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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 08:17 am EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: MACK AND MABEL Tonight - sergius 12:40 am EST 02/23/20 | |
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| Saturday’s matinee had a talkback. Not just the actors but the artistic director, director, conductor, and an original cast member (who repeated the story about the 2 Mabels cast and fired before Bernadette Peters: Marcia Rodd and Kelly Garrett). It was said (can’t recall by whom) that the show was conceived and begun as a fun tribute to the silent movies. It was only when that initial work was being abandoned that the creators decided to focus on the darker storyline about Mack’s relationship with Mabel. And so a lot of the songs are left over from that ersatz perky version. And it shows. I was surprised that the book, that is, the dialogue, is serviceable and kinda witty. Fun, anyway. It’s the throughline and story that disappoint. The opening (apparently from the original version’s opening) is fine and emotionally fraught: Mack storms into the abandoned studio, determined to resurrect Mabel’s memory for himself. And Doug Sills plays it smashingly, though he’d likely play it even better with more rehearsal. And the meet-cute is fine and so is the quixotic forwardness of Mabel that pushes their professional relationship into a physically intimate one. But then the show just treads water until his infidelity (only one? Really??!) and her artistic ambitions (really) break them up. Then another spot of treading water (with reports of her career without him not working out and her drug addiction). What I mean by treading water is big production numbers about the movies and movie-making that have no impact and offer no insights into the story of the two of them. Those must be the songs left over from the first try at making a fun, silent-movie musical. The actors play the scenes and songs very very well. And the director stages everything very well. And the orchestra is great. The supporting players are stock. (I wondered what Lisa Kirk made of her role; as written, she’s just a good old broad who sings and dances great with no impact on the plot, and Lilli Cooper, who essays the role now, does not much except fulfill the necessary). The ending was good, too. (And the final use of a film clip of lovely Socha’s Mabel was a great idea.) Mack as narrator works in the framing device. But that conceit isn’t consistently developed or deepened throughout the show. I’m glad I got to see it. Really really glad. This seems to be exactly what Encores is meant to do. « I won’t send roses » and « Time heals everything » are fine songs. But it’s all dramatically inert, even though there should be a lot of good drama there. One can’t help but be impressed that such thoughtfulness, wondrous staging and such committed lead performances were created in such a short time. |
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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: winters 08:47 am EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) - lordofspeech 08:17 am EST 02/23/20 | |
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| Having seen the original, Lisa Kirk was wonderful. A true, brilliant, professional. However, her role is superfluous to the story. Her character never connects to any other. ‘Tap Your Troubles Away’ could have been done without knowing who the lead singer is. In addition, Lotti is supposed to be a top box office draw, how do we know this? One of the characters flat out tells us. Not having seen the touring version, with Tommy Tune replacing Lisa Kirk, I can’t think of anything about the part that would need to be rewritten. What doesn’t work in all this are its second act trouble. Question for anyone who does not know the story of the Normand scandal or the musical, did you know what was going on during ‘Tap Your Troubles Away?’ I don’t think that I would have known, not having known. I was there for yesterday’s talk back. Learned something from a questioner in the audience. Mack & Mabel is a tragic love story, yet the two never have a duet. I had worn out my LP from use as I love the score. I had never realized that the two lovers at the center of the story never sing together and that’s indicative of why M&M doesn’t work. |
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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:25 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) - winters 08:47 am EST 02/23/20 | |
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| "I was there for yesterday’s talk back. Learned something from a questioner in the audience. Mack & Mabel is a tragic love story, yet the two never have a duet. I had worn out my LP from use as I love the score. I had never realized that the two lovers at the center of the story never sing together and that’s indicative of why M&M doesn’t work." On this point, I have to disagree. Given the nature of their relationship, I think it's entirely appropriate that they never sing together. I think their relationship is perfect encapsulated by the fact that Mack sings "I Won't Send Roses" and then, immediately afterwards, when he is not around, Mabel reprises the song with different lyrics. P.S. Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow never actually sing together -- as in singing at the same time -- in CAROUSEL, and that's perfect for those two characters' relationship as well. In several other shows, such as OKLAHOMA! and SOUTH PACIFIC, the two leads sing together only briefly, according to the growth of their characters' relationship. And, of course, Higgins and Eliza never sing together in MY FAIR LADY, which is 100 percent appropriate. |
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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: ms721 09:43 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) - Michael_Portantiere 12:25 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
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| My friend and I went into the show knowing almost nothing on Friday night. I had seen the Encores! revue with a couple of scenes, and he knew Mabel's name from a Stevie Nicks song. Neither of us had any problem following the story and both of us enjoyed the show. I thought that Mabel's addiction was obvious from the start in Act 1, when we see her downing pills and then into when Desmond gives her the "angel dust." I had been worried about understanding Doug Sills and people's comments about the chemistry between him and Alexandra Socha, but I had no issues with either. Mr. Sills (or someone else) might have been monitoring the boards, and his enunciation was pretty clear. Our seats are in Orchestra Row L, under the Grand Tier overhang, so if things are going to be muffled, I expect it to be there. I thought there was a good chemistry between the leads, appropriate for the relationship they were playing. I loved Ms. Socha when she did "Paint Your Wagon" at Encores! and was impressed by how she has matured from that ingenue to Mabel's eventual self-discovery. I had no trouble following the action during "Tap Your Troubles Away," possibly because I was looking a bit off to my left and noticed the actor enter with the gun at the top of the stairs and was bracing myself for a gunshot. But I agree the fact that Ms. Socha and the actress playing Desmond's lover were dressed similarly could make them difficult to distinguish, and the subtlety of the red stains on Ms. Socha's gloves might have been hard to see. I am not a fan of long dance numbers, which may be why I was looking away and noticed the husband. I also found the Keystone Cops number a bit wearing and found my mind wandering and wondered if that was the same gorilla from "High Button Shoes." A couple of fun moments happened Friday night. Lottie (I think) dropped the egg tossed to her and it bounced. Doug Sills laughed and said, "Good thing it's hard boiled." Then in Act 2, when the two producers entered, he called one of them "Mr. Sennett," then said "Oops, that's me." The two men started miming drinking to each other, and it took all three a moment to collect themselves. As someone else asked earlier, I would like to know if Lottie is based on anyone in real life or is an amalgam of people Mack and Mabel worked with. |
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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Thom915 10:32 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) - ms721 09:43 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
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| I agree about the Keystone Cops number to be a bit of a drag on the show and that is the only moment during which my attention flagged. It is not really amusing in any way (which the Cops were) and in no way seems to be involving for Sennet to take his mind off Mabel. I only had trouble understanding Mr. Sills on one or two lines but I had some trouble understanding one or two lines of Ms Socha and one or two other players, about six lines in all. I was seated in the front of the balcony way off to stage left. I actually blamed it on the mics. That is what it sounded like to me. The show was enjoyable, the music sublime. | |
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| re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 02:17 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
| In reply to: re: MACK AND MABEL Tonight (spoilers) - Michael_Portantiere 12:25 pm EST 02/23/20 | |
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| ….and then there are two musicals in which the contentious, sparring "partners" DO sing together: ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (a lovely song) and KISS ME KATE (a nostalgic one) | |
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