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Entertainment

We're glad you're returning, 'Mame'

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published July 9, 2005

That big "Zowwee!" you may have heard this week wasn't an after-July Fourth bottle rocket; 'twas was only me, expressing my delight that Jerry Herman's charming musical Mame has replaced Oklahoma! at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in September 2006.

Don't get me wrong. I love Oklahoma! It's just that I'm - as Aunt Eller might say - pert near Oklahoma!'d out.

The Show Palace did a wonderful version in 1999. In October, a national touring company was at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Earlier this year, the Eight O'Clock Theatre in Largo did it. And in December Ruth Eckerd Hall will bring it to town.

Just how much Oklahoma! can we take?

Show Palace co-owner Nick Sessa didn't voluntarily give up the show, though (he knows when he has a winner). Because of the upcoming national tour, the Rodgers and Hammerstein licensing agents withdrew his performance rights. The Show Palace artistic crew mulled the options and came up with Mame.

Terrific choice. It's a dandy show, and it isn't done as much as it deserves.

Mame is the story of the bubbly, much-married Mame Dennis and the orphaned nephew Patrick sent to live with her. The unconventional, permissive Mame tangles with Patrick's schools and girlfriends and introduces him to her uninhibited pals and quirky husbands and housekeepers. It has some great Herman songs - We Need a Little Christmas, Bosom Buddies, If He Walked into My Life and the high-stepping title song, Mame - and tons of good cheer and laughs.

Angela Lansbury won the first of her four Tony Awards when she originated the role on Broadway in 1966, where it ran for 1,508 performances.

But the 1974 Hollywood version was a total disaster - please don't judge the show by that horrid thing - woefully miscasting an aging, slapsticking Lucille Ball in the title role.

With access to a bevy of fine female performers (I can quickly think of three who could do Mame total justice), the Show Palace is not likely to make the same mistake.

Spring Hill singer Johnny Maestro recently performed with the Brooklyn Bridge for more than 10,000 people at the legendary Continental Airlines Arena in The Meadowlands (East Rutherford) in New Jersey. (Previous acts there include Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, U2 and Billy Joel, to name a few.)

The show, Summer Doo Wop Reunion XVI, was put together by Clearwater promoter Richard Nader.

Maestro will be master of ceremonies at Nader's Evening of Solid Gold at Springstead High School on Aug. 20, with Terry Johnson's Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You), the Crests (16 Candles) and the Marcels (Blue Moon).

Tickets are $29 for side sections and $34.50 for rear center, all plus handling, but the primo seats ($55) are reserved for the devoted doo wop fans who want to meet the performers after the show and get a limited edition of a silk screen print of the cast.

Call (813) 818-0068 for the "gold member" tix; TicketMaster has the rest.

I've tried everything from fried rattlesnake to chocolate covered ants, but the dishes I had at a small diner and grocery store in Inverness, JMJ Philippine Cuisine, were unlike anything I'd had before - and were they delicious.

JMJ opened in April in a small storefront west of downtown, to the delight of the 70 or so Filipino families who live in east Citrus County, most of them nurses at the local hospital. The jam-packed grocery side sells hard-to-find Philippine items such as rice sticks, preserved duck eggs and guava soup base.

But it was the restaurant side that caught my fancy, when Times colleague Jorge Sanchez took me there and explained the menu and food.

Philippine food is something like Chinese and Thai, but the sauces and sautees start with water and vinegar instead of oil, making it light and satisfying. But there is fried stuff, too.

I indulged myself with some Lechon Kawali, a spicy, crispy, deep-fried pork belly with a tangy dipping sauce. It's sort of like eating fried strips of fat with flecks of pork, and a little goes a long way, but is it good.

I compensated for all the fat with some healthy-sounding beanthread noodles (thin, transparent noodles made from ground mung beans) with lightly sauteed veggies and bits of chicken, which were even better the next day after the sauce soaked in (servings are huge, so plan to take some home with you).

There are lots of seafood choices, including the popular Philippine milkfish (a native of Indo-Pacific waters), crispy duck and a couple of chicken dishes, but it's the unique preparation that makes these dishes so different.

Leave room for the specialty drink, Gulaman with Sago, a thick tapioca with banana concoction.

JMJ is at 3788 E Gulf to Lake Highway (State Road 44) in Times Square (south side of the highway). Prices range from $6 to $12 for most dishes to $29 for a whole crispy duck. It's open for lunch and dinner Mondays through Saturdays. Call (352) 344-5212.

Downtown Inverness is chock-full of interesting shops and art galleries, as well as a historic courthouse partially converted into a museum. A visit to the JMJ would add a unique experience to a day trip there.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 01:02:12]