This is not really germane to the thread, but your statement (true) that MAME doesn't get revived much put a smile on my face as I remembered Nia Vardalos' film CONNIE AND CARLA, in which she co-starred with Toni Collette as two Chicago cabaret singers who witness a mob killing, flee to Los Angeles, and end up hiding out in a gay bar and pretending to be drag queens.
Before the characters are discovered in LA, the mob sends an enforcer out to look for them in every dinner theatre in the nation...and in every single one of them there is a production of MAME. We see the character slowly embrace the show and come to love it as he's looking for the women. It's so much fun.
If this film didn't so depend on classic show tunes, it would probably be a great candidate for a full blown musical. It's got interesting characters and a situation that could easily be tweaked to work on stage. It could be an interesting challenge for a composer to not only write book songs, but also write songs that sound like classic Broadway show tunes (but are wholly original) for the diegetic moments. |
