“It’s the Mack-style comedy, though, that steals the show. Re-creations of silent-film scenes, as arranged by clowning company Spymonkey, culminating in the Keystone Cop number Hit ’Em on the Head, are the true beating heart of Mack’s story.”
The Observer (read more)
CFT’s Mack & Mabel, and in particular Spymonkey’s physical comedy direction, has been getting some great responses from critics and audiences. The show is on UK tour this autumn, full dates here: http://mackandmabelmusical.com/
Show video promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6-1pFfJU74
TOUR DATES
1st – 10th October Plymouth Theatre Royal Book Now
12th – 24th October Manchester Opera House Book Now
27th Oct – 7th Nov Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Book Now
10th – 21st Nov Edinburgh Playhouse Book Now
23rd – 28th Nov Nottingham Theatre Royal Book Now
1st – 6th Dec Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff Book Now
REVIEWS
‘The big, film-style production numbers, choreographed by Stephen Mear, are spectacular. Anna-Jane Casey scintillatingly leads the company in Tap Your Troubles Away, for instance. Widescreen filmic effects – a train snaking along vanishing-point rails under a starlit sky – are brilliantly achieved by mergers of Robert Jones’s set and Jon Driscoll’s projections. It’s the Mack-style comedy, though, that steals the show. Re-creations of silent-film scenes, as arranged by clowning company Spymonkey, culminating in the Keystone Cop number Hit ’Em on the Head, are the true beating heart of Mack’s story.’
The Observer (read more)
★★★★★
‘A superb production’
The Argus (read more)
★★★★
‘A slick and stylish musical’
Evening Standard (read more)
★★★★
Whats On Stage (read more)
★★★★
‘A grand revival of a grand musical’
Daily Express (read more)
★★★★
‘An infectious, pastiche-drenched paean to the glory days of the silver screen’
Daily Telegraph (read more)
★★★★
‘Jonathan Church’s production is a delight’
Sunday Express (read more)
‘Moments of sheer, swooning movie and musical magic’
The Times
‘So good, so slick, so flawless a theatrical jewel in every cut, that it dazzles.’
West Sussex Gazette (read more)
‘Michael Ball is immense as Mack, giving a superb performance as the guy who knows how to bully and probably knows how to love, but is absolutely hopeless at expressing it. At times he is furious, at times almost grudgingly tender. Always he is superb.’
Chichester Observer (read more)
★★★★
‘Rebecca LaChance is also beautiful as the accidental starlet Mabel. Brought over from the States, she feels like a find in her own right.’
Sunday Telegraph