In just four years of operation, freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg has shown that it doesn’t do anything traditional, even when it’s doing a much-beloved old play or musical.
Angela Lansbury won a Tony Award for playing the title role in the original Broadway production of "Mame."
There’s usually a sense of adventure about the way artistic director Eric Davis approaches each show he produces. That attitude sounds perfectly suited to Jerry Herman’s musical “Mame,” about a woman who becomes a guardian to her young nephew, Patrick, and is determined to help him “open a new window” on everything in life.
Working in a relatively small theater, Davis said, forces him and his designers to rethink how the shows look, which then leads to new approaches in the staging.
“In the same Brechtian way that we’ve done with other shows, I have to find a framing world of the piece that puts it into one location and sends us to different places,” he said. “That works with this piece. It’s about Mame bringing imagination and excitement in Patrick’s life.”
But it’s the casting that is bringing the most attention to his production of “Mame.”
Matthew McGee, who has built quite a following in the last few years, stars in the title role made famous by Angela Lansbury on Broadway (and not so famously by Lucille Ball on screen).
Matthew McGee, one of the more popular performers in the Tampa Bay area, takes on a new challenge as takes a serious approach to playing the vibrant Mame Dennis in the musical "Mame" at freeFall Theatre. ALLISON DAVIS PHOTO/PROVIDED BY FREEFALL
It won’t be the first time that McGee dons a dress on stage. Many audience members know him best from his lively and campy performances with Scott Daniel in variations of “The Scott and Patti Show.”
Davis said regardless of gender, McGee’s outsized personality on stage makes him a natural for the role.
“I mean the character is larger than life,” he said. “There is no agenda being played, no statement we’re making in the piece. Hopefully, the audience will quickly forget it’s a man playing the role. There’s no wink-wink, nudge-nudge in this choice. Matthew can play the roles honestly as a female character.”
But this “Mame” is not going to be any kind of drag show, they say.
“I’m not going to play it very campy,” McGee said. “I’m pretty much playing the role honestly.”
He does admit to being a “student of Hollywood glamour and performers and I bring my sort of film vocabulary to the piece. I’ve done a lot of research on a lot of the great ladies who have played the role.”
McGee said it’s the perfect time for him to play the role. “I can feel all the things in the script. I understand what she’s going through. I understand the story better over time.”
He does face a unique challenge with the part, however.
Matthew McGee, left, as Mame Dennis and William Garrabrant as her young nephew Patrick star in the freeFall Theatre production of "Mame." ALLISON DAVIS PHOTO/PROVIDED BY FREEFALLs
Among those who enjoy watching him, “there are people who only want to see me in a dress and people who want me to do something a little more serious,” he said. “Mame allows me to do all of that. I use the skills of female impersonation on such a meaty role.”
McGee stars with Patrick Ryan Sullivan as Mame’s love interest Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside; Lulu Picart as her assistant Agnes Gooch; Lourelene Snedeker as her friend and rival Vera Charles; and William Garrabrant as young Patrick and Nick Lerew as the older Patrick.
“Mame” runs through Aug. 9 at freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Tickets are $24-$48. For more information (727) 498-5205; freefalltheatre. com
Contact Jay Handelman at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. Keep up with entertainment coverage at ticketsarasota.com. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @jayhandelman
