‘Auntie Mame’ shines with talented cast, crew

The 31st season at Theatre Macon will end with laughs.

“Auntie Mame,” a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is what theater director Jim Crisp called “a great American classic.” It opens Friday night at the downtown Macon theater.

“I wanted to close the season with something lighter and a comedy,” Crisp said. “This show is a classic and it tells the story of Auntie Mame coming to her orphan nephew’s rescue and exposing him to all the wonders of life and all the possibilities it has to offer. She has a lot of worldly and accomplished — not to mention eccentric — friends, who make living with Auntie Mame very, very exciting. She is also a survivor. She lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929 and comes out on top of it.”

Crisp said that in addition to the laughs, the audience will respond to the message of being open minded.

“(The play) is a reminder that people with closed minds miss out on a lot in life. Open minds and open hearts lead to a large and fulfilling and joyful life,” he said.

Many people are familiar with the story because of the 1958 movie, and Crisp called it a “daunting task for any actress who takes on the title role. They have to really take it and make it their own.”

According to Crisp, actress September Carter is certainly up to the challenge.

“She is a marvelous actress and will be supported by a truly amazing cast. One of the reasons I chose this show is because it has such a large supporting cast. It affords more actors the opportunity to participate and gives some folks a chance to gain some experience. Plus, these shows help our actors grow and improve. Most of our actors are playing multiple roles,” he said.

The other main characters are being played by a strong group of actors as well.

“Best friend Vera Charles, the dramatic and theatrical actress, will be played by Georgia Olson. Lee Mangum will be playing Beauregard, another fan favorite. This will be Lee’s second show with us,” Crisp said. “Of course, at the heart of this story is the relationship between Auntie Mame and her nephew Patrick, who will be played by Declan Myers. Declan has done a lot with our youth company and has been in multiple main shows as well. He is very charming and has a lot of poise in this role.”

Crisp, ever grateful for those who work off stage at Theater Macon, expressed appreciation for the talents of his costumer and others working behind the scenes.

“I would be remiss not to mention our costumer, Shelley Kuhen, who rose to the considerable challenge of this show and does a magnificent job. Also, because of the scope of the story, there are an awful lot of stage props required to tell the story. Our properties master Nick Sostilio, and his co-worker Sheri Engen, have done a splendid job. Our lightening designer is a student from Mercer University, Annie Fair, and she has just been great,” he said.

“These are aspects of the production that people don’t think about, and it can make or break a show. Everything comes together together to tell a big, sprawling story that covers more than 20 years. It goes to many different locations. It takes all of these aspects and artists working cooperatively together to effectively tell this story.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 3:17 PM with the headline "‘Auntie Mame’ shines with talented cast, crew."