Mack & Mabel NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%
(102 Reviews)
Positive
94%
Mixed
5%
Negative
1%
Members say
Great singing, Entertaining, Delightful, Great staging, Great acting

About the Show

The Encores! season opens with Mack & Mabel, which tells the story of one of silent film’s first great pioneers, Mack Sennett. Starring Douglas Sills ("War Paint") and Alexandra Socha ("Head Over Heels").

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Member Reviews (102)

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913 Reviews | 928 Followers
75
Ok music, Great singing, Confusing, Old fashioned, Entertaining

See it if Cute old fashioned musical with nice music. Great talent. Enjoyable and entertaining.

Don't see it if Old fashioned. The main premise of love is really tough to understand and buy into. Muisc is not great.

888 Reviews | 1017 Followers
74
Entertaining, Great singing, Classic, Old fashioned

See it if You like classic musicals, Hollywood stories and are interested in seeing a show that is rarely revived.

Don't see it if You want something more modern or edgy.

1015 Reviews | 420 Followers
88
Great singing, Romantic, Great dancing, Delightful, Entertaining

See it if You enjoy old musicals. This was fun to look at, done almost entirely in black and white. Great singing and dancing. Large talented cast.

Don't see it if You’re looking for something new or some out of the box interpretation. This is an old style musical done in old style. Read more

990 Reviews | 346 Followers
84
Interesting premise, Tuneful score, Entertaining, Great staging/choreo, Talented cast

See it if you'd like a Brdway-quality prodn of JHerman show. Some gr performances, esp'ly Socha/Cooper. Gr orchestra. After, google Sennett/Normand!

Don't see it if you want upbeat; M&M is dark. Sills disappoints (grating, pitchy); 30 yrs older (59) than Socha (29). IRL, 12 yrs diff. Romance fizzles.

716 Reviews | 157 Followers
80
Bleak, Superficial, Funny, Great singing, Ambitious

See it if fan of Jerry Herman, enjoy the OBC cast album of the show & want to see how it is staged, wonder if Douglas Sills still has it (he does)

Don't see it if It's not one of your favorite scores, don't like the Mabel Normand story & fact that the book isn't that accurate about her career

754 Reviews | 124 Followers
90
Informative, Great staging, Great singing, Great acting

See it if Early movies & complex lives of their stars intrigue you. Dark musical offers fabulous singer dancers illustrating lives of Sennet & Norman

Don't see it if You’re willing to miss the chance to see the show that ran 56 performances then inspired decades of controversy.

715 Reviews | 109 Followers
92
Great writing, Great staging, Great singing, Delightful, Entertaining

See it if you want to see a rarely performed musical by late great Jerry Herman. Wonderful lyrics and great character portrayal by actors.

Don't see it if you don't like musicals although in many ways this is a drama with music. Read more

650 Reviews | 284 Followers
82
First class production of engaging musical about comedy silent film-maker mack sennet & his heart-breaking relationship w movie star mabel normand; jerry herman (great composer, clever lyricist) rest in peace

See it if wonderful score by Herman; fine choreo & dancing; w performance as Mabel, Alexandra Socha emerges as one of NY’s leading musical stars

Don't see it if weak book/show fades as relationship between M&M fades; never brings 2 life Mack making comedies or Zeitgeist of silent film era Read more

Critic Reviews (9)

The New York Times
February 20th, 2020

"Lights! Camera! Passion! Jerry Herman’s buoyant score is the highlight of this Encores! production about a troubled silent-movie-era romance."
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AM New York
February 20th, 2020

"‘Mack & Mabel’ balances bright music with layers of sadness and regret"
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Theatermania
February 20th, 2020

"Great Songs, Great Stars, Weird Show: Alexandra Socha and Douglas Sills star in Jerry Herman's Broadway flop at New York City Center."
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Talkin' Broadway
February 20th, 2020

"Encores! is doing what it does best with this first-class production of Jerry Herman's foray into darkness."
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New York Stage Review
February 20th, 2020

4/5 Stars. "A fond, agreeable interpretation of Jerry Herman's imperfect darling of a musical."
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New York Stage Review
February 20th, 2020

4/5 Stars. "Brushed off and spiffed up, the cult favorite 1974 musical finally gets the Encores! treatment"
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Theater News Online
February 20th, 2020

"MUSICAL MAKEOVER: Jerry Herman’s 1974 flop has been reborn and reformed into a splendid show."
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TheaterScene.net
February 23rd, 2020

"This production also has its problems, but it was enormously entertaining and worth seeing, mostly because of the Herman score and the delicious musical numbers."
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