Kennedy Center Season to Offer Christine Baranski as Mame

Christine Baranski, long-rumored for a Broadway revival of Mame, is set to headline the Kennedy Center production of the musical. The show, directed by Eric D. Schaeffer, will run at the Eisenhower Theater from February 18, 2006 through March 26, 2006.

Baranski is a two-time Tony winner, having taken home awards for her performances in The Real Thing and Rumors. Her other Broadway credits include Hide and Seek, Hurlyburly, The House of Blue Leaves and Nick and Nora. She last appeared in a full-scale stage production in the summer of 2002 when she played Mrs. Lovett the Kennedy Center's production of Sweeney Todd. Despite her numerous theater credits, Baranski is best known for her work on the small screen. She received four Emmy nominations and one Emmy Award for her supporting performance in the series Cybill. She was again nominated for an Emmy for her guest work on Frasier. Since Cybill went off the air in 1998, Baranski has starred in two ill-fated sitcoms, Welcome to New York which she withdrew from the Roundabout's Broadway production of The Man Who Came To Dinner to do and Happy Family.

Mame centers on the eccentric Mame Dennis, who inherits her 10-year-old nephew when his father dies. The story was first presented in the form of Auntie Mame, an autobiographical novel by Patrick Dennis that was first published in 1955. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee adapted the story for the stage and Auntie Mame premiered on Broadway in 1956.

Lawrence and Lee then wrote the book for the musical Mame, which features music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The tuner first opened on Broadway on May 18, 1966. It received eight Tony nominations, including one for Best Musical, and won Tonys for lead actress Angela Lansbury and supporting players Frankie Michaels and Beatrice Arthur. The original production of Mame ran for 1508 performances before closing on January 3, 1970. The show returned to the Great White Way for a short run in 1983. It was reported for a Broadway revival a few years ago, with Baranski often mentioned as its star, but it has yet to be back in Gotham.

Mame is also known for the feature film of the same name, which starred Lucille Ball as Dennis. It was rumored years ago that ABC will shoot a new television movie of the musical with Cher in the lead role, however that never occurred.

As part of its 2005-2006 season, the Kennedy Center will also offer a new production of Frank Gilroy's The Subject was Roses, a visit by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the return of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays and the Wicked and Little Women tours.