Extravagant Fun at Milwaukee Rep’s ‘Cabaret’
Theater Review
The Rep’s
season premiere spares no effort to produce one of its most lavish, energizing
shows with a terrific onstage band including musical spots often deleted.
With the
opening “Willkommen” and the talented Lee Ernst as master of ceremonies, the
show explodes into being as the Kit Kat Klub lights up with an invigorating glitz that barely lets
up. Cabaret is the
largest full-scale musical
ever mounted on the Quadracci Powerhouse stage, a first for Artistic Director
Mark Clements as well as a choreographic first for classical ballet aficionado
Michael Pink, whose dance
ensembles send the production into giddy orbit. Sets and costumes change so
rapidly that it takes moments to grasp that the figure in black corset is Lee
Ernst.
Decadence
has never been more fun.
Bisexuality is barely fussed over. The Kit Kat is for everyone and the delights
of boys approaching boys or girls is just part of the intoxicating hegemony
provided by the music. Kelley Faulkner as Sally Bowles may not erase memories
of Liza’s gentler musicality, but her rendition of Sally is more firmly
grounded within the concept of this show, stressing the harsher realities. Her approach to the vocal demands of the
title song resonated
with a more genuine irony, bringing the house down. As the innocent American
writer Clifford Bradshaw, Geoffrey Hemingway brings a powerful voice to a
romance with Sally that will come to naught. Angela Iannone provides a hilarious cameo as Fraulein Kost, requiring regular visiting “sailor friends” to provide income for her rent.
The first swastika appears casually at the engagement party of the old couple, Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, beautifully played by Linda Stephens and Jonathan Gillard Daly. She will discover that he is Jewish. They will not marry. Act One closes with the famously chilling choral number “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” giving the show its true gravitas not only as a premonition but an eerie reminder that even myopic blinders—so easily assumed behind the glare of the Kit Kat Klub—cannot completely erase an awareness that something evil this way comes. Many will find the second act a tad too political, but this remarkable production provides a new hallmark for the Rep’s enduring reputation.
I saw the show last night. BOOO!!!!! The woman who played Sally Bowles effected an upper crust English accent throughout the show and was way too old for the part. Some once young and talented Milwaukee player too old for the part, who couldn’t even cut or dye her bright red soccer mom hair to resemble something like Liza, the archetype and icon for the part. Maybe a little eye shadow? Play some old crone on stage. You looked STUPID up there, despite the fact that you were surrounded by talented cast and musicians. You will never be 24 again, capiche? The M/C was a little long in the tooth, but he held his own. I drove up from Chicago to see this show and was so very disappointed. The blonde Aussie chorus girl was a highlight for me. Hopefully she’ll become a down under ingenue soon along the likes of Toni Collette. Here’s a thought: let her play Sally Bowles, rather than grandma soccer mom with the WRONG English acccent. Ever watched BBC? There are a few other accents that would have applied to a more working girl type that Sally was supposed to be. You totally missed the mark, lady. Take your cues from the down under girl, at least she’s by descent, more English that you’ll ever be, old chum! BOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey "John", go off your meds or something? Jesus. What a hateful and completely absurd thing to write. And on EVERY review site. Obviously has some weird axe to grind. And FYI...there is no blond Aussie chorus girl.