Emma Stone as Sally Bolwes in Cabaret Review Thread- Page 3

[Alix]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 12:00pm

I saw Emma yesterday and also found her to be a stunning Sally. I thought going in that she would be stronger in the first act, and she was indeed wonderfully funny and charming, but I was beyond impressed by her second act, too. She made "Cabaret" her own in a really surprising and effective way, and I was floored by her last scene with Cliff.

For anyone wondering, about 90 percent of her costumes are different than Michelle's. I was very happy with the changes. She also smokes onstage fairly often, which I don't think Michelle did at all, and it seems like some blocking/choreography might have been tweaked for her a bit (I especially suspected this in "Perfectly Marvelous").

Curious to hear reviews from anyone who sees an understudy go on for Emma (I think I saw that Kaleigh Cronin is also a Sally understudy now, along with Andrea Goss?). I'm wondering if they'll change their portrayals of Sally to more closely match Emma's. I liked Michelle and thought her take was interesting (though I much prefer Emma's Sally), but the two are almost playing entirely different characters. Will be interesting to see how the understudies' performances reflect that.

Also, did anyone else notice that the poem Cliff recites for Sally when they first meet has changed since Emma started? When Michelle was in it he recited "Dover Beach," but it's been changed to "Casey at the Bat," which was the poem used during the last revival. I was mildly curious as to why it was switched for this revival to begin with, and would now be very interested to hear why it's been changed back.

[cwebb2327]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 1:41pm

Nicely said

[east side story]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 2:21pm

For those of you that have seen Emma, is the ending of "Mein Herr" still truncated, or are they not using Michelle's arrangement?

Updated On: 11/17/14 at 02:21 PM

[mrs.shmenkman]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 2:26pm

Thanks neonlightsxo. I did eventually find something about the bar rail seating.

I'm happy to hear all these good reviews for Emma. I very much enjoyed Michelle Williams performance and am now looking forward to Emma's interpretation.

[Alix]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 2:28pm

east side story, the end of "Mein Herr" is still truncated--same as it was for Michelle.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 3:52pm

I guess I'm going to be the lone dissenter on this one.

I was extremely excited for Emma, and something about the casting just struck me as perfect, but... to me at least, it didn't seem like she had much of an idea of what she was doing from scene to scene. It appears like she either doesn't have a particular point of view on who Sally really is, and/or hasn't been guided with direction.

The first 45 minutes or so, she played her bafflingly as fun / sexy / confident / practical / charismatic, then shifted abruptly to "mess" mode, and in scenes where she wasn't the focus, she seemed like a wooden prop in the background. Oh, and she has an extremely small / weak / borderline-unpleasant singing voice that resulted in them turning her mic way up so she sounds too loud during dialogue scenes.

I think it's awesome that she's doing this, and it's only her 8th performance, so she could feasibly get it together over time. But what I saw from her yesterday was not particularly coherent and didn't give me any sense of who this Sally Bowles was. I LOVED her rendition of "Cabaret" (inarguably, the most pivotal moment in the show for the character/performance), but how great it was on its own made me all the more frustrated that we were given none of the emotional buildup required to make that song devastating (or at least impactful) in the way that it needs to be. I didn't feel like we knew or understood this character at all, making it just a great standalone moment.

Everyone seems to be very supportive so far and rooting for her, giving her an A for Effort. It seems her even attempting this is enough for people to swoon -- which I understand on some level -- but it's a little upsetting that people are so eager to want her to succeed that they'll overlook all her shortcomings, while being so quick to **** on poor Michelle Williams, who was giving an infinitely more interesting performance.

As for the rest of the show, it was like night and day from when I saw the production 6 months ago. Alan seemed to be sleepwalking and Linda came across as sapped of energy (and basically spoke the entirety of "So What?"). To be fair, the audience was cheering like they were at a Justin Bieber concert - which is a weird energy for "Cabaret" - and seemed to be responding as if the show was an adorable comedy, and giggling at anything even slightly uncomfortable or involving homosexual subtext. So, I understand the cast playing into that a little bit (as disappointing as it was), but there was virtually nothing that felt particularly disturbing, confrontational or unsettling this time except for the Act 1 Finale.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 4:00pm

MiracleElixir, I respect your opinion but just because you didn't like her doesn't mean the rest of us are wrong, aka "swooning" over her. I saw Andrea & Michelle too, and I think it is perfectly valid for me to like her performance. I would have no problems criticizing her if I didn't like her. But I really did.

I have no personal opinion of her from her movie work that makes me "want her to succeed."

Updated On: 11/17/14 at 04:00 PM

[east side story]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 4:09pm

In regards to Linda Emond, I saw the show back in April, and I felt she was speak-singing far too much. I wanted her to break my heart, and she never did. I was ready, and it never came. In hindsight, her performance may have been the biggest let down for me.

And for what it's worth: I adored Michelle. I too got the impression that she was playing Sally as being a total phony with the accent, cigarettes, the whole shebang. I thought it was a bold choice, and I adored it. Wish I could have seen her twice.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 4:13pm

Slightly off topic, but it was touched on in the above post: the audience for CABARET now often seems oblivious to everything Hal Prince, Kander and Ebb and Stein aimed for in the original creation. They do think it's a good time show, based on "Willkomen" and all of Sally's numbers. It's just a musical comedy with known hits. So they start the evening in Cummings' thrall as if he's a reliable narrator, only to then find the show wading into deep waters that are hardly traditional musical comedy fare.

In a way, it's like the 1% ers who weep at CHRSTMAS CAROL, oblivious to Dickens' message, unaware many of them were the target of his wrath. Or LES MIZ. Watching rich Republicans pay $300 a ticket to cheer and weep over student unrest and protest always gave me the giggle.

At CABARET, it's "let the girl sing, evil Nazis! I'm here for a good time!" And forget how complicated the girl is, including the fact that she ... ahem ... is decidedly pro choice.

[Alix]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 4:14pm

"I have no personal opinion of her from her movie work that makes me 'want her to succeed.'"

Same here. I thought she was cute in movies, but never thought of her as in impressive actress. When Emma was first rumored to play Sally a couple years ago, I thought she was entirely wrong for it. When Michelle was cast, I was very relieved and thought she was an ideal choice...then I ended up not loving her. Emma has won me over entirely.

I disagree about the lack of emotional buildup as well. I actually felt that way much more with Michelle. To me Michelle came across as sort of subdued/sad from the beginning of the show. I felt like she'd already given up on being famous, which made her arc less impactful.

And I still think the show is in fantastic shape, but there is probably nothing that would make me not like it. The first Emcee I saw was Jon Secada, and I still managed to fall in love with Cabaret. :)

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 4:15pm

I forgot to say that it seemed like Emma was doing more actually choreography than Michelle. It just seemed like she did more specific movements and articulations than Michelle. Could anyone else speak to this?

[broadwaysweetheart]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 9:25pm

I saw her on Saturday and loved her... I laughed and cried and loved the show in general.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/17/14 at 10:55pm

With regard to her singing -- no, Emma is NOT really an amazing singer. However, I thought that her voice was perfectly appropriate for the role. She was definitely able to keep up with the role vocally - she hit the high notes with power, and stayed on pitch the entire time as far as I could tell. Also, I would argue that Sally Bowles is not supposed to be a great singer. All of her songs (with the exception of Perfectly Marvelous), are done in a "performance within the performance" style. As in, Sally Bowles is performing musical numbers, not just Emma Stone. With that in mind, it makes sense that Sally Bowles, who is likely just working at this nightclub for the money, might not have the vocal perfection of Audra McDonald. That isn't to say that an actress playing Sally should not be able to sing well, but Emma's less-than-incredible voice did not bother me given the role.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:33am

"I would argue that Sally Bowles is not supposed to be a great singer."

Uh, yeah. This is not news.

Natasha and Michelle were not great singers either, but found a certain beauty and sadness in their imperfect vocals. Emma has a weak, quiet voice that's frequently just unpleasant and often barely resonates even with them clearly cranking up her mic.

Also, those who said I was mischaracterizing her defenders as just wanting her to succeed and giving her an A for effort, please note the praise for her having "stayed on pitch."

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 10:45am

I wasn't praising her for staying on pitch. I'm agreeing with you that she is not a very good singer, I'm just saying that it didn't really BOTHER me because Sally is not supposed to be a great singer. if she had sung off pitch, it would have bothered me.

[starcatchers]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 5:51pm

"often barely resonates even with them clearly cranking up her mic. "

Maybe it was just because I sat closer this time, but this was a problem I had with Michelle.

(And before you say I am sh**ting on one in favor of the other, I enjoyed both performances immensely.)

[Mousy105]

Posted: 11/18/14 at 8:30pm

I completely agree with Miracle Elixar! I adored Michelle's portrayl. She was the character to me and owned the part. I saw Emma on her opening night, and just wasn't blown away. I thought she shined most singing "Perfectly Marvelous" and "Cabaret" but I felt she was flat in delivering some of her funny lines which surprised me. Given it was her first night, I will be going to see Emma again but there was something about Michelle that I found more exciting to watch.

Updated On: 11/18/14 at 08:30 PM

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:32pm

Just curious. At what point do NY audiences find themselves more accepting of the movie, or God forbid, TV actress making their Broadway debut? Particularly the more well-known ones. I thought NY theatergoers balked at the idea of the Hollywood actress moving in and doing theater. Just asking because there seems to be a lot of love for this actress who is not a stage actress. Or did she start in theater?

Is it only really considered tolerable if it's a long-running musical where more famous people are being shuttled in and out, and the originals are long gone?

[madbrian]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:37pm

In general, I'd say the BWW crowd is always highly skeptical, but ultimately fair. The phrase "stunt casting" is thrown around whenever a "name" is brought in to a long-running show. First example that comes to mind is Corbin Bleu. When his name was announced for In The Heights, folks here went a little crazy. However, once he was actually in the show, the response was largely favorable.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/24/14 at 2:46pm

Thanks, Brian. Makes sense.

I know that many actors/actresses you see in TV and movies often track their origins back to theater. But they go where the work is, as they say. Even if their true love is theater. And certainly the money can be better.

I think I was indeed talking more about the actors you refer to as "stunt casting." So thanks for the insight.

By the way, which performers are known to NOT have translated well onto the stage? Any that you can think of?

[Patash]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 9:31am

I saw the production of Betrayal in 2000 with Juliette Binoche. I was in the mezzanine and I might as well have been watching a statue. Her acting on the screen did NOT translate well to the theatre in my book.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 9:59am

Julia Roberts had absolutely no stage presence whatsoever in THREE DAYS OF RAIN. Nor did she know what to do with her hands. It was truly uncomfortable watching her as well as listening to her slipping in and out of that strange accent she was using in the second act. Yet she is so wonderful on film which makes her transition to stage acting all the more baffling. While someone like Geraldine Page could conquer both mediums comfortably, Roberts had no clue. However Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd were just fine.

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 11/25/14 at 11:14am

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll go ahead and create a separate thread as I don't mean to derail this thread away from Emma Stone.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 10:28pm

Brantley raves about Emma.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/arts/emma-stone-takes-over-in-cabaret.html?_r=1

[ryandl15]

Posted: 12/5/14 at 6:13pm

Does Emma usually perform both the matinee and the evening show on Wednesdays?