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Theatre listings > Mack And Mabel. - Tour & Musical. Music and lyrics – Jerry Herman. Book – Michael Stewart. Revisions – Francine Pascal. Director – John Doyle. Designer – Mark Bailey. Lighting Designer – Richard G Jones. Musical Supervisor – Sarah Travis. Company - Watermill Theatre Production. Company Website. Cast - here . Venue – Kings Theatre, Edinburgh 6-11 February, 2006. Touring to Darlington, Dartford, Manchester, Guildford, Eastbourne and Nottingham during February and March. 2006 Tour Dates and Times - here . Seen to review at Edinburgh King's Theatre. Run Time – Two hours, one interval. Reviewer – Vivien Devlin. Brilliant, versatile ensemble. The setting of Jerry Herman’s musical Mack and Mabel is the Silent Movie era in New York and Hollywood, relating the true love story of two great legends, director Mack Sennett, creator of the Keystone Cops, and his protégée, the film star, Mabel Normand. David Soul, (star of TV’s cop show Starsky and Hutch and Number One hit singer) plays Mack. Olivier award winning actress, Janie Dee, plays Mabel. A brilliant, versatile ensemble of musicians take the roles of actors, writers and directors – they perform the score, act, sing and dance. The movie studio is simply depicted by cameras, costume trunks, steel gates, a suspended platform and Mark Sennett’s Director’s chair. The story is dramatised in a series of flashbacks between 1910 and 1931 as Sennett recalls the great days “when movies were movies” – he wrote, directed and shot a two reeler in just a morning. He reminisces the moment he first saw Mabel, a young Deli waitress from Brooklyn, who turns up with the lunchtime sandwiches. He spots her beautiful face, comical timing and sees natural talent. Before long, Mabel is starring in Sennett’s films and their success takes the studio to Hollywood. He is the undoubted King of Comedy while she is his ideal comedienne. But the working relationship is becoming up close and personal. Mabel has fallen deeply in love and on the train to LA she gently seduces him. But in a tear jerking scene he declares he has no romance in his soul and rejects her love in the bittersweet song, I Won’t Send Roses. In turn Mabel soon decides to reject Mack and his endless slapstick comedies. She wants to be an artiste with integrity and star in dramatic films. Walking out is the only way to make him realise what she means to him. In the empty darkness of the studio without Mabel, he admits affection. One simple line “ I miss you kid” spoken in a whisper captures the extraordinary pathos, sadness and loss of a man who has waited too long to say 'I love you.' More of a play with music, this magical show is imaginatively directed by John Doyle (theatre graduate of RSAMD) setting economical scenes in the studio, train and Atlantic liner, complemented by fabulous silent movie extracts – the Keystone Cops and Bathing Beauties - screened on a white curtain across the stage. And just listen to those wonderful Broadway songs - Look What Happened to Mabel, Time Heals Everything, Hundreds of Girls, I Won’t Send Roses and Tap Your Troubles Away. Reminiscent of a young Liza Minelli, Janie Dee is a delightful Mabel, girlish, romantic, ambitious, with a wide vocal range from pure operatic to smoky jazz. It’s David Soul though who leads the energetic ensemble with a powerful stage presence and precise sense of character, period and place. Through his narration of his past life as an older man, we can see a portrait of the determined, youthful “I want to make the world laugh” Mack. Soul’s creamy smooth, mellow voice also suits the gentle melodies and poetic lyrics. Jerry Herman himself has said David Soul is “the ultimate Mack Sennett” which is high praise indeed. While it could be seen as rather a whimsical, run of the mill, period romance, what gives this musical real emotional strength is the fact that it’s based on true events and real people. The relationship between Mack and Mabel, on and off screen, is a dark and tragic story of unrequited love, rejection, jealousy, passion and scandal. There is no happy ending. That only happens in the movies. ©Vivien Devlin, 6 February, 2006. Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Richard Brightiff – William Desmond Taylor, Tomm Coles – Frank, Robert Cousins – Eddy, Michelle Long – Gertie, David Soul - Mack, Janie Dee – Mabel, Jon Trenchard – Mr Bauman, Sarah Whittuck – Lottie, Matthew Woodyatt – Fatty, Robin Pirongs – Mr Kessel and Simon Tuck – Andy. 2005 Tour Details of Watermill Theatre's production of Mack And Mabel . Tour begins 24 - 29 Jan at Bath Theatre Royal 01225 448844. 30 Jan - 4 Feb at Southampton Mayflower 023 8071 1811. 6 - 11 Feb at 7.30pm, Mats: Wed & Sat at 2.30pm. Edinburgh Kings Theatre. 0131 529 6000. 13 - 18 Feb at 7.30pm, Mats Wed at 2pm, Sat at 2.30pm Darlington 01325 486555. 20 - 25 Feb at 7.45pm, Mats Wed & Sat at 2.30pm. Dartford Orchard Theatre 01322 220000. 27 Feb - 4 March at 7.30pm, Mats Wed & Sat at 2.30pm Manachester Palace Theatre 0870 401 3000. 6 - 11 March Mon to Thurs at 7:45pm, Fri & Sat at 8pm, Mats Thurs and Sat at 2:30pm Guildford Yvonne Arnaud Theatre 01483 44 00 00. 13 - 18 March at 7.45pm, Mats Wed & Sat at 2.30pm Eastbourne Devonshire Park Theatre 01323 412000. 20 - 25 March at 7.30pm, Mats Wed at 2pm, Sat at 2.30pm Nottingham 0115 9895555. then at The Criterion Theatre 020 7369 1737 in London's West End. Previews from 5 April 2006. Opens on 10 April 2006. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. Theatre listings >
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