We were given complimentary tickets to Mack and Mabel for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
What: Mack and Mabel
Where: Encores!
New York City Center
131 W. 55th St.
New York, NY
When: This event took place from February 19 - February 23, 2020
Mom: Mack and Mabel is a show about the relationship between studio owner and creator of the Keystone Kops and more, Mack Sennett and actress, Mabel Normand. The show is very loosely based on reality. In fact, Normand was a lot more than she appears in the show. In addition to acting, she was also a screenwriter, director and producer. Neither she nor Sennett was the great love of each other's lives although they did work together and may have had a relationship. However, none of this takes away from the fun of this show. A few seasons ago, Encores! audiences got a taste of things to come when Douglass Sills and Alexandra Socha appeared as Mack and Mabel respectively in a couple of numbers from the show in the compilation show, Hey Look Me Over. The two had the opportunity to reprise their roles in the full production here and they do a terrific job of it. The show can be a bit of a downer. It focuses on Sennett and how his relationship with Mabel was kind of his downfall. The musical numbers by the late great Jerry Herman are the highlight of the show. They include some really fun up tempo numbers including Look What Happened to Mabel and Movies Were Movies as well as the beautiful ballad, I Won't Send Roses, a song which many people may be familiar with even if they are not aware it is a song from Mack and Mabel. The production of this show was a fitting start to Encores! 2020 season as a tribute to Jerry Herman who passed away at the end of last year at the age of 88.
And that's Mom's view. Encores! season continues with Love Life March 18 - March 22 and concludes with Thoroughly Modern Millie May 6 - 10. For more about these shows or other upcoming New York City Center shows and/or events or to purchase tickets, visit
www.nycitycenter.org/About/2019-2020-season/
Tune in tomorrow for the Sunday Scoop.
Photo credits: All Mack and Mabel production photos by Joan Marcus
This sounds great! I wish we lived closer so I could attend.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good show. It's nice to get to live where there's so much theater. Thank you for visiting Says Me Says Mom and thanks for your comment. Stay well.
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