Show Synopsis:
A young boy named Patrick is sent to live with his eccentric aunt Mame, and he gets wrapped up in her crazy lifestyle. Although she loses most of her money in 1929 when the stock market crashes, she tries to remain optimistic about living life to the fullest. She marries the wealthy Beauregard, and the trustees of her deceased brother force her to send Patrick to boarding school. While Patrick finishes school, Mame and Beau travel until Beau dies while climbing a mountain. Mame inherits his fortune and returns home to find Patrick engaged to a snobby woman named Gloria. Mame wreaks havoc at their engagement party at Gloria's parents' house, and Patrick calls off the engagement. He marries a kinder and less bigoted woman, and Mame takes their 10-year-old son to India to teach him how to live life to the fullest, giving him the same kind of education she once gave Patrick.
Character:
Mame Dennis, a New York socialite full of joy and a love of life and living; convinced that her way is the right way and refuses to listen to anyone else.
Song Context:
Mame is upset at Patrick's choices, in life and in his choice of wife, and feels like boarding school has made him pompous and less spontaneous. She wonders if she can ever find the 10-year-old boy she loved inside of this young man, because Patrick was the best thing that ever happened to Mame.
Fun Facts:
1) This musical was based on Patrick Dennis' novel Auntie Mame and the play Mame based on the novel, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. Lawrence and Lee wrote the book for the musical, with Jerry Herman writing the music and lyrics.
2) This number and "My Best Girl" -- the quiet and more intimate musical numbers -- are seen as the moments that balance at the brashness and brassiness of the rest of the musical, appealed to the audience, and helped make Mame a success.
3) Angela Lansbury won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a musical for originating the role of Mame.
"Where is that boy with the bugle?
My little love was always my big romance.
Where's that boy with the bugle?
And why did I ever buy him those damn long pants?
Did he need a stronger hand?
Did he need a lighter touch?
Was I soft or was I tough?
Did I give enough?
Did I give too much?
At the moment when he needed me,
Did I ever turn away?
Would I be there when he called,
If he walked into my life today?
Were his days a little dull?
Were his nights a little wild?
Did I overstate my plan?
Did I stress the man?
And forget the child.
And there must have been a million things.
That my heart forgot to say.
Would I think of one or two
If he walked into my life today?
Should I blame the times I pampered him,
Or blame the times I bossed him?
What a shame!
I never really found the boy,
Before I lost him.
Were the years a little fast?
Was his world a little free?
Was there too much of a crowd?
All too lush and loud and not enough for me.
Though I'll ask myself my whole life long,
What went wrong along the way?
Would I make the same mistakes
If he walked into my life today?
If that boy with the bugle,
If he walked into my life today."