MAME! cast announced

The Illinois Valley Community College Theatre Department will premier its first full-scale musical since 2019, MAME!, featuring a large cast of community members, students and faculty Nov.10-20.

IVCC Director and Choreographer of Musical Theatre Don Grant Zellmer said “MAME!” is the perfect show for the time — a classic with familiar music and a ‘feel-good’ story.

The cast required performers of all ages, ranging from a ten-year-old boy to mature actors.

“While the production isn’t exclusively a holiday show, it’s the perfect fit as it ticks through the months and years and includes the well-known musical number, ‘We Need A Little Christmas,’” said Zellmer.

The cast includes: Kelly Johnson as Mame Dennis; Deb Torri as Vera Charles; Rebecca Eltrevoog as Agnes Gooch; Jackson Layhew as Patrick Dennis as a child; Jake Jakielski as Patrick Dennis as an adult and Gregor; Brian Towne as Dwight Babcock; Ethan Darrow as Lindsay Woolsey; Zellmer as Beauregard Burnside;

David Zuniga as Ito and other characters; Michael Lee as Claude Upson, Ralph Devine and Vera’s stage manager; Karen Lesman as Doris Upson, Cousin Fan and M. Branislowski; Lexi Johnson as Gloria Upson, a dancer and others; Zoe Starkey as Pegeen Ryan, a dancer and others; Alyce Scott as Sally Cato; Sitonya Allan as Mother Burnside; Austin Hack as Junior Babcock; and Zoë Bush, Genevieve Hunter, and Rheagan Goluba as dancers, company and various other roles.

Production staff includes Zellmer, music director Alex Guerrero, tech director Chad Brokaw, producer/costume coordinator Dr. David Kuester, stage manager Alyce Scott and assistant stage manager Ash Holland.

MAME! plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 10 through 20. Online ticket sales open Oct. 17.

The original production of MAME! opened on Broadway in 1966 and starred Angela Lansbury. Music and lyrics are by composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, creator of Hello, Dolly!, La Cage Aux Folles and a host of other Broadway hits.

Based on the play, “Auntie Mame,” it became a movie starring Rosalind Russel. The musical version also became a movie starring Lucille Ball and Bea Arthur.