First time seeing this production tonight. Its maddeningly uneven- beautiful aesthetics, some really powerful moments, but then bizarre choices that just undercut everything.
Adam Lambert is fantastic. Out of this world great. Born to play this role, and it feels like the score was written for his voice. Gabi Campo was on as Sally and she more than held her own- "Cabaret" stopped the show, notwithstanding the bizarre histrionics shes being directed to perform. Stephen Skybell is perfect in this role. Nothing more to say. Every moment is warm, considered, perfect. Bebe, too, is great, but I really struggle to enjoy her voice at this point, and there was an unease in the audience as she tried to plow through her Act 2 number.
Calvin Leon Smith is also really solid (though he's not much of a singer), but the choice to cast Cliff as Black underscores some of the simply bizarre choices made here that work against the production. The central plot turns on Ernst, the Nazi, befriending and trusting Cliff to help smuggle goods for the Nazis into Germany. Ernst's shock at the way Cliff rejects Nazism-- it all makes no sense in this production. Sure, a color blind production might work, but the plot-point characters here (Schneider, Schultz, Kost, Ernst) are.... not.
Again and again, "edgy" choices try to undermine the strength/impact of this classic work. There is no "wink" in the opening number- its pure vulgarity. It just gets so old so quick. Whenever the production takes its foot off the gas, and lets the work breathe, it soars. Mein Herr, Maybe This Time, Tomorrow Belongs To Me... all great. Schultz's goodbye scene with Cliff? One of the most moving moments Ive seen on stage in a long while.
But when they try to "do something," YIKES. Dont Tell Mama, Money, If You Could See Her- oof. And for all the efforts to push the envelope and make it NOW, the ending is...nothing? There is no hammer dropped, there is no reveal or powerful nod to the way the Holocaust came crashing down on everyone. To close the show with such a whimper is criminal.
I do wonder how long this lasts. Front mezzanine was at least 1/4 empty tonight.