| Lansbury's successors were more traditional musical theater stars; but her look was unique, too. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 07:40 am EDT 05/15/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:35 am EDT 05/15/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Who was offered Mame? - Pokernight 05:06 am EDT 05/15/18 | |
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| One other very small point. I'm remembering the very specific way the Lansbury Mame re-minted the role away from the Russell prototype. She actually looked (more) like the character might've in the era, 1920s - 1940s. The costumes were designed for her, she had the short 20s bob, and with her large luminous eyes framed by the haircut, she took Mame Dennis back to a version of her roots. I think it's a small part of the equation, since her Mame had none of the Russell look and her performance was stylistically very different. She had the same elegance, but the Lansbury Mame wore the trappings with more period-specific flavor. Russell's Mame, brilliant, her line readings are iconic, mostly looked trapped in the era of the film, the 1950s. After Lansbury, the B'way Mames ran from Paige to Miller, and Miller looked like the 1960s Carlotta Campion, a role she finally played. I remember the shots of Miller with the trumpet. That's a different women; she had no trace of Manhattan's Upper East Side. Small thing, but the musical has always been about that first image, one that made an indelible impression in the Lansbury persona. The poster was not that 1950s flash. It has a 20s feel. By the time we got to Ball, in the garish costumes she wore, it was a different woman. I saw Edie Adams in stock, and she was very accomplished, but had that 60s TV hair and though she wore replicas of a few of the original designs, she was sort of a caftan Mame, like the show was being performed on the Dean Martin variety show. The character works best, to my thinking, when she brings her era onto the stage somehow. All those great ladies of song who wore their own hairdos made the character little outre versions of themselves, which Lansbury never settled for. |
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| Previous: | re: Who was offered Mame? - Pokernight 05:06 am EDT 05/15/18 |
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