Mack & Mabel?

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:58pm

I completely love the music from this show - The overture is fabulous, and all of the songs are just CLASSIC Jerry Herman.

My question is.. Was the original (and only) production of Mack & Mabel a Limited Engagement or was it just a Broadway flop? I looked it up on IBDB.com to see who else was in the show.. and I noticed that it closed after 66 Performances. It Ran from the beginning of October to the end of November, and thats it!

The Production Team was quite fantastic.. David Merrick, Gower Champion, Jerry Herman.. and The Cast was lead by Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters (both pretty established by then).

What happened?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:06pm

You should read Not Since Carrie, a wonderful book by Ken Mandelbaum where he explains why MACK & MABEL flopped.
It was not a limited engagement, it was one of the saddest flops in the history of Broadway. It has one of the most wonderful scores of any show, I think, with most of the weak spots in Act II. The show has two innate problems, how do you tackle the tragedy of Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand in Act II when you have such joyful numbers in Act I like "Look What Happened to Mabel" and "Big Time" (this is Jerry "We Need a Little Christmas" Herman, after all); the other innate problem in this musical is the fact that Sennett wonderful cinematic touch and Mabel's beauty on screen can never be represented on stage.
The book is the main problem of this show which is why there are so many successful concert versions. The LA Reprise! concert was supposed to transfer to Broadway with Douglas Sills and Jane Krakowski; however, Krakowski was working on ALLY MCBEAL so that fell apart (a pity because I have a recording of her in the show and she was superb).
All in all, a great musical but will probably never make a successful appearance in the New York stage. Jerry Herman says that it is the favorite musical of all the shows he has written.

EDIT: I also forgot that Herman said one of the reasons people enjoyed the LA Reprise! concert more than the original production was because apparently the age difference between Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters in the original production turned a lot of people off, so Krakowski and Sills looked better in that aspect.

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 04:06 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:09pm

The original Mack and Mabel opened big in San Diego followed by big in LA. There was a date at the St. Louis Muni Opera and then it got to the Kennedy Center. It was like the closer it got to NY the less enthusiatic the word-of-mouth was. By the time it opened it was almost DOA.

Some shows work and some don't. M+M lost all its investment and was an 8 week flop.

But,
Mack and Mabel is having a full revival at the Shaw Festival in Ontario this season. This is fairly close to Buffalo and 2 hours from Toronto. The production runs in rep through October.

www.shawfest.com

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:19pm

MACK AND MABEL will never work. Beyond the problems of book/character etc - its just an impossible concept. You can not effectively create the look and feel of silent film comedy on a theatre stage.

It does have a lovely score - and frankly, I wish Herman would quit holding out for a Broadway revival and just let Encores do it.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 04:19 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:22pm

You'd think that since apparently any successful Encores! revival that gets a raves from the Times brings some transfering buzz, he'd allow for them to do a concert. There has been about a zillion concerts of this show though. As Ken Mandelbaum said in his column, the show is pretty much designed to be performed in concert.
I think the MACK & MABEL book is extremely depressing, I remember putting the script down when I first read that Mabel was having coke while singing "Time Heals Everything." I just can't imagine cutie pie Bernadette Peters sniffing "angel dust" while belting one of her most beautiful ballads. Nightmare-inducing.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:28pm

I saw the pre-Broadway (DC) tryout of MACK & MABEL and it was heart-breaking that it didn't work. Some of the effects were simply stunning ... but the book was dour and full of holes, and the ending, as all have said, was unsatisfying. Both Preston (who was an amazing stage presence) and Peters were giving terrific performances, even though the age difference between them was a mite creepy.

But that score? Oh my. What a marvel.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 04:28 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:29pm

Michael Bennett: I think you're right. M+M will never really work. In addition to the concept, having your darling leading lady die of a drug overdose can really alienate an audience.

There have been revisions. I don't know what version the Shaw Fest is doing but their credits say that Mike Stewart's sister Fran Pascal has done revisions. We shall see.

It is on that list of heartbreakers that come so close and yet miss the boat.

Merrily We Roll Along is another.

[D2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:32pm

I'd take MACK & MABEL and all it's "flaws" over half the crap that opens and runs for years these days.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:38pm

I don't remember Mabel snorting coke and singing at the same time. I believe there was a scene before or in the middle of the song.
We can blame all of the depressing aspects of Mack and Mabel on Gower Champion. He staged quite a marvelous production, but was trying to be Hal Prince. Ironically, I think that Hal Prince wouldn't have had half the depressing stuff Champion put in had he staged it.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:40pm

If I recall correctly in the original book William Desmond Taylor gives Mabel the "angel dust" right after Mack leaves the boat which is the scene before she starts singing "Time Heals Everything," I believe she snorts some more in the middle of the song as well, not while she is singing but it still makes it VERY depressing and harsh to take, especially since the song is so heart-breaking and this is the character that was selling sandwisch and calling herself "the queen of cornbeef and salami" in Act I.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 4:55pm

I don't believe M&M's failure has much to do with the depressing factor. Lots of hit shows have disturbing images (and yes, the cocaine snorting was actually a key factor in the entire construction of "Love Heals Everything.") and even down endings. MACK AND MABEL is a tragedy. It's just about not very likeable or sympathetic characters. That's the problem...

The real Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand were a NIGHTMARE. Really petulant irresponsible personalities.




Updated On: 4/10/07 at 04:55 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:10pm

It's "Time Heals Everything."

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:11pm

My bad - I must have had an Aspects of Love cross wire moment.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:14pm

You just gave me the scariest thought. Mack and Mabel as written by Sir Andrew. Now THAT would be depressing for a number of reasons.
Updated On: 4/10/07 at 05:14 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:15pm

The least of which would be Sarah Brightman as Mabel. Well at least they have the same crazy eyes...

[MrBundles]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:16pm

I was lucky enough to attend the final performance of the recent West End Revival, and it worked fantastically. In fact, it has been one of my most favorite performances I have ever experienced. All of the flaws that usually curse the show were removed.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:20pm

I don't think the critics agreed with you at all Bundles - but Im glad you found much to enjoy in the production.

[D2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:21pm

JsnWse: the overture IS fabulous. But when I saw it (Saturday Matinee, November 30, 1974, the day it closed), there was no overture. What is known as the overture on the recording was used as the entre' acte.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:27pm

D2, the LA Reprise! concert had an overture and an entr'acte. I'll have to check what they used for the entr'acte in that production though.
So the original Broadway show had no overture?

[D2]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:34pm

Not that I recall, and definitely not the one credited as the overture on the recording. That was definitely used as the entre' acte. My memories of the show are vivid, and I recall the show starting with the descending piano scales that open MOVIES WERE MOVIES. The stage was dark, just a shaft of light pouring through a skylight hitting the floor, and Mack pounding on the studio door to be let in. Color was never really used in the show - it was mostly sepia toned, with spots of color here and there. The sepia really worked, because when TAP YOUR TROUBLES AWAY came on late in the second act, the stunning silver and black used in the number was visually breathtaking.

It was heartbreaking, and I loved it. I was only a kid, but I loved every minute of it, and as I said, I have very vivid memories of it.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:35pm

Saw the Big West revival in the '90s. Fun score... maybe a Great Score, but the show only worked sporadically. There really isn't much of a story after they are sucesses in Hollywood.

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 05:35 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:37pm

There are lots of home movies that exist of MACK AND MABEL. In fact if you look at the recent video tribute on this site to Jerry Herman you will see some glimpses of it.

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:56pm

http://njn.net/television/specials/wordsandmusicbyjerryherman/

Theres the link for the Tribute Video that you are talking about maybe? Click on Preview.. Lots of fun clips of Hello Dolly, Mame, La Cage, Mack & Mabel and More..

Plus interviews with Arthur Laurents, Michael Feinstein, Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing, George Hearn.

Runs about 4 Minutes.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 6:01pm

Herman was a cutie back in the day.

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 6:06pm

Watched the John Doyle production in London recently and thought it worked REALLY well... hauntingly beautiful score and I think the book worked well with such an intimate set/direction.