After lacing up her sensible and sturdy oxford shoes, donning her prettiest floral house dress, covering her grey curls with a fashionable hairnet, Thelma Harper, better known as Mama, is ready to hit the road. That old gal has been putting young whippersnappers in their place for decades so why should she slow down now.
Believe it or not, actress, singer and comedienne Vicki Lawrence has been giving Mama her way as if she has a choice), sassy and cranky and just plain adorable, for four decades. As part of her 40th anniversary tour, she will be appearing at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. and you're invited to meet them "both" when Vicki Lawrence and Mama come a calling.
Lawrence's career got a giant jump start way back when this enterprising high school senior sent her idol Carol Burnett a letter noting their physical resemblance. She even invited the star to attend the local fire department's "Miss Fireball Contest" in which she was performing. With a touch of serendipity, Ms. Burnett was looking for an actress to play her kid sister for a new variety show, she contacted Vicki, and the rest is the stuff legends are made of in show business land. Vicki went to UCLA and simultaneously started a relationship with Carol on "The Carol Burnett Show" that lasted eleven years.
In a career that spans television talk shows and game show hosts, stage productions like "Carousel" and "Hello, Dolly," appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, promoting women's rights, performing for our military troops, supporting causes like D.A.R.E. and heart and women's cancers and even playing Miley Cyrus' grandma on "Hannah Montana," Vicki Lawrence has been a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment super circle.
Since 2002, she has focused her considerable talents on her one woman show "Vicki Lawrence and Mama, a Two Woman Show." Prepare to laugh and be hugged to death by this talented star who credits Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman as her exclusive professors who guided her through the "Harvard school of comedy."
For tickets ($42-62), call the Palace Theater, 100 East Main Street, Waterbury at 203-346-2000 or online at www.palacetheaterct.com.
Come discover who has the sharpest and funniest tongue in the west, north, south and east when Mama brings her alter ego Vicki Lawrence to the Palace.
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