REVIEW: Vintage’s Mack & Mabel makes big noise over silent film era

Mack is back, baby.

The aptly titled Vintage Theater has dusted off the oft-forgotten musical relic Mack & Mabel and uncovered a show teeming with character. The Vintage breathes new life into the play’s larger-than-life personalities that have been begging to revisit the glitter of the stage after being shooed off Broadway some 40 years ago. 

Frankenstein-ing these personages back from the Hollywood moratorium was a daring, given the fact that really none of them have been household names since Gavrilo Princip stumbled into a certain archduke. Basically, the show and its subject matter are old. Like, really old. And the odds of it coming off as played out were stacked high. It’s an old show about old people and an old time — not exactly a recipe many audiences have an easy time sinking their theatrical incisors into. But, with the help a cast that bravely matches pizazz of the personalities they are portraying, impressive costumes that are just so damn endearing, and a storyline that has oddly comes full circle in the digital age, the show scores on every level.

The musical depicts the true tale of Mack Sennett, the loudmouthed proprietor of Keystone studios and sultan of slapstick, and Mabel Normand, a humble deli waitress from Flatbush. The show winds through the protagonist’s tumultuous relationship as well as the binky-and-pamper days of the film industry, particularly Sennett’s obstinate stance on “talkies” and gross inability to adapt to the times. All of that sits behind a sneakily stunning score compliments of Jerry Herman. One of Broadway’s hidden, deliciously campy gems, the music sizzles and scintillates in this “Vintage” performance of a time that the audience ends up being sorry was lost.

The bouncy horns and cheery arrangements of the opening scene instantly conjure up fuzzy, black-and-white images of the kind of banana-peel-slipping comedy that is woven throughout the show.  All of the actors feed right into the Mel Brooks-style atmosphere the music creates, adding just enough goofy glances at the audience and sweeping hand gestures.

However it’s the auxiliary characters, not the leads, who benefit most from the Looney Tunes-esque numbers, helping carry out a number of bumbling skits as Sennet’s ever-inept Keystone cops. Kris Graves stepped up as a raucous Fatty Arbuckle (which is still one of the greatest names in show business), and maintained the clown’s reputation as one of the greatest space and weight characters in cinematic history. Also notable, Mabel’s quasi-stage-mother, Lottie Ames, is bear tackled by Shahara Ray, who helps to seriously raise the ensemble’s game. The lone song she takes the reins of in the second act, “Tap Your Troubles Away,” is as fabulous as it is dexterous, with the entire cast strapping on some steel-toes and showing that they can do more than just sing and act.

Despite all of the stellar aspects, the show belongs entirely to Rachelle Wood as Mabel Normand. Wood dazzles as “Nelly, the kid from the deli,” striking the often clandestine middle ground between naïve temptress who doesn’t know her own potential and flirty superstar. Her rendition of “what happened to Mable?” gushes with grace with the help of her sugarcoated vocal chords, which are arguably better than Bernadette Peter’s during the show’s original 1974 short-lived Broadway run. A dead-ringer for Reese Witherspoon, Wood wowed with her timing, pipes and delivery, hitting them all with just the right combination of gusto and glamour. The other half of the title duo gives a solid performance as well, but Keegan Flaugh as Mack falls a bit too deeply under Wood’s shadow. Flaugh rattles off Sennet’s machine gun lines with terrific timing, just never manages to match Wood’s glow.

‘Mack & Mabel’ 

The Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St.

Show runs Fri., Sat. & Sun. through Sept. 14.

Curtains at 7:45 p.m. on Fri. and Sat., 2:45 p.m. on Sun. 

Tickets start at $26 in advance, $31 at the door. More information at 303-856-7830 or vintagetheatre.com

4.5 out of 5 stars

Cast over all of the dazzling performances and catchy jingles is a deceivingly not-so-dated plot that chimes all too true for our iPad-loving hearts. While the real-life personalities may now be mere relics, Sennet’s resistance to change and yearning for the times of yesteryear is as poignant in our current technological flux as ever. It seems like every few months there’s a new Silicon Valley wolf on the prowl, scarfing down barely out-dated technologies, and entire ways of life. Sennett’s line of, “what are they going to give them when they’re tired of talkies? Color? Bare butts and dirty words?” has a layer of sincerity under the comedy that is certainly seasonable.

The show is jewel from beginning to end. Replete with first-rate performances and costumes that are now only seen at Churchill Downs, the show finally flashes with the fabulousness it wanted back in the 70s, but just couldn’t stick around long enough to find.