Mame

It was a pleasure to see CAOS perform the classic Gerry Herman musical “Mame” which is now a rarely performed piece, I haven’t seen it since I performed in it 22 years ago (alongside a very young Lee Brannigan!) so its nostalgia was real. The score is undoubtedly one of the best musical theatre pieces with classics such as “Mame”, “My Best Girl”, “It’s Today”, “Open a New Window”, “We Need A Little Christmas” and “Bosom Buddies” and those tunes didn’t disappoint performed by a credible ten piece orchestra under the direction of Jenni Watson. The themes of the book haven’t really stood the test of time, which is probably why it doesn’t get performed very often, but the production had heart, comedy and some super performances.

As Mame, Katie Howes commanded the stage in her every scene from being brash and glitzy to portraying her caring nurturing side with her nephew Patrick. The role has a big vocal demand and Katie took this in her stride confidently belting out the numbers, it is a mammoth role and she maintained the energy and character throughout. As young Patrick, Matthew Gray was endearing and sang very well, his scenes with his aunt were lovely and his “My Best Girl” heart-warming. The role was shared with Joey Howourth and from his cameo as Peter Dennis at the performance I saw I have no doubt he was just as endearing as young Patrick.  Mame’s best friend and arch rival Vera Charles was portrayed by Bella Bluebell who played a flamboyant, fabulous drunk and believable theatre star without being too over the top, the camaraderie between the two characters was well played and indeed you forgot you were watching a drag artist in the role. Their duet “Bosom Buddies” was well played, the love/hate relationship and sarcasm hit just the right levels. Young Patrick’s awkward and unconfident Nanny Agnes Gooch was perfectly played by Claire Garbutt, great comedy, emotion and of course her super singing voice, a small character role but very memorable. Whilst working in a beauty salon (one of her many jobs whilst broke from the Wall Street Crash) Mame hacks at the fingernails of wealthy Southern plantation owner Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside who falls for her, Alan Davison took this role in his stride giving a natural and assured performance. In Act 2 we met Patrick as a grown up now portrayed by Scott Brannigan-Howes, Scott’s characterisation was warm and portrayed a believable love for his aunt. After a tragedy and a family fall-out Mame tries to rescue Patrick from what she sees as an inappropriate love match in which we met the Upsons played by Wendy Hindmarch, Andy Key and Liz Joy, all suitably Southern, bigoted and shocked by Mame’s antics. Patrick ends up falling in love with Mame’s decorator Pegeen Ryan played with a convincing Irish accent by Mel King and it all ended happily with another generation of the family for Aunty Mame to educate. Mame’s butler Ito was played with great humour by Stuart William Harland, a definite audience favourite, who together with Gary Nugent as Lindsey and Bill Collins as Dwight Babcock provided an assured backbone to her story. Many other characters pop up throughout the story and together with the ensemble gave good support to the production.

The costume plot was good particularly for Mame and Vera who had some beautiful outfits and the hunting scene was definitely eye-catching. There were lots of big company numbers and the choreography for them was well executed, Lee always manages to come up with interesting numbers to watch, well done for the freeze at the start of the show, no one moved an inch!. The set was mainly based around Mame’s apartment and was nicely dressed with suitable furniture and props. Sound was good and clear and the lighting complemented the scenes throughout.

Congratulations to the company for choosing an older lesser performed show which included challenging music and big company numbers and to the production team for bringing it to life.

Thank you for allowing me the absolute honour to present 6 NODA long service awards at the end of the final performance, 5 years to Scott Brannigan-Howes, 20 years to Lee Brannigan-Howes and a total of 105 years’ service to 3 generations of one family, Charlotte and Sophie Whitfield 5 year awards, Joanne Whitfield 35 years and David Ranson a 60 years award, a wonderful achievement.

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