I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to seeing “Auntie Mame” at Tacoma Little Theatre. I saw the show a few years ago at a different theater, and it didn’t wow me the way I wanted it to. So when I saw it on my shows to watch list this season, I sighed and set out to go to “work” instead of to a day of entertainment.



But I was surprised. TLT served up a damn good show. The matinee I saw last weekend was a joy to see. It was funny and touching and clever at the same time.



“Aunt Mame” chronicles the days of a young boy named Patrick Dennis (played by Caleb Wilkerson). The “properly raised” Chicago boy finds himself in New York City after his father dies and wills Patrick’s care to his sister, Mame Dennis.



Mame (played by South Sound theater veteran Sharry O’Hare) could best be described as eclectic. Patrick arrives at her urban flat while she is holding a party of a menagerie of Marxists, socialites and drunkards in the dawning days of the Great Depression. She isn’t crazy in the conventional sense, but she is quirky of the highest order.



This doesn’t please the boy’s financial overseer, Dwight Babcock (played by heavy hitter Jay Iseli). His straightlaced views of education and life in general clash with that of the free-spirited Mame, creating opportunities for some funny one-liners and setting the storyline in motion. Mame loses all she owns as the markets collapse, sending her world into a spiral.



Years pass. The role of Patrick gets handed to Kody Bringman to denote the passage of time. 1928 turns to 1929 and so on until the final scene in 1950. The boy is now a man, and the two have a bond and an outlook on life that almost make them inseparable.

What made this show work, even with its run time bumping close to three hours, is that it is such a human story about family and worldly outlook. While the aunt and nephew are so different when they first meet, Patrick and his aunt move from being just blood relations to true friends.



O’Hare walks the wonderful line between being a zany woman about town in New York and being a loving aunt who wants to dearly care for the only relative she has left in the world.



The supporting cast is strong and on point. Each character has a role to play and forwards the story accordingly. The set is simple but effective as it notes the passage of time with furniture and clothing style shifts. My only beef with the show is that the scenery, albeit adequate, doesn’t match the level of the acting. I wanted more depth and more flash. And I was left wanting.   



“Auntie Mame” runs through Oct. 7 with performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. The Oct. 5 performance will include American Sign Language interpretation. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for students, seniors and military, and $16 for children 12 and under. More information is available by calling 253.272.2281 or online at www.tacomalittletheatre.com. The theater located at 210 North I Street in Tacoma.