West End CABARET Revival (and B’way Transfer?) - News & Discussion Thread- Page 17

[Nicticorax]

Posted: 1/20/23 at 6:37pm

east side story said: "The recording is wonderful, and a terrific representation of this exquisite production. If you’re looking to hear Grey, there are a quarter dozen professional recordings with his portrayal. Or if you are longing for Mendes vision and Cumming’s almost German accent, have at it. I am sure seeing this production aides in one’s ability to thoroughly enjoy the record, however the goods are still there for us all."

I'm not sure why you feel the need to bring up over and over the exact same points about how much you love this production and dislike the Mendes one. I also am not sure why you're acting like people's criticism in this thread is less genuine than your positive opinion. I promise you, this production is doing fine, and does not need you to white knight for it.

[east side story]

Posted: 1/20/23 at 7:56pm

Got it. But I never said I disliked the Mendes production.  It’s simply tired to me at this juncture. We deserve to move on from seeing the Emcee in suspenders and painted nipples. Have a beautiful weekend!

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 1/20/23 at 8:39pm

TaffyDavenport said: "As someone who thought Amy Lennox's performance at the Olivier Awards last year was way too over-the-top, it's nice to hear that Jessie Buckley's bears little resemblance to it."

I was surprised at how much more restrained she was! I thought it was a great delivery!

[Dolly80]

Posted: 1/20/23 at 8:50pm

barcelona20 said: "thirtythirtyninety said: "Absolutely blown away by this recording, WOW

Redmayne sounds fantastic, and Buckley is truly sublime. Praying they come to Broadway in this production!"

I'll never understand anyone who likes Redmayne's singing. Sounds like Kermit the Frog trying way too hard."

Totally agree. His voice is horrible.

And Buckley toned her performance down for this live recording. She was much more shouty in the actual show, and Amy Lennox really did match her level for the Olivier Awards so that performance was very on a level with how Jessie performed that number.

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 8:35am

This may work beautifully in the theater, but on the recording and all televised performances, this production just comes across as actors trying to out-act each other and all previous versions of these songs. It feels very forced and phony, to me.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 7:19pm

There is a reason tempos are usually sped up when numbers are recorded for a cast recording. The performances on this live recording are fine, but without the visuals, the songs drag and feel slow. The Mendes recording with Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson remains definitive IMO.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 7:36pm

I’ve only listened to Willkommen and I got to ask what exactly is Eddie Redmayne going for here? The first thing I thought was that his emcee has that multiple personality disorder. The multiple vocal choices is just throwing me off.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 7:57pm

This is just one of those performances that just needs to be seen, I guess. 

[hak5]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 8:04pm

I do NOT understand all the negativity!  I have not seen this production but really enjoy this recording. I also understand that everyone has different tastes and may not but like certain choices made.... but that is no reason to spread hate. 

[JanMaxwellsBag]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 8:14pm

hak5 said: "I do NOT understand all the negativity! I have not seen this production but really enjoy this recording. I also understand that everyone has different tastes and may not but like certain choices made.... but that is no reason to spread hate."

This is a bit much. 
Spreading hate would be going to Jessie Buckley’s Instagram and commenting how much you hate her on the recording. We’re all just anons on a message board. Like what’s the point of posting if there’s no discourse?

[Nicticorax]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 9:20pm

I’ve been following this since I’m a pretty big Cabaret fan, and I gave the album a listen straight through now that it’s on Spotify. My overall impression from the album and televised performances is that this production seems alienating, and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

Eddie Redmayne sounds almost inhuman and kinda gollum-ish. This production seems to have gone back to the Joel Grey mold where the Emcee is purely symbolic rather than an actual person. Nothing wrong with that, although I prefer interpretations where I can connect with the character on more of a human, empathetic level.

Where it loses me a bit is that, not only does the Emcee feel totally alien, but Buckley’s Sally also keeps me at arms length. Her anger and bitterness are dialed up to 11 from the beginning. A lot of her vocal choices are interesting, but also disorienting and jarring.

So, I ended up feeling like I couldn’t connect in any meaningful way with either of the leads. In a way, I like how dark and disorienting it is. But the recording also felt quite cold and I just couldn’t get on board with it emotionally.   

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 11:37pm

I’m sure this has been said already but my god, these tempos are horrible.

[inception]

Posted: 1/22/23 at 5:39am

Seeing how divided people's opinions are over just the recording, I wonder how well this would actually do if it transferred to New York?  Besides the people who saw the Mendes production, there are still many people my parent's age with fond memories of the original production. I wonder if in NY this might end up being like the last production of Oklahoma: critically acclaimed, yet too alienating to the premium ticket buying audience, and limping to a close in 9 months.

[Piparoo]

Posted: 1/22/23 at 7:13am

inception said: "Seeing how divided people's opinions are over just the recording, I wonder how well this would actually do if it transferred to New York? Besides the people who saw the Mendes production, there are still many people my parent's age with fond memories of the original production. I wonder if in NY this might end up being like the last production of Oklahoma: critically acclaimed, yet too alienating to the premium ticket buying audience, and limping to a close in 9 months."

 

This is a fair point. I guess I would fit into the demo of folks your parents age who might be alienated with contemporary takes on classics - and we did decide against seeing the Fish Oklahoma when we were in town that year. But what I’m looking for in an Oklahoma production is quite a bit different than what I would want out of Cabaret. I want Cabaret to be anlienating and rough and bold. I want Cabaret to be Moulin Rouge, but with a brain and a soul. My point being, I think tourists and older folks like me may be far more open to a reimagining of Cabaret than say a golden era classic like Oklahoma, Camelot or King and I.
 

P.S. we had tickets to WSS before it closed - a similarly alienating production from what I’ve read. So I think it may just depend a lot on the show and cast. I would love to see Buckley in anything. She’s an incredibly magnetic actress. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see Redmayne in anything. 

 

[mememe]

Posted: 1/23/23 at 5:32pm

FANtomFollies said: "This may work beautifully in the theater, but on the recording and all televised performances, this production just comes across as actors trying to out-act each other and all previous versions of these songs. It feels very forced and phony, to me."

That is very much what it felt like, in the theater the  evening I saw it. 
 

The original company was full of great actors and singers, all held back by sophomoric and wrong headed directorial choices. Sally was so angry from the get go, that you never felt any tragedy. You should want to get out of your seat and scream at her, when she declines Cliff’s offer to leave Berlin at the show’s climax but you just think ‘meh’ she’ll be fine nothing can destroy her. There is no fragility and you never feel that Sally is a creation. She’s played entirely authentic, when you should sense that the woman has created an identity to cover her crushing insecurity and lack of talent.

Truly unforgivable is that the director seems to have gone to the Tom Hooper master class in directing musicals. All of the sustained notes and phrases are cut back, and the actors are encouraged to growl, and shout lyrics instead of singing. The end of ‘Whay Would You Do?’ was entirely ransacked of its climactic punch, in the pursuit of what the foolhardy director thinks is the way to achieve drama .

the venue is incredible and whilst you can sit at your table, be served booze and have a zany pre show happen around you then people are going to have the emperor and hai new clothes syndrome. It’s a great night out but a lousy theatre experience. I was astounded at how little the audience around me was invested in the story, and serval asking questions because they had no idea what was happening. The plot had become background and the show is a grotesque variety performance, serving as a distraction whilst people get drunk in a trendy immersive setting 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 2/15/23 at 11:37am

New cast photos are up! John McCrea looks AMAZING as the Emcee!
 

Instagram Link

[yyys]

Posted: 2/15/23 at 11:52am

People in the West End forum raving about Aimee Lou but not John.

Updated On: 2/15/23 at 11:52 AM

[Alex M]

Posted: 3/25/23 at 1:42pm

I know it’s a bit out of nowhere but after seeing “A Good Person” I realized how beautiful Florence Pugh’s singing is. I would love a world where this revival would be able to book her to play Sally.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 3/25/23 at 6:58pm

Alex M said: "I know it’s a bit out of nowhere but after seeing “A Good Person” I realized how beautiful Florence Pugh’s singing is. I would love a world where this revival would be able to book her to play Sally."

I had the same thought, her two songs were quite lovely

[Luminaire2]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 4:27am

Well we got tickets for June. Super excited to see this. Now to wonder who will be in the cast at that point! 

[BJR]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 9:36am

Heard from a producer friend this is probably not coming over. Cost of transforming a theatre (which we've long debated here, since it's a lot more in NYC) + Jessie is A List in UK but less so in US = much riskier. Things could change obvi. And I hope they do!

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 10:00am

I'm hoping to be in London this summer, so I will also be interested in seeing who will be leading the cast by then. That being said, it's disappointing that American audiences probably won't get to experience this production. The cast album is just phenomenal. I hope it continues to run in London for a while. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 3:13pm

Seeing this Memorial Day weekend. I'm hoping even if some of cast that isn't that is still there, the production will still dazzle.

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 4:11pm

This is going to sound stupid, but until today I’d assumed the John McCrea playing Emcee was the John McCrea of legendary alt-pop band Cake. Which made an odd sort of sense.

Semi-related: somebody needs to put Chris Barron in a musical. I saw his one man show/touring concert hybrid in January and he’s got a great, fascinating stage presence. Reminds me of younger David Patrick Kelly, and a great raconteur and jazz singer (interspersed with a few Spin Doctors classics).

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 4:15pm

BJR said: "Heard from a producer friend this is probably not coming over. Cost of transforming a theatre (which we've long debated here, since it's a lot more in NYC) + Jessie is A List in UK but less so in US = much riskier. Things could change obvi. And I hope they do!"

 

Your producer friend is incorrect.  Contracts have been signed.