CABARET at the Kit Kat Club (2024) Opening Night Critics' Reviews- Page 5

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:29pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "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."

Was ANYONE except ATG and those who raised money for the show expecting it to be a juggernaut? It's hugely expensive and risky. Selling well in the first few months while the star is in is one thing, a juggernaut is another.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:29pm

Jordan Catalano said: "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."

Jordan; on this one I disagree with you.  From the moment I entered the theater Friday night the show began.  The shnaps, the hallways, the bars.. all created for this illusion .  We can disagree.  It was too much.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:34pm

In London, they started Act 2 by having audience members dance on “stage” with the ensemble. Does that not happen here?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:35pm

Yes they pick people from the audience, just like the last revival did. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:35pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Mr. Wormwood said: "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."

Was ANYONE except ATG and those who raised money for the show expecting it to be a juggernaut? "

That's who I meant by the Cabaret team...

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:37pm

MemorableUserName said: "Theatrely is positive

A New CABARET For The Ages On Broadway — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/a-new-cabaret-for-the-ages-on-broadway-review"

the fact that this review doesn't have a disclaimer that one of the founders and co-owners of Theatrely is a co-producer on this production (said individual even has it listed in their bio) seems like a huge conflict of intrest 

Updated On: 4/21/24 at 11:37 PM

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:50pm

These reviews are more or less what I expected. I felt the American critics would be far more critical of the major choices made throughout the production. It’s a situation where I love many of the choices made, but completely understand why someone may be turned off by them at the same time.

[rachelfran]

Posted: 4/21/24 at 11:53pm

I didn't see this one : Review: A potent Eddie Redmayne can't save Broadway's 'Cabaret' - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

"If you’re looking for powerhouse singing, this outing of “Cabaret” will sorely disappoint"

" this production takes this notion of fictional integrity to a ludicrous extreme in the casting of Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles. Jessie Buckley, a renowned singer and gripping dramatic actor, won (along with Redmayne) an Olivier for her performance in the London run. Rankin appears to have stepped into an interpretation of the part that she hasn’t the same skill set to pull off. Not only is her singing raucous but her characterization is off-putting, even antipathetic."

"What does it say about a revival of “Cabaret” in which I kept hoping that Fraulein Schneider (Bebe Neuwirth) would change the locks of her boardinghouse to keep Sally out of the production?"

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:05am

Adding New York Theatre for the Neuwirth/Skybell comments:

https://newyorktheater.me/2024/04/21/cabaret-broadway-review/

"Redmayne has proven himself a skilled, magnetic and adventurous actor, certainly on film, but also in his Tony-winning Broadway debut fourteen years ago, in “Red.”  In “Cabaret,” he reveals a fine singing voice. But his performance struck me as largely a collection of  costumes and mannerisms, twisted poses and twitches. 

Luckily there are two performances that do more than their share in trying to right the imbalance.  Bebe Neuwirth is exquisite as Fraulein Schneider, the landlady of the boarding house where Clifford rents a room; she brings attention to songs that are not normally among the most memorable in the musical – “So What” and “What Would You Do,” — which drive home the real-life despair and high stakes then facing people in Germany. Her performance is matched by Steven Skybell, as Herr Schultz, one of her boarders....

The scenes and songs with Neuwirth and Skybell,  he on his eighth Broadway play or musical, she on her ninth, demonstrate that effective and affecting theater doesn’t have to be high concept or reimagined, or paired with a party."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:07am

Showbiz411 isn't normally a site I check, but I did find this opening line interesting:

"By 10am you will not be able to get a ticket for the six month run of “Cabaret” on Broadway."

I wonder how true that will be given the rest of the reviews. (He also says Blankson-Wood will be a Tony nominee, which does not seem likely.)

https://www.showbiz411.com/2024/04/21/broadway-eddie-redmayne-bebe-neuwirth-entire-cast-thrilling-in-spectacular-london-import-of-cabaret

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 12:07 AM

[Phillyguy]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:08am

Menken Fan said: "These nasty reviews are mirroring my opinions on seeing this in London, amidst the critical raves there. I wonder if Sunset Boulevard will be similarly received here, in contrast to the London love. I was firmly in the negative on that one too and have been baffled by the acclaim and awards for both shows."

I liked both on West End, especially Sunset Blvd. I saw Aimee Lou Wood as Sally and really liked the vulnerability in her interpretation. I’m not sure what went wrong here. Seems like most of the reviews were critical of Sally here. I may wait a bit until the prices come down after these reviews to see for myself. 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:20am

I still don't quiet understand why none of the other London leads transfered over, seems weird to try and capture lightning in a bottle twice when the Bottle is the same but the elements to make the lightning aren't the same

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:23am

The bloom is off the rose. 
Eddie Redmayne in Sprockets. 

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:32am

There are unions to consider.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:34am

ErmengardeStopSniveling wrote: “Since then, London has had Cabaret revivals in 2006 and 2012 (both dir Rufus Norris).”

I liked the 2006 revival, but I thought the 2012 production at the Savoy was brilliant.

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 12:34 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:38am

Oh boy. It seems like for any show this year with a woman-led creative team that gets anything but raves, people have complained that the critics aren't showing proper appreciation for woman-directed and created work. And sure enough, one of the comments on Vulture's review is just that, even though the review is by a woman. Seriously, critic haters, get a new schtick. 

 

[djoko84]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:44am

I'd like to bring back my post from last week from the other thread because I'm always right.

Here's what I wrote:

"Count me in as one of the people who didn't like the production. I was very underwhelmed and didn't like many of the choices they made. Eddie Redmayne was the best part, but still couldn't save it. I could've done without all the pre-show entertainment."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 12:55am

Just because this made me smile:



eta: No insult intended toward Ms. Haworth. It was more of an "I get that reference" kind of thing...

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 12:55 AM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 1:07am

MichelleCraig said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling wrote: “Since then, London has had Cabaret revivals in 2006 and 2012 (both dir Rufus Norris).”

I liked the 2006 revival, but I thought the 2012 production at the Savoy was brilliant."

I saw the 2006 production, which I thought was a mediocre production.  Part of the problem was that I hated the performance of the emcee.  I thought the actor was severely miscast.  

I also saw the original production several times, and I thought that Haworth was unfairly maligned by Walter Kerr.  Most of her reviews were solid, but Kerr was so dismissive that the good reviews were forgotten.  I didn’t see Richardson, but I still think Haworth was the best of the 10 or more people I saw play that role live on stage.

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 01:07 AM

[Jeff Tupolski]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 1:44am

It’s gonna be an awkward day tomorrow at the Kit Kat. I honestly feel really bad for the team here. This was hyped up as a surefire hit and it must be humiliating to get blindsided with such harsh reviews. I can’t think of the last show with this much buzz that got such a rude awakening. At least the early word on The Music Man was more telling of their poor notices and Jackman’s superstar status ensured they never had to worry about selling out to ecstatic audiences.

This should still sell well for now and get a decent haul of nominations, but it’s odds of replicating the London production’s success have drastically gone down.

Neuwirth is probably their best bet to win an above the line Tony with her great ink and Lindsay Mendez looking like the most vulnerable of Merrily’s stars, though the stronger production may just shoot her ahead. Tony or no Tony though, Bebe and Steven Skybell deservingly walked out of opening night unscathed, so they at least have that win to their names.

[sng]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:26am

I can't help but wonder how Sunset Boulevard will be reviewed in NYC. 

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:30am

I'm feeling somewhat vindicated because I felt this way after seeing one of the first previews. But I also felt vindicated by the mixed critical reception in NY of The Inheritance after having seen it at the Young Vic, and then it did great at the Tonys. 

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 02:30 AM

[Theatrefan2]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:40am

I feel like the New York critics have got it more right than those here in London did.

This was a production that was hard to criticise as you just got shot down by so many.

I felr similar about the Sunset revival so I'm curious to see how that does in NYC 

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:43am

People here tend to forget Sunset got mostly 3 or 4 star reviews, positive but hardly raves. The New York Times liked it better than any critic in London 

[lopside]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 3:39am

The New York Times review for Sunset was written by Matt Wolf, who is the London critic and had loved Cabaret too. The NYPost though, did love Sunset.