Mack & Mabel
Encyclopedia
Mack & Mabel is a musical
with a book by Michael Stewart
and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett
and Mabel Normand
(transformed from an artist's model to a waitress from Flatbush
, Brooklyn
for the musical), who became one of his biggest stars. In a series of flashbacks, Sennett relates the glory days of Keystone Studios
from 1911, when he discovered Normand and cast her in dozens of his early "two-reelers", through his creation of Sennett's Bathing Beauties and the Keystone Cops to Mabel's death from tuberculosis
in 1930.
The original 1974 Broadway
production starred Robert Preston
and Bernadette Peters
. It received eight Tony Award
nominations, including Best Musical, but did not win any. Although the original production closed after only eight weeks, the songs were praised, and subsequent productions, especially in Britain, have had success.
, suggested the project to Jerry Herman
, who then involved Michael Stewart
. David Merrick
agreed to produce, and Gower Champion
was engaged to direct and choreograph. Although Champion had initially declined the offer, he eventually accepted, especially when it was decided to hold the pre-Broadway tryouts in California
. Robert Preston
was hired as Mack. For the role of Mabel, several actresses were engaged and then let go, including Marcia Rodd
and Kelly Garrett, before the young Bernadette Peters
finally joined the cast.
, with brisk box office sales in both cities. According to The New York Times
, " 'Mack and Mabel' has been doing rather better than its probable guarantee [in Los Angeles] – up to $150,000 in its final seven-day period." The musical received reviews that ranged "from fair to phenomenal in San Diego, Los Angeles, and St. Louis". The Los Angeles reviews were "encouraging but guarded", and warned "of the excessive comic sequences, uneven book, and, most especially, the dark ending." Buoyed by the critical response and initial public enthusiasm for the show, Herman and company ignored a number of warning signs. Neither Sennett nor Normand was a particularly lovable character, and their story was darker than that usually found in a musical. Preston (as Sennett) was too old for Peters (Mabel), and their characters lacked chemistry. Champion devised a number of eye-catching visual effects and spectacular dance sequences set to Philip J. Lang
's orchestrations, but their brightness proved to be too great a contrast with the somber mood of the piece. His concept of setting the action in the corner of a huge studio soundstage created problems with the set and limited the staging to the extent that it was seen as static and boring. Audiences "were not ready for a down-beat saga about a cocaine-sniffing movie queen."
Efforts were made to resolve the problems at The Muny
in St. Louis
, where the musical ran for one week starting August 19, 1974, but this venue was a "terrible mistake". Because The Muny was so large, the performers overplayed and pulled the show out of shape. By the Washington, D.C. Kennedy Center engagement, "nothing was working", and Champion changed the staging of scenes that had previously worked. Richard Coe in his The Washington Post
review stated that it had landed at the Kennedy Center "with all the zip of a wet, very dead flounder."
on October 6, 1974, and closed on November 30, 1974 after 66 performances and 6 previews. Scenic design was by Robin Wagner
, costume design by Patricia Zipprodt
, and lighting design by Tharon Musser
. In addition to Preston and Peters, the cast featured Lisa Kirk
as Lottie Ames and James Mitchell
as William Desmond Taylor.
Despite only fair reviews and the short run, the show received eight Tony Award
nominations: for Best Musical, the book, direction, choreography, lead actor, lead actress and designs but did not win any. Herman, whose melodic score had received the best notices, was not nominated. He was deeply disappointed, since the project had been one of his favorites (and remains so), and he felt producer David Merrick had done little to promote it, saying "He never invested in advertising. He never came to the theatre." Despite its failure, the show has developed a cult following.
. The production starred Denis Quilley
as Mack and Imelda Staunton
as Mabel; it had a successful run but failed to transfer to the West End. Soon afterward, British ice-skating team Torvill and Dean
, who were based in Nottingham, searched the music library at the local radio station for suitable material for their routines and discovered a recording of the original cast album. When they won the gold medal
for ice dance in the World Figure Skating Championships
in 1982, they performed to the Mack & Mabel overture. Later the routine was broadcast by BBC Television
during the 1984 Olympics, with the British public demand so great that the album was re-released in the UK, where it reached #6 on the charts.
In February 1988, a one-time concert, featuring George Hearn
, Georgia Brown
, Denis Quilley
and Tommy Tune
was staged for charity at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, London. A cast recording was released.
1995 West End
On November 7, 1995, a full-scale production opened at the Piccadilly Theatre
in London, and ran for 270 performances. The book had been dramatically revised, including a happy ending, with Mabel back in Mack's arms at the final curtain. The show was directed by Paul Kerryson and choreographed by Michael Smuin
, and the cast included Howard McGillin
as Mack and Caroline O'Connor as Mabel, Kathryn Evans, and Alan Mosley.
2005-2006 Watermill and West End
The show was revived at the Watermill Theatre
, in Newbury
, England. David Soul
starred alongside Anna-Jane Casey
(replaced by Janie Dee
in the West End production) in the small-scale production (only eleven performers), which ran for a limited season between March and June 2005. The show then toured the UK from January 2006 prior to a West End
transfer, where it played at the Criterion Theatre
from April 10, 2006 until July 1, 2006. It featured the trademark style of director John Doyle
, with the cast members, except for Soul, playing musical instruments as well as acting and singing.
2007 and 2008 productions
The show was produced at the Shaw Festival
Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
in 2007. Directed by Molly Smith
, this production eliminated the use of projected film as called for in the script. Instead, monochromatic costumes and special lighting were used to produce the effect of silent film while using live actors on stage. The result was a seamless blend between silent film scenes, and full color. Shaw's presentation was the first full production in Canada and was in repertory at the Festival Theatre until October 28, 2007.
The Broadway Theatre, Catford, London, UK, produced the musical from November 2008 through December 2008, starring Karl Clarkson (Mack), Gemma Boaden (Mabel) and Sean Pol McGreevy
(Frank), directed by Artistic Director Thom Southerland. Southerland had assisted John Doyle
with the 2005-2006 production.
2011
The Company Music Theatre produced a short run of the show in August 2011 at Greenwich Theatre, London, directed by Ben Occhpinti, choreographed by Lee Crowley, with Musical Director Dan Swana.
Silent movie
director Mack Sennett returns to his old film studio in Brooklyn in 1938. Things have changed considerably since he was last there—he sees a group of actors shooting a scene for a talkie
. Mack reminisces about "when he ran the show", the glorious era of silent movies, thinking of his Bathing Beauties and Keystone Cops ("Movies Were Movies").
In a flashback, it is 1911. When Mabel, a delicatessen worker, delivers a sandwich to Lottie, the actress that Mack is filming, Lottie is unable to pay, and Mabel reacts violently. Mabel's dramatic behaviour catches Mack's eye, and he thinks she has potential as an actress. He offers her a part in his next film. She initially refuses, but when she looks back on the offer, she is dazzled by the career prospects ("Look What Happened To Mabel").
Mabel is very successful and becomes a major star. Later, along with Mack's two accountants, Kleiman and Fox, who are helping to finance his projects, the film company moves to a new, larger studio. Lottie and the rest of Mack's film crew, who include the comedian Fatty Arbuckle, eagerly fantasize about moving up in the world, ("Big Time"). Meanwhile, Mabel has become attracted to Mack. While she is reciting an improvised poem, Mabel invites him into her train compartment for a meal. Things escalate, and Mabel persuades a very reluctant Mack to take part in a mock wedding ceremony. But Mack has no time for romance ("I Won't Send Roses"). He and Mabel sleep together, but Mack wakes up horrified and leaves in a hurry. Mabel, now in love with Mack, resolves to do things his way ("I Won't Send Roses" (Reprise)).
Eventually, Mabel wants to move on from comedy and star in serious dramas. But Mack is only interested in comedy ("I Wanna Make The World Laugh") and tries to discourage her. Mabel meets another movie director, the smooth-talking William Desmond Taylor
, who is instantly attracted to her, and agrees to feature her in serious films - he invites her to dinner to discuss arrangements. Mack tries in vain to discourage her. After an argument, Mabel dresses in her best clothes and puts on make-up, then goes off not only for her appointment with Taylor, but for good, as she never wants to see Mack again ("Wherever He Ain't"). Mack is confident that he can manage without Mabel: he made a star out of one ordinary girl, and he can make a star out of another. With this in mind, he immediately comes up with the concept of the Bathing Beauties ("Hundreds of Girls").
Act II
Mabel eventually returns to Mack of her own accord and is welcomed with open arms by the entire film company ("When Mabel Comes In The Room"). Mack is so glad to have her back that he agrees to film Mabel's new, serious drama, "Molly", at his studio. But he can't help himself - comedy is his nature. He attempts to jazz it up with a new comic creation, The Keystone Cops ("My Heart Leaps Up"), and Mabel returns to Taylor. Later, Mack sees Mabel again as she is preparing to embark on a ship with Taylor. Taylor shows up and Mack leaves. Taylor, sensing that Mabel might still have feelings for Mack, persuades Mabel, who is complaining of tiredness, to take heroin, saying it is a pick-me-up, which works with the magic words, "Bye, Mack!". Mabel is heartbroken by everything Mack has done to her, but is confident that she will eventually forget him ("Time Heals Everything").
Back at the studio, a happy Mack has realized the potential of sound in his movies, with singing and dancing. Lottie Ames, another actress in Mack's company, has become a star, but Mabel has become a full-time drug addict ("Tap Your Troubles Away"), and her reputation is ruined. To add further to the tragedy, her lover, William Desmond Taylor, is murdered, and she is the prime suspect. By the time Mack is willing to try to patch things up between him and Mabel, it is too late - she has died. But musicals must end happily, so Mack imagines a happier ending to their story ("I Promise You A Happy Ending").
Act II
Subsequent revisions of the show have changed some character names to their real life counterparts from the era.
, in his review for The New York Times
wrote, "I have rarely seen so much talent so dispirited as the creative souls peering through the gloom at the Majestic ... librettist Michael Stewart ... has chosen to lean on the myth of Mack and Mabel, let the mysteries stand, invented no emotional line." He wrote of Gower Champion, "A choreographer ought to be able to do something with bodies. ... Mr. Champion doesn't set about his task that way ... [he] has not only avoided dance as a means of intimating a difficult kind of comedy, he has been stingy and even sluggish with the footwork that does crop up to decorate the songs. ... Production values everywhere are minimal." He noted that "Robert Preston's personal dynamism isn't diminished, it's just restively lying in wait for the solid meat he could handle if only there were a good provider around" and that "Miss Peters ... is close to touching in her quiet reminder that what Mr. Preston started in 1911 may be over and done with in 1923."
According to Kenneth Bloom
, Mack & Mabel was "The saddest failure of Jerry Herman's career". It was a "victim of its time, an era when rock musicals were preferred over traditional musical comedy scores. Deep at its core was a simple love story and an exceptionally appropriate score. The urge to turn what could have been a bittersweet drama into a huge musical comedy was fatal."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Michael Stewart
Michael Stewart (playwright)
Michael Stewart was an American playwright and librettist.Born Michael Stuart Rubin in Manhattan, Stewart attended Queens College, and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts from 1953. Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 – September 20, 1987) was an American playwright...
and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
and Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
(transformed from an artist's model to a waitress from Flatbush
Flatbush, Brooklyn
Flatbush is a community of the Borough of Brooklyn, a part of New York City, consisting of several neighborhoods.The name Flatbush is an Anglicization of the Dutch language Vlacke bos ....
, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
for the musical), who became one of his biggest stars. In a series of flashbacks, Sennett relates the glory days of Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios
Keystone Studios was an early movie studio founded in Edendale, California in 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman, owners of the New York Motion Picture Company...
from 1911, when he discovered Normand and cast her in dozens of his early "two-reelers", through his creation of Sennett's Bathing Beauties and the Keystone Cops to Mabel's death from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1930.
The original 1974 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production starred Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
and Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
. It received eight Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations, including Best Musical, but did not win any. Although the original production closed after only eight weeks, the songs were praised, and subsequent productions, especially in Britain, have had success.
Background and productions
Ed Lester, the director of the Los Angeles Civic Light OperaLos Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
, suggested the project to Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...
, who then involved Michael Stewart
Michael Stewart (playwright)
Michael Stewart was an American playwright and librettist.Born Michael Stuart Rubin in Manhattan, Stewart attended Queens College, and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts from 1953. Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 – September 20, 1987) was an American playwright...
. David Merrick
David Merrick
David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...
agreed to produce, and Gower Champion
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...
was engaged to direct and choreograph. Although Champion had initially declined the offer, he eventually accepted, especially when it was decided to hold the pre-Broadway tryouts in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
was hired as Mack. For the role of Mabel, several actresses were engaged and then let go, including Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
and Kelly Garrett, before the young Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
finally joined the cast.
Pre-Broadway tryouts
Mack & Mabel opened in pre-Broadway tryouts in San Diego on June 17, 1974 and then Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, with brisk box office sales in both cities. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, " 'Mack and Mabel' has been doing rather better than its probable guarantee [in Los Angeles] – up to $150,000 in its final seven-day period." The musical received reviews that ranged "from fair to phenomenal in San Diego, Los Angeles, and St. Louis". The Los Angeles reviews were "encouraging but guarded", and warned "of the excessive comic sequences, uneven book, and, most especially, the dark ending." Buoyed by the critical response and initial public enthusiasm for the show, Herman and company ignored a number of warning signs. Neither Sennett nor Normand was a particularly lovable character, and their story was darker than that usually found in a musical. Preston (as Sennett) was too old for Peters (Mabel), and their characters lacked chemistry. Champion devised a number of eye-catching visual effects and spectacular dance sequences set to Philip J. Lang
Philip J. Lang
Philip J. Lang was an American musical arranger, orchestrator and composer of band music, as well as a musical educator...
's orchestrations, but their brightness proved to be too great a contrast with the somber mood of the piece. His concept of setting the action in the corner of a huge studio soundstage created problems with the set and limited the staging to the extent that it was seen as static and boring. Audiences "were not ready for a down-beat saga about a cocaine-sniffing movie queen."
Efforts were made to resolve the problems at The Muny
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, where the musical ran for one week starting August 19, 1974, but this venue was a "terrible mistake". Because The Muny was so large, the performers overplayed and pulled the show out of shape. By the Washington, D.C. Kennedy Center engagement, "nothing was working", and Champion changed the staging of scenes that had previously worked. Richard Coe in his The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
review stated that it had landed at the Kennedy Center "with all the zip of a wet, very dead flounder."
Broadway
The musical opened at the Majestic Theatre on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
on October 6, 1974, and closed on November 30, 1974 after 66 performances and 6 previews. Scenic design was by Robin Wagner
Robin Wagner
Robin Wagner is an American figure skating coach. She was a competitive skater in the late-1970s and competed at the United States Figure Skating Championships at the Novice and Junior levels. She trained with Sonia Dunfield, Peter Dunfield, and Gustav Lussi....
, costume design by Patricia Zipprodt
Patricia Zipprodt
Patricia Zipprodt was an American costume designer. She was known for her technique of painting fabrics and thoroughly researching a project's subject matter, especially when it was a period piece...
, and lighting design by Tharon Musser
Tharon Musser
Tharon Musser was an American lighting designer who worked on more than 150 Broadway productions. She was termed the "Dean of American Lighting Designers" and is considered one of the pioneers in her field....
. In addition to Preston and Peters, the cast featured Lisa Kirk
Lisa Kirk
Lisa Kirk was an American actress and singer noted for her comic talents and rich contralto .-Career:...
as Lottie Ames and James Mitchell
James Mitchell
-Arts, entertainment, and sports :*James Mitchell , American actor who played Palmer Cortlandt on All My Children*James Mitchell , American athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics...
as William Desmond Taylor.
Despite only fair reviews and the short run, the show received eight Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations: for Best Musical, the book, direction, choreography, lead actor, lead actress and designs but did not win any. Herman, whose melodic score had received the best notices, was not nominated. He was deeply disappointed, since the project had been one of his favorites (and remains so), and he felt producer David Merrick had done little to promote it, saying "He never invested in advertising. He never came to the theatre." Despite its failure, the show has developed a cult following.
Subsequent productions
Mack & Mabel was first produced in England in 1981 at the Nottingham PlayhouseNottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
. The production starred Denis Quilley
Denis Quilley
Denis Clifford Quilley OBE was an English theatre, television and film actor who was long associated with the Royal National Theatre....
as Mack and Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
as Mabel; it had a successful run but failed to transfer to the West End. Soon afterward, British ice-skating team Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean
Torvill and Dean are British ice dancers and former British-, European-, Olympic- and World champions...
, who were based in Nottingham, searched the music library at the local radio station for suitable material for their routines and discovered a recording of the original cast album. When they won the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
for ice dance in the World Figure Skating Championships
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
in 1982, they performed to the Mack & Mabel overture. Later the routine was broadcast by BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
during the 1984 Olympics, with the British public demand so great that the album was re-released in the UK, where it reached #6 on the charts.
In February 1988, a one-time concert, featuring George Hearn
George Hearn
George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...
, Georgia Brown
Georgia Brown (English singer)
Georgia Brown was a British singer and actress.Born Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot in the East End of London to Mark and Annie Kirschenbaum Klot, Jewish immigrants to the United Kingdom, she was dispatched to Wales during the Blitz to escape the bombings in London...
, Denis Quilley
Denis Quilley
Denis Clifford Quilley OBE was an English theatre, television and film actor who was long associated with the Royal National Theatre....
and Tommy Tune
Tommy Tune
Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...
was staged for charity at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, London. A cast recording was released.
1995 West End
On November 7, 1995, a full-scale production opened at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
in London, and ran for 270 performances. The book had been dramatically revised, including a happy ending, with Mabel back in Mack's arms at the final curtain. The show was directed by Paul Kerryson and choreographed by Michael Smuin
Michael Smuin
Michael Smuin was a ballet dancer, choreographer and theatre director. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.-Biography:...
, and the cast included Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin
Howard McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
as Mack and Caroline O'Connor as Mabel, Kathryn Evans, and Alan Mosley.
2005-2006 Watermill and West End
The show was revived at the Watermill Theatre
Watermill Theatre
The Watermill Theatre is an award -winning, professional repertory theatre with charitable status. It is a converted watermill with gardens beside the River Lambourn, in Bagnor, near Newbury, Berkshire, England...
, in Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
, England. David Soul
David Soul
David Soul is an American-British actor and singer, best known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television programme Starsky and Hutch . He gained British citizenship in 2004.-Early life:...
starred alongside Anna-Jane Casey
Anna-Jane Casey
Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.-Personal life:Casey was born in Salford, Lancashire, England...
(replaced by Janie Dee
Janie Dee
Janie Dee is an English actress and singer.She is married to the actor Rupert Wickham.-Theatre:Dee is presently part of the Globe Theatre 2011 season playing The Countess of Roussillion in Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" and in October she goes to Nottingham Playhouse to play Amanda in ...
in the West End production) in the small-scale production (only eleven performers), which ran for a limited season between March and June 2005. The show then toured the UK from January 2006 prior to a West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
transfer, where it played at the Criterion Theatre
Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
from April 10, 2006 until July 1, 2006. It featured the trademark style of director John Doyle
John Doyle (director)
John Doyle is a Tony Award winning Scottish stage director for musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning 30...
, with the cast members, except for Soul, playing musical instruments as well as acting and singing.
2007 and 2008 productions
The show was produced at the Shaw Festival
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...
Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
in 2007. Directed by Molly Smith
Molly Smith
Molly Smith is the artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington D.C.. She has been focused on new play development for the past 30 years while at Arena Stage as well as Perseverance Theatre on Douglas Island in Juneau, Alaska, the theater she founded and led for 19 years...
, this production eliminated the use of projected film as called for in the script. Instead, monochromatic costumes and special lighting were used to produce the effect of silent film while using live actors on stage. The result was a seamless blend between silent film scenes, and full color. Shaw's presentation was the first full production in Canada and was in repertory at the Festival Theatre until October 28, 2007.
The Broadway Theatre, Catford, London, UK, produced the musical from November 2008 through December 2008, starring Karl Clarkson (Mack), Gemma Boaden (Mabel) and Sean Pol McGreevy
Sean Pol McGreevy
Sean Pol McGreevy is an Irish actor, singer, composer and musical director best known for Musical Theatre and singing/playing piano in the West End of London...
(Frank), directed by Artistic Director Thom Southerland. Southerland had assisted John Doyle
John Doyle (director)
John Doyle is a Tony Award winning Scottish stage director for musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning 30...
with the 2005-2006 production.
2011
The Company Music Theatre produced a short run of the show in August 2011 at Greenwich Theatre, London, directed by Ben Occhpinti, choreographed by Lee Crowley, with Musical Director Dan Swana.
Synopsis
Act ISilent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
director Mack Sennett returns to his old film studio in Brooklyn in 1938. Things have changed considerably since he was last there—he sees a group of actors shooting a scene for a talkie
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
. Mack reminisces about "when he ran the show", the glorious era of silent movies, thinking of his Bathing Beauties and Keystone Cops ("Movies Were Movies").
In a flashback, it is 1911. When Mabel, a delicatessen worker, delivers a sandwich to Lottie, the actress that Mack is filming, Lottie is unable to pay, and Mabel reacts violently. Mabel's dramatic behaviour catches Mack's eye, and he thinks she has potential as an actress. He offers her a part in his next film. She initially refuses, but when she looks back on the offer, she is dazzled by the career prospects ("Look What Happened To Mabel").
Mabel is very successful and becomes a major star. Later, along with Mack's two accountants, Kleiman and Fox, who are helping to finance his projects, the film company moves to a new, larger studio. Lottie and the rest of Mack's film crew, who include the comedian Fatty Arbuckle, eagerly fantasize about moving up in the world, ("Big Time"). Meanwhile, Mabel has become attracted to Mack. While she is reciting an improvised poem, Mabel invites him into her train compartment for a meal. Things escalate, and Mabel persuades a very reluctant Mack to take part in a mock wedding ceremony. But Mack has no time for romance ("I Won't Send Roses"). He and Mabel sleep together, but Mack wakes up horrified and leaves in a hurry. Mabel, now in love with Mack, resolves to do things his way ("I Won't Send Roses" (Reprise)).
Eventually, Mabel wants to move on from comedy and star in serious dramas. But Mack is only interested in comedy ("I Wanna Make The World Laugh") and tries to discourage her. Mabel meets another movie director, the smooth-talking William Desmond Taylor
William Desmond Taylor
William Desmond Taylor was an Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s...
, who is instantly attracted to her, and agrees to feature her in serious films - he invites her to dinner to discuss arrangements. Mack tries in vain to discourage her. After an argument, Mabel dresses in her best clothes and puts on make-up, then goes off not only for her appointment with Taylor, but for good, as she never wants to see Mack again ("Wherever He Ain't"). Mack is confident that he can manage without Mabel: he made a star out of one ordinary girl, and he can make a star out of another. With this in mind, he immediately comes up with the concept of the Bathing Beauties ("Hundreds of Girls").
Act II
Mabel eventually returns to Mack of her own accord and is welcomed with open arms by the entire film company ("When Mabel Comes In The Room"). Mack is so glad to have her back that he agrees to film Mabel's new, serious drama, "Molly", at his studio. But he can't help himself - comedy is his nature. He attempts to jazz it up with a new comic creation, The Keystone Cops ("My Heart Leaps Up"), and Mabel returns to Taylor. Later, Mack sees Mabel again as she is preparing to embark on a ship with Taylor. Taylor shows up and Mack leaves. Taylor, sensing that Mabel might still have feelings for Mack, persuades Mabel, who is complaining of tiredness, to take heroin, saying it is a pick-me-up, which works with the magic words, "Bye, Mack!". Mabel is heartbroken by everything Mack has done to her, but is confident that she will eventually forget him ("Time Heals Everything").
Back at the studio, a happy Mack has realized the potential of sound in his movies, with singing and dancing. Lottie Ames, another actress in Mack's company, has become a star, but Mabel has become a full-time drug addict ("Tap Your Troubles Away"), and her reputation is ruined. To add further to the tragedy, her lover, William Desmond Taylor, is murdered, and she is the prime suspect. By the time Mack is willing to try to patch things up between him and Mabel, it is too late - she has died. But musicals must end happily, so Mack imagines a happier ending to their story ("I Promise You A Happy Ending").
Song list
Act I- Overture - Orchestra
- Movies Were Movies - Mack
- Look What Happened to Mabel - Mabel and Company
- Big Time - Lottie Ames and Company
- I Won't Send Roses - Mack and Mabel
- I Wanna Make the World Laugh - Mack and Company
- Wherever He Ain't - Mabel
- Hundreds of Girls - Mack and Bathing Beauties
Act II
- When Mabel Comes In the Room - Company
- My Heart Leaps Up/Hit 'em on the Head - Mack
- Time Heals Everything - Mabel
- Tap Your Troubles Away - Lottie and Company
- I Promise You a Happy Ending - Mack
Characters
- Mack Sennet — A workaholic movie director
- Mabel Normand — A deli delivery girl who becomes a movie star. Mack reluctantly becomes romantically involved with her.
- William Desmond Taylor — A "serious" director, and rival for both Mabel's acting talents and her affections
- Kleiman — An accountant
- Fox — Kleiman's partner
- Frank Wyman — An actor/writer, and later a director
- Lottie Ames — A silent movie star
Subsequent revisions of the show have changed some character names to their real life counterparts from the era.
- Frank Wyman - Frank CapraFrank CapraFrank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
- Fatty - Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
- Kleiman - Adam Kessell
- Fox - Charles O. Bauman
Critical response
The Broadway reviews were only fair. Walter KerrWalter Kerr
For the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
, in his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote, "I have rarely seen so much talent so dispirited as the creative souls peering through the gloom at the Majestic ... librettist Michael Stewart ... has chosen to lean on the myth of Mack and Mabel, let the mysteries stand, invented no emotional line." He wrote of Gower Champion, "A choreographer ought to be able to do something with bodies. ... Mr. Champion doesn't set about his task that way ... [he] has not only avoided dance as a means of intimating a difficult kind of comedy, he has been stingy and even sluggish with the footwork that does crop up to decorate the songs. ... Production values everywhere are minimal." He noted that "Robert Preston's personal dynamism isn't diminished, it's just restively lying in wait for the solid meat he could handle if only there were a good provider around" and that "Miss Peters ... is close to touching in her quiet reminder that what Mr. Preston started in 1911 may be over and done with in 1923."
According to Kenneth Bloom
Ken Bloom
Ken Bloom is a New York-based theatre historian, playwright, director, record producer, and author.He began his theatre career in the mid-70s at the New Playwrights Theatre of Washington. With some friends, Bloom co-founded the ASTA theatre. That company became the basis for New Playwrights...
, Mack & Mabel was "The saddest failure of Jerry Herman's career". It was a "victim of its time, an era when rock musicals were preferred over traditional musical comedy scores. Deep at its core was a simple love story and an exceptionally appropriate score. The urge to turn what could have been a bittersweet drama into a huge musical comedy was fatal."
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Robert Preston Robert Preston Robert Preston may refer to:*Robert Preston , American actor*Robert Preston *Robert E. Preston , Director of the U.S. Mint 1893-98*Robert K... |
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| Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings... |
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| Outstanding Music Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Jerry Herman Jerry Herman Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage... |
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| Outstanding Lyrics Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
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| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
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| Best Book of a Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible... |
Michael Stewart Michael Stewart (playwright) Michael Stewart was an American playwright and librettist.Born Michael Stuart Rubin in Manhattan, Stewart attended Queens College, and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts from 1953. Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 – September 20, 1987) was an American playwright... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival... |
Robert Preston Robert Preston Robert Preston may refer to:*Robert Preston , American actor*Robert Preston *Robert E. Preston , Director of the U.S. Mint 1893-98*Robert K... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings... |
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| Best Scenic Design | Robin Wagner Robin Wagner Robin Wagner is an American figure skating coach. She was a competitive skater in the late-1970s and competed at the United States Figure Skating Championships at the Novice and Junior levels. She trained with Sonia Dunfield, Peter Dunfield, and Gustav Lussi.... |
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| Best Costume Design Tony Award for Best Costume Design These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals... |
Patricia Zipprodt Patricia Zipprodt Patricia Zipprodt was an American costume designer. She was known for her technique of painting fabrics and thoroughly researching a project's subject matter, especially when it was a period piece... |
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| Best Choreography Tony Award for Best Choreography -1940s:* 1947: Agnes de Mille – Brigadoon / Michael Kidd – Finian's Rainbow* 1948: Jerome Robbins – High Button Shoes* 1949: Gower Champion – Lend An Ear-1950s:* 1950: Helen Tamiris – Touch and Go* 1951: Michael Kidd – Guys and Dolls... |
Gower Champion Gower Champion Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School... |
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| Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Prior to 1960, category for direction included plays and musicals.-1950s:Note: this category was for both dramatic and musical productions... |
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