Mame

Based on the 1955 best-selling novel by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 hit Broadway play Auntie Mame, Mame will play at Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook Terrace. Two of the most recognized women in Chicago theater will star in this production of the Tony Award winning musical. Jeff Award winner Barbara Robertson, who recently starred as "Madame Morrible" in the Chicago production of Wicked will portray "Mame" through November 16. November 19 through the end of the run will feature one of Chicago’s most beloved actors Kat Taylor in the role. Taylor has starred in the National Tours of Les Miserables as "Fantine" and Phantom of the Opera. Artistic Director William Osetek will direct.

Mame tells the hilarious story of an eccentric socialite who finds her chaotic Manhattan lifestyle turned upside down when she is appointed guardian of her orphaned nephew. Auntie Mame takes him on one whirlwind adventure after another, proving that “life is a banquet.” The irresistible score by Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles) includes the title song "Mame", “If He Walked Into My Life” and “We Need A Little Christmas.”

The original source material, Patrick Dennis’ novel Auntie Mame, was the surprise literary sensation of 1955. Mame’s madcap adventures as a free-thinking heiress spent 112 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling more than two million copies in five languages. Once Mame was introduced to the intrigued public, no one medium was big enough to hold her story. Mame moved triumphantly from page to stage to screen, then, in musical form, back to stage and again to screen. In 1956, Rosalind Russell brought Mame to life on stage in the Broadway play. The stage musical MAME opened in 1966 to great acclaim, giving star Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony for the role) a new career as a Broadway diva. In 1969, MAME premiered in the West End on the Theatre Royale stage at the Drury Lane Theatre and in 1974, Lucille Ball took on the role in a movie musical version of the classic story.

An all-star Chicago cast will star in the roles of many memorable characters that have touched the hearts of audiences everywhere including Alene Robertson, Jeff Kuhl, Kelly Cronin, Marilynn Bogetich, David Kortemeier, Tammy Mader, Fred Stone, Ryan Reilly, Joey Stone, Anne Acker, Max Chung, Kelly Clark, Jastine Dumlao, Michael Ehlers, Michael Glazer, Kent Haina, Karl Hamilton, Galen Murphy-Hoffman, Danielle Plisz, Jacqueline Ritz, Mary Robin Roth and Liam Byrnes will star as "Patrick.”