Brooks Atkinson and Walter Kerr: Deans of American Drama Critics. Roughly half of Broadway’s forty-one houses have been named for significant members of the theatrical profession, many of whom share legendary status, often known by their last names exclusively. Sadly, all are dead, save for the ninety-one-year-old Stephen Sondheim. Seeing a play there, or at the O’Neill, Gershwin or Hirschfeld, most are familiar with those illustrious names. However, if mention is made of the

Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters in Mack & Mabel (1974). Nowadays, new musicals rarely schedule out of town try outs due to how expensive it is. Yes, a regional theatre such as ART at Harvard will develop new works via their subscription seasons, most of which have their eyes on New York, but that’s not nearly the same thing as a musical going to a city or two with photos already installed outside a Broadway theatre ahead of its imminent arrival. Being on the road is grue

The beauteous Mabel Normand. For Part II of the saga, let’s begin at the beginning: what was the derivation of Mack & Mabel as a musical and whose idea was it? Leonard Spigelgass, was a successful Hollywood screenwriter in the 1940s and ’50s, mostly responsible for adaptations of books and plays, who would finish his career with the credited screenplay for Gypsy in 1962. Three years prior, he had a rookie’s luck on Broadway when his first play, A Majority of One, was a big su

Original Cast Album cover art for Mack & Mabel (1974). This column first posted on this date four years ago. Today marks the opening night of Mack & Mabel on October 6, 1974 at the Majestic Theatre. There have been many musicals that have come and gone over the years, but there is a special place in the hearts of theatre lovers for this one, closing as it did after only sixty-four performances. First, it contains a monumentally great score by Jerry Herman. Second, it starred