Karol Szymanowski / Mack & Mabel

On this day in classical music: Polish composer Karol Szymanowski was born in what is now the Ukraine in 1882. He was a student at the State Conservatory in Warsaw and later became its director. Szymanowski was influenced by the late European romanticists but also by Debussy and Ravel. He eventually created a distinct compositional style that served him well. His musical output included four symphonies, numerous songs and a large body of works for piano. He befriended Arthur Rubinstein, the noted Polish pianist who championed Szymanowski. Listen to Martin Jones perform Szymanowski’s “Etude, Op. 4 No. 3.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiKNHCplZBk

 

On this day in the musical theatre: Jerry Herman’s “Mack & Mabel” opened on Broadway in 1974. The plot focuses on the tumultuous romance between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, the latter becoming one of Sennett’s biggest stars. The original production starred Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters. Despite numerous Tony nominations, “Mack & Mabel” only survived for eight weeks. Herman considers “Mack & Mabel” one of his best scores. Listen to John Barrowman sing “I Won’t Send Roses” from “Mack & Mabel.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuFIzHifuu4&feature=related

Musical musings: The San Diego premiere (of “Mack & Mabel”) indicated that the show’s rough going was going to continue. Champion, Herman, Stewart and Merrick — Broadway kings of 1964 — were each suffering through a string of failures, and as conditions worsened, panic set in. While other shows — including “Dolly!” itself — had been fixed on the road, this one wasn’t going to be, for “Mack & Mabel” was intrinsically flawed in conception. What made Sennett’s films work, Gower told a reporter covering the tryout, “were incredible mechanical gags — buildings falling down, horses riding through living rooms, cars going off piers. What do I have? One adorable fire engine.” Gower also took an uncharacteristic swipe at his songwriter, fighting “tooth and nail” over the pesky “Dolly!”-like “When Mabel Comes in the Room” number. “I’m proud of it,” countered the composer, “and I’m going to keep writing this kind of song until I’m 85, because that’s what’s missing in musical theatre.” The number stayed, and like Herman’s title song for the 1969 “Dear World” was roundly slammed. “Mack & Mabel” limped into New York with abnormally minimal advertising and almost no promotion. Merrick left word to pull the plug once the advance ran out and  — like Mabel & Mack before him — headed to Hollywood. – from More Opening Nights on Broadway by Stephen Suskin

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