”Mame” – Oops!
Thu., December 4, 08:08 AM
Before anyone tells me, I have to make an apology for being stupid. I know they made a movie of “Mame.” It was a terrible movie, so awful that I just forgot about it. I am sorry; I'm so embarrassed.
For years I’ve been hoping that someone would do it over, maybe for television. One by one, the actresses best suited to the part have gotten too old; it would be Lucille Ball all over again. Barbra Streisand owns the rights now, I think, but she’s too old for it too. Carol Burnett would have been wonderful. Bette Midler or Ann-Margret could have sung it beautifully. Maybe Sarah Jessica Parker will grow into it – or maybe there’s an unknown waiting in the wings.
On the day I saw “Mame” in New York, they announced that Angela Lansbury was ill and Sheila Smith, an Australian actress, would be playing the part. Everyone was disappointed, of course, and there was just polite applause when Ms. Smith made her big entrance in the first act. But by the end of the first act, strangers were saying to each other, “isn’t she wonderful!” It doesn’t have to be a big name, just a big talent.
I never saw Sheila Smith again. I heard that she returned to Australia after understudying that part. Maybe she just didn’t like living in the United States. But she was excellent.
Grateful today?
- That my home is warm even though my office isn’t.
- That my boring job is still there, though perhaps not for long. More about that later.
- That Husband, annoying as he is, is miles above so many others. (Maybe there will be more about that too.)
