CABARET at the Kit Kat Club (2024) Opening Night Critics' Reviews — Page 17

I understood they’d be announcing the actor to succeed Eddie in the next 10-14 days(“mid-July”). Apparently it’s a bigger name than Eddie. My honest initial thought was it would be Timothee Chalamet for a run to Feb/March. But I have no idea.

JasonC3 said: "Someone on the UK board says it is Adam Lambert:

https://theatreboard.co.uk/post/524698/thread
"

That would get me to go back.

Isn’t he touring with Queen until November?

WldKingdomHM said: "Isn’t he touring with Queen until November?"

To my understanding, no. They toured until November of last year, this year they did five Japan shows in February and currently have no scheduled performances together.

While it sounds like Adam Lambert is a done deal, Sweaty Oracle posted a less-substantiated rumor today that Auli'i Cravalho could be taking over as Sally. If true, I'm not surprised that they're going with 2 leads who have strong singing voices, since American audiences (and the public since the Tonys performance went viral) aren't entirely sold on the concept, and would probably be more satisfied if they could at least hear the songs sung really well. Mind you, I liked Eddie and Gayle both very much, but, from a business standpoint going forward, I understand taking it in that direction, once again, if true.

Updated On: 6/27/24 at 06:33 PM

The movie is very different; they changed the characters, the subplot, and some of the songs, so isn't necessary to understand the stage show. It's great in its own right, but it's own thing.

TaffyDavenport said: "While it sounds like Adam Lambert is a done deal, Sweaty Oracle posted a less-substantiated rumor todaythat Auli'i Cravalho could be taking over as Sally. If true, I'm not surprised that they're going with 2 leads who have strong singing voices, since American audiences(and the public since the Tonys performance went viral) aren't entirely sold on the concept, and wouldprobably be more satisfied if they could at leasthear the songs sung really well. Mind you, I liked Eddie and Gayle both very much, but, from a business standpoint going forward, I understand taking itin that direction, once again,iftrue."

I had no issues with Redmayne and Rankin’s singing- it was the conception of the characters and numbers that stood in the way for me. It seems like Redmayne’s affectations are his own idiosyncratic take on the Emcee, however, so it’ll be nice to see somebody else take it on (though Lambert feels like an odd choice- this isn’t really a vocally showy role).

I was told Adam and Auli'i are official as the replacement cast.

Eddie Redmayne’s Emcee performance has caused uproar – but there is more to this Cabaret than meets the eye



https://theconversation.com/eddie-redmaynes-emcee-performance-has-caused-uproar-but-there-is-more-to-this-cabaret-than-meets-the-eye-233704

I heard the new cast just went in for press photos, but not who they were. Assuming it is Auli'i, wouldn't she need to do a press tour for Moana 2?

This is so very random but tonight I rewatched a few movies, all of which staring Zach Galifianakis, and after my binge watching I genuinely think he could pull off the emcee. Call me crazy, Call me mad, But I want this man as the emcee now. If Eddie Redmayne can do it, I'd say let the man who voiced the Lego joker do it. I want this so bad.

Jordan Catalano said: "I was told Adam andAuli'i are official as the replacement cast."

I couldn't believe how little preparation front of house seemed to have at this point when I went last night. Nobody was able to confidently point our way, we were twice given incorrect information about where to go for seating, and what is usually the main August Wilson lobby space that everyone seems directed to pass through regardless of where their seat is was an absolute s***show. There was a wall of people watching the Amanda Palmer-esque performance fully blocking the bathroom. I kept being directed away as I tried to approach, then pointed back by others when I asked where I could use a restroom. I have really loved a number of actually immersive productions, but on Broadway, where crowd management and wildly varying levels of audience sophistication are more of an issue, it's consistently turned out to be a buzzword for "We're just going to try to sell you on a lot more very expensive drinks." Ultimately added nothing and did the exact opposite of transport me. The auditorium reconfiguration is impressive, though it basically feels like a less artistically specific (if perhaps more costly) retread of Great Comet. Chavkin's shows seemed to have a large influence in general, at least superficially. The buzz around this production also seemed to want us to forget the Henry Miller transformation into "The Kit Kat Klub"? Much ado.

The production I found to be alternately pretty confused and overly obvious, though I was entertained. I thought Act 2 fared better. The David Byrne/Bowie as the Thin White Duke conception of conformity and self-silencing, while again not exactly thematically coherent, was at least kind of interesting and an attempt at something new. Ultimately, I think trying to have its cake (the cabaret is a trendy queer haven that either exploits or celebrates the kind of gender diversity and queerness we expect in productions of the moment) and eat it too (the cabaret is a nigh-supernatural and puppet-like manifestation of dark forces of fascism, with the Emcee taking on an almost Pennywise-like dimension as its main human-shaped avatar) are...a hell of an odd combination. I think the difference of a few years since this production was mounted across the pond and now have likely not done it any favors for reasons too voluminous and complex for this post. I kind of wished for the whole thing to have a more intelligent and trenchant connection to the moment, but even in its darkest moments it feels a bit naive and superficial. And from the opening moments, the cabaret dancers felt like well-scrubbed theater students trying to Blue Steel their way into being creepy-kooky. I thought that some of the more expressionist moments at least looked cool, and helped when the staging in general began to feel repetitive.



Bebe Neuwirth was fantastic. Rankin had a few really great moments I thought, with "Maybe This Time" (also nicely/simply staged) winning me over after a very rough start that was not helped by the direction and design of the in-club numbers. Redmayne out Mondays of course, but I think I got a pretty clear idea of the production's take on the character though I think David Merino may not be going quite as far with the affectations given available video. Tbh I'm glad I saw him instead.



Idk, you can't really kill Cabaret. The show survives, there are some bright spots, I think there's some nice intention around Sally once we're well along. But I think this is also anything but a case of New York critics not embracing something because it is too experimental. It's New York critics knowing the show and its potential very well. There just isn't enough of a confidently unique voice that knows what it's saying. This is a pretty self-conscious effort to grab at many theatrical trends of the past 20 years and feels generally a bit stale and grating.

Updated On: 7/9/24 at 04:08 PM