Deconstruction # 4-- "St. Bridget," From "MAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                                 "St. Bridget, deliver us to Beekman Place,
                                                  Away from the wicked and depraved......."
                                                   ---"St. Bridget," opening number from
                                                    "Mame," Music and Lyrics by Jerry
                                                   Herman


                                             When you think of great opening numbers from musicals, darlings, it is hard to choose.  But there is one number that best establishes the mood of the show that is to come, and that is "St. Bridget," from "Mame."

                                                   After that Overture, which we covered, the lights go down, and follow spot, hits stage left, whereupon Agnes Gooch and Young Patrick Dennis (the one and only Jane Connell, and TONY Winner Frankie Michaels, whom us "Mame"  devotees will only accept!!!!!!!!) step out on stage, the backdrop of Manhattan in lights, lit up behind them.  The opening line of the show is Patrick's--"Golly, Agnes, New York is like a foreign country."  Things are quickly established --Patrick's father, has passed on, and the only relative he has is his father's bohemian sister--a certain Mame Dennis, of Number 3 Beekman Place.  Agnes has come with Patrick to the city to deliver him.  She steps forward, and  begins singing, what may not be the greatest opening number in Musical Theater History, but one that no better suits the mood of what is to come within the context of the kind of show--a mixture of humor and sentiment--"Mame" is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  Oh, my God, girls it gives me chills!!!!!!!!. The first thing one hears are strings and church bells. Then Jane Connell's somewhat off soprano begins intoning the song.  One may find Jane's voice here somewhat discordant, but, when you hear her hit that final note in "Gooch's Song," you get hit with what a powerhouse  performer she was.  In "St. Bridget," you get a slightly flawed rendition, carefully made that way, by an actress who is portraying a sexually repressed Midwestern governess.  Is there any  any other kind?  Of course, when she and Frankie Michaels share the final chorus, there is no doubt that both of these performers, who seems the mildest of sorts, are powerhouse performers.

                                                     How, I practiced this song, especially holding the notes on "Beekman Place."  Just ask anyone who lived in my neighborhood.  It was "St. Bridget," morning, noon, and night, for a time. And, when I got to see Jane do this, on Broadway, in 1983, it was like the culmination of a dream.

                                                       "You crazy Catholics!" I can hear my beloved Monsieur saying. There is nothing crazy about the brilliance of what you are about to hear!  Just listen. When Jane goes up on that first "Beekman Place," oh my GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                         So, here are Jane and Frankie, darlings!

                                                          As for me, I have been trying to get myself delivered to Beekman Place, for over 30 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!