On November 7th, 2002 I attended the Musical Theater West Production of

"Mame" at the Long Beach Carpenter Center. Mame is very well off. She lives in New

York at the peak of the Twenties, and is surprised by a "wonderful present": an orphan

Now, ten-year-old Patrick needs his aunt, and this is something new for Mame-

to be needed. It changes her life. It brings her into sharp conflict with her best friend,

Vera Charles, a multi-martini grande dame of the legitimate theater-for Vera can't

stand children. The man Mame is about to marry is perfectly willing to take on the boy

as a bonus, but Mame doesn't think she'll have time for marriage-"I'll be too busy

The boy's nanny, Agnes Gooch, doesn't approve of those irrepressible things

which go on in Mame's Beekman Place apartment, and yet she inevitably falls under

her spell. Eye to eye, toe to toe, Mame battles Babcock, the snooty banker who wants

younger kids. The audience consisted of kids from 6 to 60 with an emphasis on the 6.

ick the prisoner of the Establishment and put the chains of

than the character Mame, but that was not the problem. She sang the right notes she

costumes, makeup, and the mechanics all played together very well. The sets gave

Struthers. The audience seemed to respond well to the child who played Patrick.

conformity around him. With the balloon burst of the Depression, it looks as if

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jakie Batinga, Babcock Mame, Vera Charles, Mame's Beekman, Center Mame, Sally Struthers, Mame There's, Ball Lawrence, Theater West, Jerry Herman, sally struthers, audience didn't, musical theater, musical theater west, theater west,
Approximate Word count = 682
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)