| I saw in 1999 with Christine Ebersole as Mame and Kelly Bishop as Vera, which should have been solid-gold casting. But the direction was bad and the show came across as weak. Even then, it felt out of date on several fronts: The wacky Asian houseboy, Vera's alcoholism, the supposed hilarity of what amounts to Gooch's date rape, the gaggle of unwed mothers hired specifically to embarrass the Babcocks, and the chorus of Dixiecrats lauding Mame for causing the South to rise again. A fun score, to be sure. But it's an enormous show and I have a hard time imagining anyone sinking a ton of money into a revival. |
