Vicki Lawrence and Mama to Make A Comeback

[Brian Damage]

You might think the audience for Vicki Lawrence would be exclusively 55 and up, since she is best known for the character she created on TV classic “The Carol Burnett Show.” But other generations have also come to notice her work, so there is likely to be a smattering of other age groups represented in the audience when her show comes to Foxwoods’ Fox Theater Wednesday.

Then again, the weekday showtimes of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. would suggest senior citizens. It’s been a long and steady career either way.

The still-bubbly and engaging 63-year-old, who created “Mama” Thelma-Mae Crowley Harper during the seventh season of “Carol Burnett” and went on to “Mama’s Family” in the 1980s, talk show “Vicki!” in the 1990s and appearances on “Yes, Dear” and even “Hannah Montana,” spoke to us last week about her Connecticut shows.

The stage act is called “Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two-Woman Show,” and the Inglewood, Calif., native (whom Burnett discovered, partly for her resemblance to the comic actress) comes out first to talk about how the Burnett show was the “Harvard School of Comedy in front of America.”

“I lovingly say that I sort of open for Mama,” Lawrence says, “because I need to be me before I’m not anymore ... before I fully turn into Mama.”

Her half of the show is largely autobiographical, she says. “So many fun things have happened to me that I feel like my life is nothing if not pretty comical.”

Amid comedic observations and a musical interlude, Lawrence will relay the legendary story of writing Burnett a fan letter as a high school senior and soon getting to appear and become a regular on the show; also: becoming a redhead “when I was trying very hard to be Mary Tyler Moore”; meeting her husband; “how in the world I had one hit song that was huge”; and how the brassy Mama came to be.

The song, in case you forgot, was 1973’s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” written by her first (brief) husband. No one believed in the song except Lawrence, who recorded a demo and eventually a big hit single. She’s now been married for 38 years to a guy she met on Burnett’s show, and they have two grown children.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...7775338233.txt

[MikeLutton]

i went to her one woman show few years ago loved it vicki was a riot to see it was so much fun it was great

[Leigh Ann]

I'll never forget when I went...Such an amazing experience!

[Retro4Life]

I loved the Mama's family portion of the Carol Burnett Show...it honestly made him laugh till I cried sometimes, and it was quite moving occasionally, too.

The regular series...not so much. It wasn't horrible, just kind of 'there' for me, not many real laughs. Always felt like they weren't trying to make the characters as rich as they did on TCBS.

Had a big crush on her back in the day...she's still a very attractive lady!

[Dr. Thong]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

I loved the Mama's family portion of the Carol Burnett Show...it honestly made him laugh till I cried sometimes, and it was quite moving occasionally, too.

The regular series...not so much. It wasn't horrible, just kind of 'there' for me, not many real laughs. Always felt like they weren't trying to make the characters as rich as they did on TCBS

I agree. I felt Mama was better as a supporting character in an ensemble with "the family" sketches on Carol Burnett. Without Burnett, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway, it wasn't the same.

With some characters, less is more.