on June 1. The show, to be directed by Eric Schaefer, had originally been scheduled for a February 18-March 26 engagement. No reason was given for the change.

Mame will co-star Emily Skinner as Agnes Gooch and Max von Essen as the adult Patrick Dennis, with additional casting yet to be announced. The production’s creative team includes Warren Carlyle (choreography), Walt Spangler (sets), Gregg Barnes (costumes), and Dan Wagner (lighting).

Based on the play Auntie Mame, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Mame follows the whirlwind adventures of an unconventional woman and her nephew with a rogue’s gallery of memorable characters including actress Vera Charles, secretary Agnes Gooch, and Southern gentleman Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1966 and ran for more than 1,500 performances. It was nominated for eight Tony Awards; actors Angela Lansbury, Beatrice Arthur, and Frankie Michaels won the trophies. A 1983 revival, also starring Lansbury, ran less than 50 performances. The 1974 film version of Mame, starring Lucille Ball and Robert Preston, is generally considered to be a fiasco.

Baranski won two Tony Awards for her featured performances in The Real Thing and Rumours, as well as an Emmy for work on the TV sitcom Cybill. Skinner received a Tony nomination for Side Show and has also been seen on Broadway in Dinner at Eight and The Full Monty. Von Essen, whose Broadway credits include Dance of the Vampires and Jesus Christ Superstar, is currently starring in the Two Rivers Theatre Company production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.