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| re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:31 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:26 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? - Michael_Portantiere 05:14 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| Yeah, for a comedy like this... the thing is that if it isn't funny to the audiences it's being sold to, then what is the point? You can defend portraying these problematic scenarios or antiquated issues (like plantation south / single woman pregnancy) because they happened, we have no value in erasing history or not finding themes worth exploring from times different than our current times... but if you portray them for a satirical or comedic purpose that doesn't land or isn't relevant or has been done to death by now, then there's not much to defend. Frankly the greatness in the show isn't great enough to have much value in the balance. If it bring joy to people i'm all for that. But even listening to the score again while cleaning the other day... it is so basic, so one-dimensional, so straight forward. It was fun to clean to but if the show isn't smart and funny and sharp in today's light and isn't shedding light on anything, then i can't quite imagine sitting through it as a play for 2+ hours and treating it like a worthwhile piece of theater to spend a bunch of money on. Even if you cut the plantation section. I also don't agree that it's *better* than Dolly... and while i find the story to Mame deeply felt and more engaging on paper, in execution I think the writing of Dolly lifts it above the level I've always found Mame to sit at. |
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| re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 11:44 am EDT 07/07/20 | |
| In reply to: re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? - Chazwaza 06:26 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| I wonder if it would be possible for contemporary writers to adapt the novel/play again and give us a new MAME? Aside from the rights issues involved, which I'm sure would be numerous and complicated, I wonder if this character and story could resonate with audiences today in a new adaptation that would, I would assume, either drop the more problematic episodes of the story or approach them in an entirely different way that would work better for contemporary audiences. And would anyone be interested in a MAME musical without the Jerry Herman score? Is that so ingrained that it would be too weird to hear these characters sing in any other way? I'm not saying "Cancel MAME," but rather, seeing how problematic the show feels nowadays, can these beloved characters and the essence of the story be rescued? The Peckerwood scenes certainly would be included in there and also too the character of Ito. But the approach to Gooch's pregnancy must have been daring and modern at the time and, of course, serves to showcase the Upsons' faults as the "villains" of that part of the story. They are clearly shown to be heinous people that Patrick is well rid of when he comes to his senses. I'm not sure that really needs to be looked at in the same way. |
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| re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 08:40 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: How many ANTI-MAME people have ever actually seen a first class production onstage? - Chazwaza 06:26 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| Though I do find a lot to like in the score of Mame, I would have to say that I find Dolly a better show in every way. In terms of the "silliness" in the shows' books - for me, Dolly is rooted in a comedic style that complements the story and the score, while mame seems (to me, at least) to rely much more on witty exchanges for the sake of witty exchanges, and lots of zinger punchlines for the sake of zinger punchlines. There's an "elegance" (word choice intended) to Dolly that makes the humor seem natural - in Mame it feels much more like they had a bunch of jokes they wanted to cram in. |
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