Broadway Production – August Wilson Theatre
Review by Carol Schaye
An actor takes a risk when accepting a part in a production with Eddie Redmayne. Some of the actors in “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” were able to survive, others didn’t fare so well.
Redmayne is a phenomenal actor, who deserves a production cast equal to his amazing talent and creativity. Unfortunately, there is uneven casting in this production. The result is a desire to see Redmayne in every scene. Many of the other actors seemed like filler.
Set in the cabaret made most famous by Bob Fosse’s film version, starring Liza Minnelli, based on a Christopher Isherwood story, it follows the decadence, denial and decline of Berlin (Germany) as Adolph Hitler assumes power. The twist in this Broadway show is the Cabaret is the center of action and Redmayne plays the emcee.
Redmayne’s emcee is as usual, a transformation leaving Redmayne unrecognizable. Creativity with unconventionality given free rein, Redmayne creates an emcee like no other. It is theatre I dream about but rarely see. Redmayne uses his god given talent taking us places we didn’t think possible.
The front of the audience (usually the orchestra, now in a mezzanine) is made to look like cabaret tables. Drinks and food can be ordered during the prologue, which is filled with various actors, singing, dancing and interacting with the audience.
I didn’t find this interesting, the music got on my nerves. I suppose I came to see Eddie Redmayne. The prologue actors presented as forced, pretending to be in a lascivious cabaret. It was an honorable, unusual try, but it failed for me. That said it is difficult to forget the magnificent film Bob Fosse directed and it inevitably leads to comparisons.
The stories vignettes, which occur on an almost bare stage in the round, tell the story of the progression of four main characters situation, as Berlin (Germany) chooses fascism. (Sally Bowles, her lover, the owner of her rental unit and that owners love interest).
It is the Emcee (Redmayne) and the Cabaret performers who breathe life into an otherwise mundane production.
Gabi Campo played the part of Sally Bowles, the evening I saw the production. Given she is the understudy, she barely survived. Sally Bowles was based on a real woman Isherwood met during his stay in Berlin. She was a genuine character. Ms. Campo’s Sally Bowles had nothing interesting about her. She can belt out a song but without the ambivalence, agony and unsubstantiated sense of her own talent, Sally feels. The songs are sung superficially well but, never show stoppers. The paradox of Ms. Campo’s performance is she is mediocre as Sally Bowles is meant to be.
Ato Blankson-Wood, playing Sally’s bisexual love interest, was so uninteresting, so bland, that Isherwood must be spinning in his grave. That character is considered to be based on Isherwood himself. Blankson-Wood is a graduate of NYU Tisch and Yale drama. His parents should ask for their money back.
Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell play star crossed lovers condemned because he is Jewish. Skybell did a nice job but Neuwirth seemed to have trouble with her voice the evening I saw the show. Neuwirth was flailing her arms, which usually is a sign of lack of internal life for the actor.
The showgirls and boys were fun but again they presented as acting compared to the reality Redmayne created.
Popping up in progressively alarming outfits, signifying the progression of the story, is an initially puck like Eddie Redmayne, who transforms into a skeleton like character singing the song, “Money”. Eventually wearing a conservative suit with blonde Aryan hair.
Did I fail to mention Redmayne can really sing? His change in costumes aligns with the terror of the story’s tale of Nazi ascension. Redmayne takes us hostage with his brilliant transformation leaving room for only his equals in talent to survive. There simply aren’t any in this production. At times I felt I was watching an acting class production with magnificent design, costume and concept.
The production design was fabulous. The stage moved in circles, then rose higher at times. The costumes were terrific. Working with an essentially bare stage, it was up to the actors to tell this true classic story. Thank you Tom Scutt for those fabulous costumes and set designs.
Director Rebecca Frecknall is a multi-Olivier Award-winning director, who has directed in the UK, US, and Europe. She is Associate Director at the Almeida Theatre, London. This production had everything going for it. It was beautifully designed, written in a new style focusing on the cabaret, so I blame the director for poor casting leaving Redmayne out there without an actor who could reach even half his performance.
The August Wilson Theatre was packed. The audience was participating when asked and the atmosphere was euphoric. Several times during the show the audience stopped the performances to applaud wildly. The audience’s reaction appeared to be real. I felt a bit like the grinch that stole Christmas.
The irony of “Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club” is that Broadway currently itself is a metaphor for the beginning of the move toward right wing USA. Looking at the rundown for the “Great White Way”, “The Boards” or Broadway we see mostly remakes of old musicals, transgender actors insisting on being cast in their preferred orientation, and Shakespeare being reinterpreted to meet current union standards of equity in casting. Isherwood’s Cabaret reflected the denial and insulation of the folks in that cabaret as the outside world was becoming more fascist and unaccepting of being different. Sitting in front of me were young women ordering very expensive champagne, getting intoxicated and screaming with glee at the performances, unknowledgeable what great acting is because we have been dumbing down theatre for a decade now.
It is time to consider using funding for new young playwrights who cast a clear eye (as did Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and many others) on what is going wrong in our glorious country. Enough leg kicking and cross-dressing for now. We in theatre are alienating people with our desire to conform (Imagine that) as opposed to our desire to entertain and educate. We carry an enormous theatrical history on our shoulders. “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” shines a light (even if it has some production problems) with all that is going wrong in theatre today.
Carol Schaye has had several short stories published by McFadden’s Women’s Group, Sierra Nevada Ally and other publications. Carol has written for two west coast newspapers and has worked extensively in television. A fan of Flannery O’Connor, Carol studied acting with Lee Strasberg and Austin Pendleton and writing with Salem Ludwig. She attended Marymount College majoring in theater.
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