Renaissance Music Theater Company is giving the classic musical “Mame” a makeover at Plays and Players Theater through April 2.
The musical, about the fabulous riches-to-rags-to-riches life of the title character who takes in her orphaned nephew and leads him through the ups and downs of the roaring 1920s into the Great Depression, is being presented with an added twist: Lance Moore, the show’s choreographer, director and designer, is playing the titular, traditionally female-filled role.
“We had several people audition for the role,” Moore said about how he ended up starring in the play. “We actually cast a few of them and it just didn’t work out. With two-and-a-half weeks left to open, we made the decision that I would just go in and do the role. It was more a case of circumstances and necessity than something I desperately wanted to do. This is the first time in many years that I am back on stage performing. Having said that, it has been an awesome journey for me.”
Moore said he’s playing the role in the traditional sense instead of as a drag version of the classic character.
“I’m playing it as a woman, not as a man in drag,” he said. “It’s been a rather challenging role for me to try and make sure that I can try and convince an audience I am not a man dressed as a woman. I’m playing her as honest as I believe she is, not as a man in drag.”
Moore said that “Mame” still resonates with audiences today because the Mame Dennis has an outlook on life that people can relate to.
“She’s a woman that does stands the test of time,” he said. “She’s a woman who doesn’t allow conflict or any issues to get her down. She tries to embody what she believes in. So I think from my point of view, she’s stood the test of time for that reason because she is larger than life. She tackles every day with a new vision and new thoughts and new energy. Whatever comes her way, she makes the most of it.”
Moore added that issues of class and the lifestyles and attitudes of the 1 percent are themes that are just as relevant now as they were back in the 1920s and ’30s.
“In today’s day and age, it still makes quite an impression,” he said. “You may think it’s a dated book but when you start working it, you realize it isn’t as dated. In this day and age, you still find the Mame Dennis. You still find the conservative people. You still find people that believe the communities are restricted. So I think from that point of view, that commentary is alive and well today.”
Renaissance Music Theatre presents “Mame” through April 2 at Plays and Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St. For more information or tickets, call 800-838-3006 or visit www.Renaissancemusictheatre.com or www.playsandplayers.org.