Jerry Herman's "Mack and Mabel" - the edgy musical fable of the ill-fated love story of slap-stick movie director Mack Sennett and his comic leading lady Mabel Normand - is enormously appealing and compelling, despite some book problems. As presented by REPRISE! Broadway's Best, the current version of "Mack" certainly seems less dark and gloomy than Michael Stewart's original book. The book was revised by Francine Pascal, the sister of the late Stewart, who collaborated with Herman in 1974 on the original "Mack" (which closed after 65 performances).

All the great Herman music and lyrics are still splendidly well-served, including such enduring ballads as "I Won't Send Roses" (sung by Mack) and Mabel's lament "Time Heals Everything." And there are the Sennett Studio "big numbers": "Movies Were Movies," "We Wanna Make the World Laugh," "Hundreds of Girls" and "Hit 'Em on the Head." There's even a big tap number, "Tap Your Troubles Away," sung/tapped by the stage-savvy Donna McKechnie, the original Cassie in "A Chorus Line." Despite Pascal's revisions, there are inherent book problems. After a couple of hours of watching the on-again, off-again battle between co-dependents Sennett and Normand, it's awfully hard to imagine the compulsive, driven Mack (the terrific Douglas Sills, seen recently in "The Scarlet Pimpernel") and the fragile, Hollywood world-weary Mabel (the wonderful Jane Krakowski of televisions "Ally McBeal") putting it together with a romantic embrace. Somehow, any sort of happiness seems outside their grasp, and the ending, wih Mack singing "I Promise You a Happy Ending," lacks the essential moody and ironic ending of the 1974 book by Stewart - which seemed more fitting. It all starts backstage at the Sennett Studios in 1929, where the embittered, regretful Sennett narrates in a series of flashbacks the rise and fall and loss of his studio and his love for his on-screen silent comedy star Normand. Stewart's book started in 1938, eight years after the premature death of Normand. Pascal's revision ends in 1929 and, as such, does not have to deal with Normand's death - and so the basis for the "happier ending," as contrived as it might seem. Still "Mack" is a dazzling show in the very best tradition of REPRISE! Arthur Allan Seidelman's direction is sure and swift, Dan Siretta's choreography is full of glitz, and the talented Peter Matz conducts the 18-onstage orchestra. Credit Chad Borden, Robert Machray, Cindy Benson, Lenny Wolpe, Gus Corrado and Lane Davies for outstanding support.

By Ed Kaufman

A lustrous "Mack and Mabel" Review:

A stellar cast burnishes marginal material to a golden sheen
By Paul Hodgins

There's a kind of brainless elegance to the music of Jerry Herman. He's no Stephen Sondheim, but boy, that guy can write a melody. His tunes are as friendly, simple and comfortable as a pair of old sneakers. And yes, you can always hum them. Herman's art reached its apex in works such as "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "Mame" (1966), both of which featured brassy (some would say larger-than-life) heroines. "Mack and Mabel" (1974) tries the same trick with a male character - brash silent movie director - and perhaps that's why the results are less satisfying. Once outside his narrowly defined milieu, Herman flounders a bit.

"Mack and Mabel" has endured a checkered history. Frequently tweaked and plagued with production problems, the Broadway debut was not a success (although it did introduce the world to a talented young belter named Bernadette Peters). Nevertheless, the show has developed a minor cult status through the years. "Mack and Mabel" is the perfect vehicle for the REPRISE! series, which is dedicated to resurrecting, in bare bones form, curiosities and unjustly neglected gems from Broadway's musty vaults. The REPRISE! staging that opened last week reveals that "Mack and Mabel" falls somewhere between those two categories. Despite a newly revised book by Francine Pascal (the sister of Michael Stewart, who wrote the original book) that places more emphasis on the romance between Sennett and his young leading lady, Mabel Normand, "Mack and Mabel" still seems a little plot-by-numbers.

Fortunately, this production boasts a cast that could turn the Yellow Pages into a Tony contender. Douglas Sills ("The Scarlet Pimpernel") plays Sennett as if his pants are on fire. It's a part that requires every word, note and sidelong glance to be played to the back wall, and for that kind of thing, Sills is definitely your man. Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal") is Mabel, and she stands up to Sills' paint-peeling performance in every respect. A surprisingly versatile performer with the perfect blend of innocence and sex appeal, Krakowski nails the early-century ingénue persona - think Claudette Colbert as a blonde. Sills and Krakowski plow through the story with nary a missed beat or a false note. They're both terrific singers - Sills may have one of the most dynamic and powerful voices on Broadway, and Krakowski's instrument belies her dainty appearance. And their plausibility is crucial. Sills manages to sing lines such as "movies were movies were movies when I ran the show" without making them sound ridiculous or trite (Herman's lyrics were never the equal of his tunes).

The story uses a bookending device that seems too convenient. Sennett tells us of his meteoric rise and fall in a darkened and bankrupt studio. Broke and depressed, he realizes that time has passed him by and his simplistic comedies are out of fashion. The body of the musical unfolds as a flashback. We see how Sennett meets Mabel during a frenetic day of filming. She arrives to deliver a sandwich to a starving starlet, Sennett sees something in her. Bingo! Instant stardom. The story follows Sennett's career more or less chronologically: his company's trip from New York to Los Angeles in 1911, one step ahead of its creditors; his successive bits with Mabel; his bathing beauty period; the Keystone Kops comedies; the couple's estrangement; and each one's fall from popularity. Along the way, we meet some fascinating characters, including a young, ambitious gofer named Frank Capra (Chad Borden, a nicely fleshed-out portrayal), two perpetually worried money men, Kessel and Bauman (Lenny Wolpe and Gus Corrado) and Lottie (Donna McKechnie), a fading hoofer who holds a torch for Sennett. A beloved musical-theater veteran (she won a Tony for her work in "A Chorus Line"), McKechnie steals the show several times. "Tap Your Troubles Away" is one of those blow-out-the-walls production numbers that joyously recalls a time when musicals could win you over with sheer kinesthetic energy. It's moments like that, when McKechnie and a company of two dozen or so talented tappers are giving it everything they've got, that you're thankful for REPRISE! producer Marcia Seligson's belief in her town. She's right; there's just as big a pool of top-drawer musical-theater talent in L.A. as that other place - the one that calls itself the center of theater's universe.

With a revised book 26 years after a short Broadway run, REPRISE! Broadway's Best is presenting a purely magical staging of Jerry Herman's musical "Mack and Mabel." The two incandescent stars, Douglas Sills and Jane Krakowski, take Herman's downbeat tale of a self-obsessed silent-film director and his adoring protégé and give it warmth and vitality.

Plotline of "Mack and Mabel" follows a tried and true pattern of musical biographies - boy and girl fall in love, break up and come together for an upbeat fadeout. Mack Sennett, famous for silent two-reelers featuring the Keystone Kops, though, is an atypical hero; he's angry, impatient, and egotistical, yet in love with the star he created, Mabel Normand (Jane Krakowski), and he can't bring himself to say it. Crushed by his emotional coldness and infidelity, Mabel takes up with director William Desmond Taylor (Lane Davies), and becomes involved in drugs and scandal.

The show's heart and beauty spring from Krakowski. Popular as the nosey Elaine on "Ally McBeal," and a Tony nominee for Broadway's "Grand Hotel," Krakowski bursts onstage in a gold and yellow gingham dress and instantly wraps the audience around her finger. She is a triple threat - a consummate actress, appealing singer, graceful dancer. Her presence casts sunshine on the darker elements and keeps the mood positive, even when the inevitable heartbreak comes. Sills, of "Scarlet Pimpernel" fame, is such a winning actor and singer that he can project Sennett's warmth and humanity even when the character is behaving destructively. Herman's lyrics brim with wit and satire, providing an incisive but affectionate look at the silent era. With lines such as "bandits attacking a train - our little man with a cane" or "Let Mr. Griffith film humanity's woes. I'd rather film a guy with a pie on his nose," Herman brings the background alive and transports us to 1920s Los Angeles. Arthur Allan Seidelman's direction makes the most of each number, particularly "Tap Your Troubles Away," featuring a charismatic Donna McKechnie. His light, polished touch brings out the nuances of "I Won't Send Roses," Sennett's brilliantly backhanded declaration of love. Performances by Lenny Wolpe as a bottom-line businessman, Robert Machray as Fatty Arbuckle, Davies as William Desmond Taylor and Chad Borden as Frank Capra have authenticity and dimension. Don Siretta's choreography , Gary Wissman's scenic design and Scott A. Lane's lighting maintain the flavor of a colorful bygone period, and musical director Peter Matz keeps the pace brisk, brash and explosive throughout.

By Joel Hirschhorn