I Remember Mama

I Remember Mama (1944) by John van Druten (1901-1957). Based on the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it focuses on the Hanson family, a loving family of Norwegian immigrants living at 115 Steiner Street (identified as Larkin Hill in the 1948 film) in San Francisco in the 1910s. Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the Broadway production opened on October 19, 1944 at the Music Box Theatre and ran for 713 performances. The cast included Mady Christians, Oscar Homolka, Joan Tetzel and Marlon Brando, making his Broadway debut as Nels.

In South Africa the play was presented by the Theatre Players, produced by Cyril Chosack, Cathedral Hall, Cape Town, February 1947. With Audrey Pearce, John Becker, Jimmy Gordon, Reg Wilkinson.

Translated into Afrikaans as Ek Onthou vir Mamma ("I remember mother") by Fred le Roux and produced by NTO in 1954, playing for 263 performances. It was directed by Taubie Kushlick and starred Johann Nell and Mathilde Hanekom.

Sources

South African Opinion, 4(1):23, 1947.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Remember_Mama

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