Lucille was more than Lucy Ricardo. She was Mame!

[no_hypocrisy]

Bosom Buddies with Bea Arthur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E5u5xO8t68

[GodlessBiker]

1. I love Lucy, but Rosalind Russell was *the* Mame.

[valerief]

2. I totally agree. Lucy wasn't a good Mame. Roz was the best. nt

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

9. Rosalind Russell to me will always be Auntie Mame.

I think the first time I ever saw it I was about ten years old and I absolutely loved the movie and I still do. I must get the DVD to add to my collection. :party: :party:

Not to take away from Lucy though, those shows were absolute classics....

[valerief]

10. I've had Auntie Mame for a few years now. The movie always make me smile. nt.

[dflprincess]

13. Completely agree

Rosalind Russell was the only Mame.

Though, when the movie came out, family lore has it that my grandparents and aunts were convinced that Mame had been patterned after my mother.

Though, Lucy Ricardo also has a special place in my heart (as does Lucille Ball).

[mopinko]

16. hey mo.

haven't seen you around in a while. whaddup?

[Mimosa]

31. Same here!

I need to add Auntie Mame to my DVD collection too. The movie always makes me weep. And laugh.

Lucille Ball was OK, but not as Mame. :D

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Well I agree with qualifications. Rosalind Russell was the non-singing Mame.

BTW, I got the thrill of a lifetime in 1982 when I got to see Angela Landsbury perform with Bea Arthur on Broadway with their revival of "Mame". They were so good together.

[MotorCityMan]

19. Ok, no_hypocrisy, I hate you

I would have LOVED to see Angela and Bea on stage in Mame.

EDITED TO ADD: Wait a minute, you saw them in a Mame revival in 1982? I wonder how the hell I missed that. In 1982, my uncle took my brother and I to New York and we saw the following shows; Dreamgirls (original cast), Nine (original Cast), A Soldier's Story, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (hysterical) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (with original narrator, Laurie Beecham, may she rest in peace, such an incredible singer).

On a sidenote, my most memorable, intense theatrical experience was the original cast of Dreamgirls. Not to take anything away from Jennifer Hudson in the movie, who did a fantastic job and deserved her Oscar, but it just doesn't compare to seeing Jennifer Holiday performing the song And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going live. I get chills just thinking about it. The audience was on it's feet clapping, crying, yelling out "You go girl" while she performed it. It was almost like a gospel church service. Good thing it was the end of the first act because the applause went on and on. Ms. Holiday received a Tony for her performance in Dreamgirls and did she deserve it.

Well, ok, there was also seeing Angels in America in Chicago, with the full frontal male nudity...

[MotorCityMan]

17. Agreed. Rosalind Russell was *the* Mame

Rosalind was terrific in Auntie Mame (as well as The Women, one of my all time favorites).
Now, while I love Lucy (pun definitely intended), she was a little too old for the part, plus she's not a singer. It really is too bad that they did not cast Angela Lansbury in the role, as she originated it on Broadway. Angela can sing (listen to the original Broadway cast recording of Mame, Angela is fantastic), is a very talented actress, and was the right age.
Also, I did not like the young Patrick in Mame, always found him obnoxious. I do like the young Patrick in Auntie Mame and thought him well cast.

[jberryhill]

20. I got to see Carol Channing as Auntie Mame

She was a trip.

This was a road performance late in her career and something of a farewell.

After the encores, she came out and had a chat with the audience as Carol Channing, and changed my whole opinion of her as a person.

[MotorCityMan]

24. I saw Carol in one of the Hello Dolly revivals in 1983

Thrilling experience, as Ms. Channing WAS Dolly Levi.

[jberryhill]

25. You know what.... that's what it was... I always get those two mixed up

[BeyondGeography]

4. Big Lucypalooza in her hometown of Jamestown, NY, today...her 100th b-day

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/06/us-lucy-idUSTRE77464N20110806

[sueh]

7. Lucy marathon this weekend on ME TV in Chicago. I'm loving Lucy!

[BuelahWitch]

14. Bet the Lucypalooza was more fun

Than the Jesuspalooza down in TX! :hi:

If I'd had the money, I'd have gone to New York State to honor her.

[Systematic Chaos]

5. I thought this was MAME

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Sheesh -- you kids . . . . . .

:hi:

[dsc]

8. actually she was way, way more than just an actress

She was the first person, not just the first woman, to own the syndication rights to her show. She was one of the very few, if not only, female studio execs in the 1950's. She was a true pioneer on the business side of show business, not just the show side of show business.

[chalky]

11. Her show was pioneering as well - first interracial couple, first to acknowledge and weave in

the pregnancy of one of the stars. I love Lucy.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. "interracial???

Ricky Ricardo was quite Caucasian.

[chalky]

18. Would "intercultural" make your cut?

Or are we just going to assume the Desi Arnaz being of Cuban descent was irrelevant back in the '50s?

[Stinky The Clown]

26. "Intercultural" is fine.

He was Caucasian. She was Caucasian. He was a successful immigrant. His fluent English was Spanish accented. He was an American. None of that has a damned thing to do with race.

HIs being Cuban actually was rather quite irrelevant back then. Cuba was a *very* popular tourist destination until the ousting of Batista in 1959. The Cuban culture was very much accepted in the US. It had, in some ways, the same cache enjoyed by Vegas these days. The "high" (Caucasian) Cubans were fully accepted by Americans. For the most part, they still are.

[chalky]

32. I'm based in Texas. Trust me, being Cuban was NOT irrelevant back then.

n/t.

[jberryhill]

22. Yeah... Best thing for a Dominican was to pass as Cuban

I hope in my lifetime that someday I'll have a good rum drink in a nightclub in Havana.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. I'm not sure I understand your comment.

Are you saying Desi Arnaz was Dominican?

[jberryhill]

28. No....

Cubans were "acceptable" Latins.... Hispanic, but not Mexican, and many of them with, shall we say European, features!

I can see how, from a current perspective, one might think a popular television show featuring a marriage between a nice middle class white lady and a Cuban - one who sometimes doesn't even use English! - back at that time might seem like a thing of wonder; absent the fact that Cubans, for some reason, were "okay" in a way that, say, Puerto Ricans weren't.

But, of course, Ricky Ricardo makes his living by being a flamboyant Cuban entertainer, so it's not as if he's taking a job from a real American.

The "pass as Cuban" thing comes from baseball history, when African American and Dominican players would claim Cuban ancestry in order to play in the majors.

[EFerrari]

29. His music was based on African instruments.

And remember that African mask he wore in the episode where little Ricky is born? A cultural critic could have a field day with that.

Imo, race definitely comes up in that first series and the Ricardos were in a mixed marriage that was always commented on in some way. It's the thing that nobody says. And we know from our own history that being Caucasian doesn't exclude you from discussions of race, as Irish and Italian Catholics learned when they got here.

[jberryhill]

30. Were the Ricardos presumptively Catholic

How did they finesse the topic of religion?

[REP]

12. Rosalind Russell was Mame (and just gorgeous)

Lucille Ball made jokes about domestic abuse. Yay!

[DeSwiss]

21. Two of my favorite ladies!!! :^D - K&R n/t

[Bluebear]

23. Not this meme again.

:0