Angela Lansbury and Her Bumpy Road to MAME on Broadway

Back in October of this year we lost a beloved star of the stage and screen, Angela Lansbury. Her performing career spanned 80 years in which she received six Tony Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and one Laurence Olivier Award. And despite her years in television and movies (her last film role was Glass Onion in 2022), theater was always her first love, having appeared in 14 Broadway productions and four national tours.

But as you’ll hear in this special episode (with a big help from fellow podcaster Dan Delgado), it was a long and bumpy journey towards the role in Mame that would cement her Broadway career and earn her that first Tony Award. You'll hear from composer Jerry Herman and from Angela Lansbury herself in this unlikely audition story of how a character actress from the movies became a leading lady on Broadway.

 

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Episode research and sources:

• "Look Back at Angela Lansbury in the Original Broadway Production of Mame" - Playbill
• "How Angela Became Mame" - Medium
• But Darling, I'm Your Auntie Mame! by Richard Tyler Jordan (2004)
• Anyone Can Whistle - Wikipedia
• MAME - Wikipedia

Sound bites came from these full interviews:

• Angela Lansbury Discusses Mame - Television Academy
• Broadway MAME - Sony MasterWorks
• Broadway ANYONE CAN WHISTLE - Sony MasterWorks
• Jerry Herman with Barbara Walters on 20/20 (1984)
• Lansbury with Barbara Walters (1985)
• Herman Interview for Musical Theater Guild
• Herman on NPR 
• “Open a New Window” - 1971 Tonys Awards
• "We Need a Little Christmas" Piano Version - Steven C
• Opening Night of MAME in 1966 - Fred Robbins, radio reporter

At times certain reports or articles conflicted on particular details or order of events, so best efforts were made to rely on the most reliable sources and err on the side of those who knew more about the events surrounding Lansbury's journey.