Mack and Mabel

Circle Theatre

http://www.circle-theatre.org

 

Opening on Broadway in 1974, the musical Mack and Mabel was highly anticipated.  Written and produced by the same artistic team that created the wildly successful Hello Dolly (including composer/arranger Jerry Herman, composer of La Cage Aux Folles and Mame), the New York audiences were sure that this endeavor would revive what had been, for the last few years, a seemingly Broadway creative drought.  Unfortunately the too-somber Mack and Mabel proved to disappoint (even with Bernadette Peters as Mabel), garnering mediocre to bad reviews, closing after only 66 performances.

 

As one experiences Circle Theatre’s mounting of this musical, it is evident as to why the show failed to please - Mack and Mabel never quite finds a unified voice in relaying its tale.  Mack and Mabel tells the true life story of silent movie director Mack Sennett and his tumultuous romance with Brooklyn waitress-turned-movie-star, Mabel Normand.  But this storyline takes up only half of the show.  Mack and Mabel also tells the story of the bumpy history of Sennett’s movie company, Keystone Pictures.  So, besides the interesting conflict of the Mack/Mabel romance, the work also presents scene after scene of montages of the different silent movies Keystone Pictures spewed out, including the cinematic series of “Bathing Beauties” and “Keystone Kops” two-reelers.  While this occurring, Mabel is nowhere to be found.  This would be fine if somehow these scenes propelled the story forward, relaying a glimpse of character development of the leads.  This does not happen. 

 

The musical numbers, nonetheless, are delightful, full of Jerry Herman’s signature highly-melodic ditties.  These songs include the poignant “I Won’t Send Roses” and “Time Heals Everything”, along with the upbeat “Tap Your Troubles Away” and “Look What Happened To Mabel”.  It’s interesting to note that much of Herman’s best work was written before the show’s structure was even finalized, which also feeds into the out-of-focus arch of the play, as Herman’s vision of the play as he wrote the songs was different than the final product.

 

The character of Mack Sennett is portrayed by the multi-talented John Steinhagen.  Steinhagen is dead-on when capturing his life as a movie director, filling the stage, via a fervent but contained passion, with his movie-making.  But Steinhagen stumbles in the romantic scenes with Mabel, never quite capturing the inner-struggles Mack Sennett must have gone through when presented with the uncomfortable necessities of emotional vulnerability.  Vocally Steinhagen receives a passing grade.  His tone is pleasant enough, but he lacks any kind of support for longer tones, so is relegated to rely on a sort of song-speak during parts of the musical passages.

 

Cat Davis, cast as Mabel Normand, stuck with a storyline that reveals little of her personal motivations, radiates a pleasant could-this-really-be-happening-to-me performance.  But as her character spirals into drug-abuse and highly-publicized clandestined affairs, Davis turns her Mabel into an exhausted and emotionless image of her past self, leaving out the empathetic elements of a soul crying out for help.  Mabel’s role is more vocally-challenging than Mack’s, and Cat Davis sounds great, even on her many belting numbers.

 

The rest of the large (18-member!) cast really shines, including the rambunctious Lottie Ames and farcical Peter Rasey.  The best performance is reserved for Eric Lindahl.  Lindahl presents a young, passionate Frank Capra with a depth that makes one yearn for him to succeed in all that he does, whether writing a great screenplay or winning over Mabel’s affections.

 

As in Circle Theatre’s previous production of Meet Me In St. Louis, the show is replete with large dance numbers.  The best dance number in Mack and Mabel is definitely “Tap Your Troubles Away”, with a majority of the cast dancing their hearts (and toes) out in a well-choreographed tap number.  Kudos to director/choreographer Kevin Bellie.  One qualm, though, regarding Circle Theatre’s dance numbers - they tend to employ most of the cast throughout the entire song.  On such a small stage, the end-product can sometimes resemble a crowded mass of people, hardly able to allow the audience a larger view of the fine-tuned choreography.  Varying the number of people on stage (perhaps sections of just men and just women) could be much more suitable as well as offering a greater spectrum of varying physical pictures for the audience.  

 

A special mention needs to be made for the costumes, designed by Jesus Perez, which are some of the best seen on a Chicago stage.  This is an even more amazing feat when one considers the work needed to design complete costume changes for many of the scenes, including whimsical bathing suits for the “Bathing Beauties” sequence, as well as providing cop uniforms for the Keystone Kops scenes and completely new costumes for the entire cast in “Tap Your Troubles Away”. 

 

As explained previously, Mack and Mabel does not match the appeal of Hello Dolly.  That being said, Circle Theatre, and director Kevin Bellie, provide a snappy rendition of this flawed play.  If you are a fan of fun choreography and hummable tunes, Mack and Mabel is worth the trip out to Forest Park. 

 

Rating: Slightly Recommended (2.5 stars)

 

 

Reviewed by Scotty Zacher

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