CABARET at the Kit Kat Club (2024) Opening Night Critics' Reviews- Page 4

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:36pm

I do think this show will be critic-proof for a bit, at least until Eddie leaves, and the word of mouth I've gotten from people who are not major Cabaret fans has all been good.

My first encounter with Cabaret was the West End production a couple years ago (Fra Fee and Amy Lennox were the leads), and I had known that it was an acclaimed production and that Cabaret was known to be one of the best shows in the canon.  And while I could appreciate the show for what it was saying and how it was constructed, the production left me cold and I never felt like I really was drawn in or that the experience was as incredible as I was lead to believe it would be.  I thought yahyahyah's review (in the other thread) hit the nail on the head for me and really explained a lot about why I felt that way, and it was interesting to see other responses on this board that were also less luminous even before the reviews. (FWIW I did still buy a ticket to this production just to see)

I do think some of the reviews are really entertainingly catty, bordering on mean, and it seems like the heightened expectations/hype may have played a part here, but I think just about all of them (yes, even Jesse Green) make valid points, especially regarding how Sally is played.  There were certain reviews where it felt like they wanted the show to be something it explicitly wasn't trying to be, but it seems like most of the issues come down to the fact that the way the characters are played early on don't seems to support the book and the revelations that occur later in the show.

With this, I think Merrily might as well have that Tony engraved now, and Jonathan Groff too seems to be squarely in the lead for Best Actor, though it seems like Bebe Neuwirth might be pulling ahead for Featured Actress (or at least in direct competition with Lindsay Mendez).

[Miss10036]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:36pm

Dang, I finally pulled the trigger on tickets because I was worried that if I waited any longer and they got raves tonight, they'd get bold and jack up the prices even more... Don't tell my wallet about these reviews, bitte.

[akhoya87]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:37pm

Part of me wonders whether there is some subconscious backlash (or at least bar-raising) because of the high prices charged by this production, and the efforts to make it "immersive."  Part of me also wonders whether the production rises and falls primarily on the casting.  I loved the London production, but it worked "best" for me when I saw it with Fra Fee and Amy Lennox.  Every version I've seen since then has been lackluster by comparison.  

In any event, I'll just have to see for myself next month...

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:40pm

I just spent an hour stress drinking strawberry Dr.Peppers and laughing at these reviews.

Should i be scared?

Should I try to get to New York to see this as quickly as possible? 

Or should i just calm down and check my blood meter?

Really wanna see this, not sure what these reviews are gonna do to the show.

[inception]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:40pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "inception said: "
Sweet shows like Beautiful & Waitress are what draw repeat audiences in New York. Not a death clown Emcee."

But Cabaret ran here in NYC for a decade, and then came back for another year. It was lauded and loved. So I dont follow?"

Cabaret is one of the greatest shows ever written.  It is heartfelt and moving as written.  This production makes mistakes in how it presents so much of the show.  The Emcee is always a little bit odd, a bit camp.  EDIT: MORE than a bit camp. But this crosses into a horror show. Edit: You are still supposed to feel that he is a human underneath. 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 10:40 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:44pm

Just pulling some of the nice Neuwirth/Skybell comments, even among otherwise negative reviews, since I did very much agree they were the highlights of the production. I hope they're both nominated, and certainly wouldn't mind wins.

Chicago Tribune/NY Daily News: "Only Neuwirth and Skybell make sense of their roles; they are quite lovely and offer the only moments of honesty and emotional engagement."

NY Post: "We are lucky, though, to have a wonderful Fraulein Schneider, Cliff’s no-nonsense landlady, and Herr Schultz, the Jewish fruit vendor who woos her, in Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell.  

Neuwirth’s “What Would You Do?” destroys us, as it should.

Unlike our Cliff and Sally, Neuwirth and Skybell create a perceivable romance."

Vulture: Thank goodness, therefore, for Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell. Any production of this show has the potential to become the story not of its young leads but of the heartbreaking romance between Cliff’s landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and the sweet-natured old fruit vendor who loves her, Herr Schultz. But this production can’t help it. When Neuwirth and Skybell enter the stage, it feels as if someone has taken the reins. Suddenly, the singing is beautiful and full of character, the story is clear and stirring, the stakes are high, the humor deft and generous. These are consummate pros: They fill the space with ease and breath, they make everyone around them better, and they trust the play. Neuwirth’s ashamed, anguished “What Would You Do?” is shattering, and “It Couldn’t Please Me More” (i.e. the pineapple song) is so lovable that the pre-grieving starts immediately. Frecknall has abundant riches to work with, and she knows her #vibes — what she’s created is slick and entertaining, sometimes even ingenious, but all Neuwirth and Skybell have to do is make a quiet entrance to remind us how much more is possible.

Theatermania: "Neuwirth’s lucid and powerful performance offers one of the few silver linings of this production. Her interpretation of “What Would You Do?” is the best I’ve ever heard (it should be noted that the band, led by Jennifer Whyte, sounds great throughout). We truly believe that Schneider loves the Jewish fruit seller, Herr Schultz (Steven Skybell). But love doesn’t win in Cabaret. Fear does.

Skybell’s performance is the other highlight of this revival. His manners and diction are so precise, it’s like he stepped out of a time machine. And it tells a vital story: Even as Herr Schultz insists he is just another German, his accent (a hint of zaide) and lively hand gestures betray his difference — and the neighborhood fascists have noticed."

WSJ: "This leaves an emotional void that is thankfully filled by the romance between Fraulein Schneider and another boarder, the Jewish fruit vendor Herr Schultz (Steven Skybell), who woos her with gentle courtliness. Both bruised by life, they nevertheless are increasingly drawn together. Ms. Neuwirth renders her character’s ambivalence but also her undeniable yearning for a refuge from the world’s storms with exquisite delicacy. Mr. Skybell’s warmth and ardent devotion are likewise affecting. "

Variety: The tender romance between Bebe Neuwirth’s elegant and maternal Fraulein Schneider and the moony-eyed fruit seller Herr Schultz (Stephen Skybell) spins a sweet and aching emotional thread. Neuwirth’s shattering performance of “What Would You Do?” shows an indomitable woman piecing herself back together one trembling note at a time. 

Deadline: "For all of Redmayne’s eccentric posturing and Rankin’s Courtney Love kinderwhore onslaughts, its the more muted, naturalistic performances of Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell as the unlikely and unlasting lovers Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz that carry the emotional heft of this Cabaret."

Time Out: "it occasionally pauses for breath long enough to accommodate warm, charming performances by two supporting actors: Bebe Neuwirth as Cliff’s practical-minded landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and Steven Skybell as her Jewish beau, the fruit-seller Herr Schultz. They bring heart and small moments of joy to a production that otherwise seems intent to leave you cold."

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 10:44 PM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:44pm

I can remember the 90's when detractors accused Sam Mendes of stomping out all the subtext and making the cabaret unappealing from the start. It sounds like this production tries to dial up the ugly aspects of the show to a greater extreme.

At this point the next revival would surprise everyone if it was sensual and well sung. 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 10:44 PM

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:44pm

I am so over the immersive trend.  The gimmick has worn thin.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:46pm

Imagine going back to 1981 and telling Sondheim and Prince that 43 years in the future, a revival of Merrily will be better reviewed than a revival of Cabaret. 

[chanel]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:49pm

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 10:49 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:49pm

I hated this production in London, and while I never WANT bad reviews for a show, there is a sense here, for me, that I finally feel less alone in my opinions.

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:52pm

chanel said: "Time Out seems to think it's a new thing for this production to have theEmcee sing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me". But the character has been in on that number from the first production."

Being in on it is different than what goes on here and how.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 10:54pm

Neuwirth is the reason that I will plunk down my filthy lucre, and these reviews suggest I won't be let down. As for the rest, it sounds exhausting, the last thing a decent Cabaret should be. I've seen all of the major stagings, dating to the fine first national of the original, and still wonder what this one says in 2024. It needs more relevance than a Black Cliff; it needs to point to how a blend of ennui, willful indifference to power grabs, and aggression can serve as accelerants to fascistic impulses. The show itself, unadulterated in a table read, does that - so why obfuscate those intentions with self-indulgent excess? 

[Sara904]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:03pm

With this, I think Merrily might as well have that Tony engraved now, and Jonathan Groff too seems to be squarely in the lead for Best Actor, though it seems like Bebe Neuwirth might be pulling ahead for Featured Actress (or at least in direct competition with Lindsay Mendez)."

Do you think Daniel Radcliffe is still the frontrunner in Best Featured Actor?

 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:06pm

Wayne Brady is.  I am joking . 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 11:06 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:10pm

A couple of quick thoughts.

1. It is almost exactly 19 years since my favorite day in Broadway history, the day New York Magazine unceremoniously dumped John Simon. And today, Sara Holdren, who has finally found the antidote to the stench in his office, beats him at his own game, and would show him how to do it without applying his usual overdose of intentional bigotry: "[A]s the Emcee, Eddie Redmayne is on his own look-at-me planet. His singing voice never leaves a plugged-up, somewhat Muppet-y place somewhere behind his nose, and his physical palette is all coyly twirling fingers and hunched-up, leering Gollum poses." 

2. Several people have posted negatively about immersive theatre, but immersive theatre can be great and it can be at the core of theatrical intelligence, but like everything else, bad execution gives even the best ideas a bum rap.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:12pm

i havent seen this so maybe im ignorant here, but all the "immersion" i am hearing is this pre-show shtick, but thats immersive pre-theater. is there an interactive, immersive element to the production ITSELF?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:13pm

No, there is no “immersion” in the actual show. It’s a word that really needs to stop being used with this. 
“Sleep No More” is immersive theater. This is just a musical with some pre-show “entertainment”.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 11:13 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:16pm

I’m curious If broadway audiences are too hung up on the Rob Marshall/Sam Mendes revival and that’s why this revival is receiving middling reviews. Comparatively, London never got the Marshall/Mendes production, nor did it come back for a return engagement like it did on broadway. They never had that production to compare this current one to.

[Bette's Turban]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:20pm

Jordan Catalano said: "No, there is no “immersion” in the actual show. It’s a word that really needs to stop being used with this.
“Sleep No More” is immersive theater. This is just a musical with some pre-show “entertainment”."

Ehhh.  A pre-show, tables, dancing with the audience.. even one of their press releases uses the words.  But I agree with the person that said it is fine if it is well done.    

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 11:20 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:22pm

Sara904 said: "With this, I think Merrily might as well have that Tony engraved now, and Jonathan Groff too seems to be squarely in the lead for Best Actor, though it seems like Bebe Neuwirth might be pulling ahead for Featured Actress (or at least in direct competition with Lindsay Mendez)."

Do you think Daniel Radcliffe is still the frontrunner in Best Featured Actor?

Ricky Ubeda from Illinoise gave a wonderful, yet silently heartbreaking, performance.  Illinoise may surprise in some nominations and wins.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:23pm

There’s a “preshow” you watch. Theres tables you sit at (if you paid that much money) and there’s dancers who dance in front of you. It is not immersive. 

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:23pm

For many of us who saw this in London, this is no surprise.   It's a cold, shallow production, no matter that carnival that surrounds it.    It is very conceptual, which plays so well in London, less so here.   I do think it's fair to say that the ghost of the Mendes/Marshall production does hover over these reviews, but it's only because that production was both thrilling and heartfelt.   I do think it will run for a time because the "dinner theater" aspect is thrilling to a lot of people, and they're interested in seeing Eddie.   

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:24pm

I feel like the Cabaret team has got to be shocked by these reviews. They had the feel of a juggernaut coming in and I think they were feeling good about their chances to snatch the attention away from Merrily. And then... this happened.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:26pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I’m curious If broadway audiences are too hung up on the Rob Marshall/Sam Mendes revival and that’s why this revival is receiving middling reviews. Comparatively, London never got the Marshall/Mendes production, nor did it come back for a return engagement like it did on broadway. They never had that production to compare this current one to."

Sam Mendes' revival began at the Donmar in 1993 prior to Broadway (and prior to Rob Marshall coming in to re-choreograph it) and it was filmed professionally.

Since then, London has had Cabaret revivals in 2006 and 2012 (both dir Rufus Norris).

And of course there's the movie, which was not far off from the Mendes revival.

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 11:26 PM