Reception
By 1979, Broadway audiences had become accustomed to edgier musicals such as Sweeney Todd and Evita. Critics found Mama to be old-fashioned and corny, and all were quick to describe the musically disinclined Ullmann as miscast. The New York Times reviewer wrote: "At the end of its much-postponed and choppy progress...this big and expensive musical had buried most of the strengths it possesses under a mass of cliches and a pervading, forced cuteness.... Miss Ullman is unsuited to it."
Advance box office sales, particularly for matinée performances, had been strong enough to keep the show alive in its early weeks, but attendance quickly dropped in numbers dramatic enough to warrant closing. It was Rodgers' last musical.
An original cast album was never recorded, but a studio recording with Hearn and Irving reprising their stage roles and Sally Ann Howes replacing Ullmann was released in 1985.
Read more about this topic: I Remember Mama (musical)
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