Adam Lambert -Cabaret- Page 7

[Feidlimid]

Posted: 10/1/24 at 4:46pm

Wontorek works at Broadway.com. He has never said anything that is not glowing about any show. He made McNeal sound like the play of the decade. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/2/24 at 7:19am

Feidlimid: Wontorek works at Broadway.com. He has never said anything that is not glowing about any show. He made McNeal sound like the play of the decade. 

Fair point. I like Adam and Kander & Ebb so I guess I am looking for a reason to change my mind and go but I guess the direction is still the direction so thanks for the good sense reminder. Maybe if it shows up on TDF then. Part of me still feels unloyal to Kander and Ebb however.

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/2/24 at 5:36pm

I don’t hyperbolize when I say the new leading trio have revitalized the show and knocked it out of the park.

Don’t sleep on Adam, Auli’i, and ESPECIALLY Calvin Leon Smith - who gave Cliff some actual emotional stakes and understood the assignment perfectly. To miss them, along with Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell, would be foolish!

Also, as I mentioned in the other thread, they have 3 of the 4 retro playbills in circulation. The only one not is the 1950s/60s yellow header.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/3/24 at 12:03am

I thought Adam was spectacular tonight. He's the reason to go back to see the show again. 

[greensgreens]

Posted: 10/4/24 at 10:29pm

So bummed Adam was out tonight. Hope he returns soon!

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/25/24 at 12:06am

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. 

[communitytheatergal88]

Posted: 10/28/24 at 5:01pm

this was my feeling as well when I saw it.  Adam was fantastic, just great.  The rest of the cast was very good as well. Always happy to see Bebe on stage.  I liked the "in the round" presentation.  But the direction was just headscratching.  I hated the ending which, for me, ended with a whimper instead of a gut punch. Maybe I am dumb but I didn't even  fully get what the point was with the increasingly drab costuming until I read more about it after the show ( I get it now....).  The ending just didn't land for me.  And I don't understand why Sally is always yellling.  That being said, due to the performances and the evergreen score I enjoyed it and would see it again. Adam's performance is a must see.Hope he comes back to Broadway again.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/1/24 at 11:10pm

Been checking on seats for the next 2 months and Adam and Auliʻi seem to be out of show a lot for the next couple of weeks especially Auli'i. We def want to see Adam but is Gabi any good or should we wait until January to see it with both Adam and Auli'i? 

 

 

[rg7759]

Posted: 11/2/24 at 5:48am

Adam is all that matters. The understudy I'm guessing was better than auli

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/2/24 at 3:51pm

Robbie2 said: "Been checking on seats for the next 2 months and Adam andAuliʻi seem to be out of show a lot for the next couple of weeks especially Auli'i. We def want to see Adam but is Gabi any good or should we wait until January to see it with both Adam and Auli'i?



"

Aulii is out until middle of November, and has been for a while, not sure whats going on there. But both her understudies are great- I saw Gabi Campo, and the other one is incredibly talented, too- not worth missing the show over that (Lambert's absence might be a different story).

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 11/2/24 at 4:34pm

Robbie2 said: "Been checking on seats for the next 2 months and Adam andAuliʻi seem to be out of show a lot for the next couple of weeks especially Auli'i. We def want to see Adam but is Gabi any good or should we wait until January to see it with both Adam and Auli'i?



"

I don't know how the other Sallys are, but personally, while I really enjoyed Adam's presence, I think Auli'i grounded her performance in a way I didn't see from clips of the past Sallys in this production scream-singing the title song. I thought she found an interpretation that worked within the parameters of the production that was still human and sympathetic. She wasn't a stereotypical party girl or a symbol of hedonistic obliviousness, she was a person who had to choose when there were no good choices. I do think she comes across young next to the current Cliff and there's nothing in the performance that addresses that, but that would be my only criticism.

That said, you can make your own choices about whether to wait until January.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 6:18pm

https://parade.com/celebrities/adam-lambert-cabaret-exclusive-interview

How Adam Lambert Became a Broadway Star (Exclusive) - Parade

[qafgenius122]

Posted: 11/15/24 at 2:02am

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Robbie2 said: "Been checking on seats for the next 2 months and Adam andAuliʻi seem to be out of show a lot for the next couple of weeks especially Auli'i. We def want to see Adam but is Gabi any good or should we wait until January to see it with both Adam and Auli'i?



"

Aulii is out until middle of November, and has been for a while, not sure whats going on there. But both her understudies are great- I saw Gabi Campo, and the other one is incredibly talented, too- not worth missing the show over that (Lambert's absence might be a different story).

"

She's promoting Moana 2. This kind of absence is normal when stars have prior commitments of this scale.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 11:32pm

NYT: Adam Lambert Is Finding the Fun, and the Fear, in ‘Cabaret’

Gift link.

[Ravanne_1]

Posted: 12/12/24 at 7:48am

Admittedly I did not see the show with Redmayne as the Emcee so I'm not going to judge Adam's performance against his, but there is something about how this ending hits with a queer actor than a straight one. The Emcee has always been queer coded, though some productions made more of it than others. With this particular ending, with the Emcee, along with other members of the cabaret, responding to the Nazi threat by giving up and trying to blend in, there is something especially poignant about a gay man doing so. About returning to the closet after a period of unfettered freedom and knowing that his life hinges on how well he manages to pull off the masquerade was especially tragic. He's going along just to stay alive. This is not to say that a straight man can't play the role effectively or that  Adam's performance is more powerful because he's gay, but there is a reason why all of my favorite renditions of this character have been played by gay/bi men.

I didn't love a lot about this production. It didn't feel as powerful as the more stripped down (no pun intended) Mendes production and a lot of the more modern takes on queer identity felt anachronistic. When you consider that the Kit Kat Club is supposed to be this rundown, seedy venue, this just felt like they were trying to stuff too much in. Had Adam not been in the show (and I would pay to hear him sing the phone book listings), I would not have bothered. If they were trying to translate the story into our modern environment, it just didn't work for me.