"Life is a Banquet" in The 5th Avenue Theatre's MAME
Dee Hoty and Richard White Lead
An All-Singing, All-Dancing Cast of 39
Featuring More Than 275 Glamorous Costumes
Performances: February 9 - March 2, 2008
SEATTLE - Everybody's favorite Auntie MAME rings in the New Year in The 5th Avenue Theatre's lavish new production. Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong directs this quintessential Broadway musical, starring three-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty (Footloose, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Will Rogers Follies) in the iconic title role and 5th Avenue favorite Richard White (Kopit and Yeston's Phantom, The Desert Song, voice of Gaston in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast) as her suitor, Beauregard. They lead a vast ensemble of 39 who "coax the blues right out of the horn" in more than 275 extravagant costumes, designed by 2006 Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde, Flower Drum Song). An impossibly tall, sleek staircase curves through the set, which is transformed as the trendsetting Mame revels through a parade of decades, from the art deco glamour of the 1920s to the ultra-modern chic of the 1950s.
MAME tells the hilarious story of an eccentric socialite who finds her madcap 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." With a rogue's gallery of memorable characters, MAME has touched the hearts and tickled the funnybones of audiences everywhere. The irresistible score by Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles) includes the title song, "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. After being rejected by a dozen publishers, 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 a fascinated public, no one medium was big enough to hold her. She moved triumphantly from page to stage to screen, then - in musical form - back to stage and again to screen. In 1958, Rosalind Russell brought Mame to life on stage and on film in Auntie Mame. The stage musical MAME opened on Broadway in 1966 to great acclaim, giving star Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony for the role) a new career as a Broadway diva. In 1974, Lucille Ball took on the role in a movie musical version of the classic story.
The 5th Avenue Theatre's cast features another of Broadway's great leading ladies, Dee Hoty, as Mame Dennis alongside Richard White as her Southern gentleman Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Carol Swarbrick (5th Ave: Sweeney Todd, White Christmas) stars as Mame's theatrical sidekick, Vera Charles. Twelve-year-old Nick Robinson (Intiman's To Kill A Mockingbird) has been cast as young Patrick Dennis. Also featured are Kat Ramsburg as Agnes Gooch, Ben Gonio as Ito, Seán G. Griffin as Dwight Babcock, Laura Kenny as Mother Burnside, Michael Winters as Mr. Upson, Taryn Darr as Gloria Upson, Matt Owen as older Patrick Dennis, Timothy McCuen Piggee as Lindsey Woolsey and Karen Skrinde as Sally Cato. The ensemble includes David Alewine, Jeffrey Alewine, Greg McCormick Allen, Nicholas Beach, Gabe Corey, Michael Ericson, Meaghan Foy, Kristin Gaetz, Krista Gibbon, Timothy Gleason, Bryce Henry, Diana Huey, Brittany Jamieson, Anders Ledell, Nikki Long, Lauralyn McClelland, Cheryl Massey-Peters, Trina Mills, Kasey Nusbickel, Lindsay Powers, Heather Roberts, James Scheider, John David Scott, Jenny Singer, Pamela Turpen, Luke Vroman and Thaddeus Wilson.
MAME is directed by David Armstrong (Sweeney Todd, Company) and choreographed by Dannul Dailey. The conductor/musical director is David Holcenberg (B'way: Mamma Mia, Seussical). The set design is by Walt Spangler and lighting design by Tom Sturge. Ken Travis (B'way: The Three Penny Opera, Barefoot in the Park) is the sound designer, Gregg Barnes (B'way: Legally Blonde, Drowsy Chaperone) is the costume designer and Lynda Salsbury is the associate costume designer. Mary Pyanowski is the hair/make-up designer and Jeffrey K. Hanson is the production stage manager.
Theater enthusiasts can get a behind-the-scenes look at MAME before it opens at SPOTLIGHT NIGHT on Friday, January 18 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at The 5th Avenue Theatre. This free event, sponsored by US Bank, will explore the celebrated Broadway musicals of MAME's legendary composer and lyricist, Jerry Herman, including Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. Visit www.5thavenue.org/spotlight
DEE HOTY (Mame) starred as Reno Sweeney in The 5th Avenue’s 2000 production of Anything Goes and appeared as Margaret Anne Page in Lone Star Love. Broadway: Footloose (Tony Nomination), Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (Tony Nomination), Will Rogers Follies (Tony Nomination), City of Angels (Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination), Mamma Mia!, Me and My Girl, Big River, The Five O' Clock Girl, Shakespeare's Cabaret. National Tours: Mamma Mia, Will Rogers Follies (Joe Jefferson Award), Barnum with Stacy Keach. Off-Broadway: The Audience, Personals, Vanities, Forbidden Broadway. Regional: Old Times and Two Lives (George Street), Book of Days (St. Louis Rep, Hartford Stage), Don't Dress for Dinner and Lion in Winter (Cape Playhouse), Phyllis in Paper Mill's Follies (released on CD), O'Neill Playwright's Conference, Bay Street, Actor's Theater of Louisville, Cleveland Playhouse, Goodspeed, Ford's Theatre, Dodsworth with Hal Linden. Film/TV: Co-narrator of TBS' Untold West, Harry and Walter Go to New York, Models Inc., St. Elsewhere, Spenser: For Hire, The Equalizer; Recurring roles on Capital, Ryan's Hope, Guiding Light, As the World Turns. Cabaret: Russian Tea Room, Rainbow and Stars; the Boswell Sisters show Rhythm on the Rainbow. Video: My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies. Last summer Dee starred as Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at Pittsburgh CLO and in Mame at the St. Louis MUNY.
RICHARD WHITE (Beauregard) is familiar to audiences the world over as the voice of Gaston in the critically acclaimed animated feature film Beauty and the Beast. At The 5th Avenue Theatre, he starred in Kopit and Yeston's Phantom (1991) and The Desert Song (1990). Richard made his Broadway debut as Joey in the revival of The Most Happy Fella, and has appeared in the New York revivals of Brigadoon as Tommy and South Pacific as Lieutenant Cable. He starred opposite Estelle Parsons in the Off-Broadway production of Elizabeth and Essex and as George Kirby in Jerry Sterner's Topper. He has toured nationally with Robert Goulet in Camelot. Richard created the title role in Kopit and Yeston's Phantom at Theater Under the Stars in Houston and can be heard in that role on the Premier Cast Recording available on RCA Victor. He originated the role of Ace Gruber in the musical Sayonara and starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as Dr. Jekyll, Larry Gatlin's country/western musical Texas Flyer as Curly, and the swashbuckling new musical, Zorro, as the masked man himself. Television: PBS Great Performances of Showboat (Gaylord Ravinal) and The New Moon (Robert Mission).
DAVID ARMSTRONG(Director) is the Producing Artistic Director of The 5th Avenue Theatre. He has directed the acclaimed 5th Avenue productions of Sweeney Todd, Hair, A Little Night Music, The Secret Garden, The Rocky Horror Show, Pippin, Yankee Doodle Dandy!, Company and Anything Goes. He also directed the Off-Broadway musicals Tallulah and The Wonder Years, which he co-authored and which also enjoyed a long-running Los Angeles production that received seven Drama-Logue Awards including Best Musical and Best Director. His work has been seen at many leading regional theaters including The Kennedy Center, The Ordway Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, St. Louis Rep, Sacramento Music Circus, Ford's Theater and Paper Mill Playhouse. As a playwright, Mr. Armstrong created the book for The 5th's world premiere musical Yankee Doodle Dandy, and was commissioned by Theatreworks/USA to create the books for two musicals-Gold Rush! which premiered at New York's Kaye Playhouse and has been touring for eight years-and a new version of A Christmas Carol that has toured for nine seasons and played Off-Broadway at New York's Lucille Lortel Theatre. The Cole Porter revue, Hot N' Cole, which he devised and directed, has been produced by dozens of theaters (including The Actor's Theatre of Louisville) and was published by Samuel French, Inc. Mr. Armstrong is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
Tickets to MAME are priced from $20 - $77. Tickets are available over the phone by calling (206) 625-1900 (toll free 888-5TH-4TIX), online at www.5thavenue.org or in person at the box office in downtown Seattle. There is no service charge when purchasing tickets in person at The 5th Avenue Theatre Box Office.
The 5th Avenue Theatre is Seattle's premier musical theater. In 1980, the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of nearly 24,000 and an annual attendance of more than 287,000. It ranks among the nation’s largest and most respected musical theater companies. The Theatre is committed to encouraging the next generation of theatergoers through its Educational Outreach Program which includes: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, the Student Matinee Program and Spotlight Nights. Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, the exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. Today, under the leadership of Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon and Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong, The 5th Avenue Theatre continues to achieve the highest standards in all aspects of artistic endeavors and facility operations, while preserving its artistic, architectural and historic legacy. Visit www.5thavenue.org.
MAME SHOWTIMES
February 9 - March 2, 2008
(Previews: Feb. 9-13)
- Tuesday Evening 7:30 pm
- Wednesday Evening 7:30 pm
- Thursday Evening 8:00 pm
- Friday Evening 8:00 pm
- Saturday Matinee 2:00 pm
- Saturday Evening 8:00 pm
- Sunday Matinee 1:30 pm
- Sunday Evening 7:00 pm
Please contact Molly Fortin, Public Relations Manager, at (206) 625-1418 with questions or to schedule individual interviews.
2007-2008 SEASON SPONSOR: Puget Sound Energy
SHOW SPONSORS: Puget Sound Energy, The Boeing Company, Safeco Insurance, The Olympus Apartments in Belltown