"Mama" Cass Elliott
Cass Elliot, fondly known as “Mama Cass,” was a legendary singer the 1960s, however prior to that she appeared on the Ogunquit Playhouse stage in a touring production of the Music Man as Ethel Tofflemier! 2011 is the third time The Music Man has appeared on the Playhouse stage, this time, as in 1985, produced exclusively by the Ogunquit Playhouse.*
Cass Elliot was best known for being one of the lead singers in the popular folk group the Mamas and the Papas. They recorded numerous top ten hits between 1965-1968, including “Dream a Little Dream of Me” which became a career launching number for Cass Elliot and later her theme song. In 1968 she embarked on her own solo career and recorded the hits “It’s Getting Better” and “Make Your Own Kind of Music.” She also appeared in the film version of “Pufnstuf,” a children’s musical. Elliot had two prime time television specials of her own; one in 1969 and the other in 1973.
Just before the world came to know her as “Mama Cass,” she appeared on the Ogunquit Playhouse stage in 1962. In a twist of fate, Cass Elliot’s most famous songs were featured in the Ogunquit Playhouse production of Summer of Love, with Michele Lee portraying a character named “Mama” and singing the hit songs, “Dream a Little Dream” and “Make Your Own Kind of Music!”
Cass Elliot passed away on July 29, 1974 of heart failure. In 1998, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Cass Elliot along with her fellow band mates from the Mamas and Papas. Her daughter Owen represented her mother and accepted her award.
*During the height of Summer Stock in the 1950s and 60s, groups of about 10 theatres each shared productions. Each would produce one show fully cast that would play for one week. At the end of the week the companies would pack up and go on to the next theatre on the circuit – so each would present 10 shows for a season. This Summer Stock circuit ended in the 1980s and no longer exists. The Ogunquit Playhouse now produces each of its 5 musicals annually exclusively for the Ogunquit stage.