Joan Brickhall as MAME, Civic Theatre, Johannesburg, Theatrical Programme, 1982, large format, illustrated, multipage, condition: very good.
MAME was first produced in South Africa by Brickhill-Burke at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre, opening on 27 November 1982. The Gala opening was attended by co-writer Jerome Lawrence. The cast included Joan Brickhill (Mame), Jean Dell (Vera Charles), Janice Honeyman (Agnes Gooch), Ivor van Rensburg (Beauregard), Victor Melleney (Dwight Babcock), Lance Maron / Stuart Langeveldt (Young Patrick), Mark Richardson (Older Patrick), Pieter Abrie (Lindsay Woolsey), Drummond Marais (Ito), Gloria Rosen (Mother Burnside), Denis Smith (Mr. Upson), Ann Stradi (Mrs. Upson), Jervis Pennington (Junior Babcock), Nico Lovell (Uncle Jeff) and Marjorie Dickie-Clark (Aunt Fan). Also starring Mandy Wildman It was directed by Louis Burke, with Bill Fairley as musical director. The choreography was by Keith Galloway, decor and costumes by Andrew Botha and the vocal director was Irene Frangs.
Originally titled My Best Girl, MAME is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and a 1956 Broadway play by Lawrence and Lee.
Joan Brickhill (1924 2014) was a South African actress and choreographer who worked in radio, theatre, film, and television. Together with her husband, Louis Burke, she founded Brickhill-Burke Productions, which produced Meet Me in St. Louis on Broadway in 1990 and received four Tony Award nominations, including Best Choreography for Brickhill. Brickhill was a child prodigy, making her stage debut at two. She later worked as a drama teacher. Her first feature film was Nor the Moon by Night (1958), in which she played the leading role, Harriet Carver. Follow That Rainbow (1979) was her second feature film. She directed and presented, with her husband, Louis Burke, the first South African play in KwaZulu-Natal to be performed for multiracial audiences. She also worked as an executive entertainment producer at Sun City.
