CABARET at the Kit Kat Club (2024) Opening Night Critics' Reviews- Page 8

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:28pm

Thanks, Wick. That Jean Ross wiki page is for sure interesting. I knew Sally was based on a real person, but never knew it was so close to reality.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:31pm

P.S. Sad, and surprising, to read that Christopher Isherwood was anti Semitic.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:31pm

broadway86 said: "Matt Rogers said: "And am I crazy, but aren’t we supposed to find out that Sally had an abortion BEFORE she screeches thetitle song and not after? So we know why she is so unhinged while singing it?"

I saw the production in London, and I agree with all of your points, but this is inaccurate. That scene has always been placedafter the title song.

Your other criticisms are 100% valid though."

I could swear that in past productions, we find out about the abortion before, but I’ll take your word for it. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:33pm

That’s so funny. I’ve seen “Cabaret” 500 times and I always think that scene comes before the title song, also lol

[CreatureKitchen]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:35pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Echoing the question of ifAmerican critics are going to have similar differing opinions on “Sunset Boulevard”. That’s a production that I enjoyed some elements of (the cast, mainly) but just NEVER got the insane hype it’s received everywhere."

I thought Sunset was very interesting and had a lot of brilliant ideas, but funnily enough I had almost the opposite issue with it than I did with this revival of Cabaret. Cabaret felt “style over substance” to me, whereas Lloyd’s Sunset removed so much of the style that it lost some of the emotionality and melodrama the show needs. It was so stark and every character felt so cold and calculated that I absolutely didn’t buy into the improbable love triangle at the center of the story. After seeing the Kennedy Center revival where the relationship between Norma and Joe felt very real, I missed that sense of connection between the characters. 

[east side story]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:37pm

Jordan Catalano said: "That’s so funny. I’ve seen “Cabaret” 500 times and I always think that scene comes before the title song, also lol"

The placement of Sally and Cliff’s final scene has been after the title song in every production I have seen, including the Mendes’ revival(s).

[PipingHotPiccolo]

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

Jay Lerner-Z said: "P.S. Sad, and surprising, o read that Christopher Isherwood was anti Semitic."

I studied him a bit in college, and he certainly was, uh, flawed. What stuck out to me was that he wasnt shy about publicizing how Sally Bowles was based on Jean Ross, a real person, but he nonetheless wrote her (and never apologized for writing her) as being thoughtless, apolitical, and in some instances, anti Semitic. She always felt smeared and maligned by him, and he knew it.

[Kad]

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

I think it was in the Broadway: The American Musical PBS doc that Hal Prince says something along the lines of "Sally goes through a curtain and sings 'Cabaret,' and at the end of the song she goes and gets an abortion," so that's how that order of events has been able to stick with me.

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 2:53pm

Was just watching last Thursdays The View.  Joy and Whoopi went to Cabaret. Joy liked it.  Whoopi was quiet.  It was referred to as immersive.  Ana went to Appropiate and loved it.  Corey Stoll was a guest.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 3:06pm

Sally has the abortion before singing the song in the movie, which may be causing some of the confusion. But yes, in the stage show, the song comes before the abortion.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 3:10pm

I mean though - all that thrashing around during the song can’t be good for the baby. Just sayin…

[itsahopi]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 3:47pm

The last words out of Sally’s mouth in the Mendes revival are “Cliff, dedicate your book to me.”

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 4:51pm

DAME said: "So.. can Broadway now be done with the immersive crap?"

Yes, please. I am so over all the research I have to do for each new show to figure out where best to sit or stand. 

[inception]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 4:56pm

Something I was thinking today: there were comments made in the original thread about Producers saying they already have replacements for September lined up.  If they are "names," might the reviews cause those individuals to reconsider whether they still want to be involved?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:20pm

I doubt it.

It’s not like some dark cloud of controversy hangs over it. Especially if it’s their first time on Broadway, they’ll still want to live the dream. They might even have the ego to think they can turn things around.

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:23pm

Lea Michelle can turn anything around.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:23pm

Jay, you actually hit on a very good point. I’ve seen this production ten times now (both here and London) and it’s not because I’m in love with the production but because “Cabaret” is, I consider, a perfect musical. And even if this particular production falls flat in a number of places, a REALLY good cast can make you look past most of them and I like to see what each new set of actors bring to it. Sometimes it’s been a real slog to get through and other times it’s been really thrilling to see a new persons take. 
 

So I’d argue it IS entirely plausible that a new cast could “turn things around”.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:25pm

Can she do a British accent?

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:25pm

Nick Jonas

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 05:25 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 5:26pm

Huss417 said: "I know people are saying that it should sell well while Eddie Redmayne is in the show. Is he really that big of a draw? Prior to the reviews I was going to wait for him to leave and hope prices come down."

As we all know, casting matters in terms of revivals like Cabaret. I recall for the 2014 Cabaret revival, it was not easy for producers to find an A-list celebrity to perform as Sally Bowles and hence the closure a month after Emma Stone left.  

I know Emma's done interviews stating she won't do it ever again but if the producers can get her back, I'll save up and pay for a $699 table seat! I can see folks paying money to see her as Sally Bowles especially after her 2 Oscar wins.

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 6:28pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Jay, you actually hit on a very good point. I’ve seen this production ten times now (both here and London) and it’s not because I’m in love with the production but because “Cabaret” is, I consider, a perfect musical. And even if this particular production falls flat in a number of places, a REALLY good cast can make you look past most of them and I like to see what each new set of actors bring to it. Sometimes it’s been a real slog to get through and other times it’s been really thrilling to see a new persons take."

How does this cast compare to those you saw in London of this production? I'm still really looking forward to seeing this, probably because while I liked and respected the Mendes production, I don't hold it on a pedestal - especially when I saw the 2014 version which I found to be just lifeless. I'm excited to see a totally different take on the material, and I am an absolute sucker for beautiful production design.

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 6:42pm

Gayle Rankin Takes Center Stage

After years of flirting with mainstream success, the character actress takes the spotlight in Cabaret.

https://www.thecut.com/article/gayle-rankin-cabaret-house-of-the-dragon-interview.html

After the immersive/not immersive debate yesterday, I keep noticing how many times the show is described that way, as with here:

"Director Rebecca Frecknall’s restaging of Cabaret, which chronicles the apathy that infected Weimar-era Berlin leading up to World War II, is unusually immersive: The audience is beckoned into the August Wilson Theatre with a shot of schnapps and tableside bottle service."

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 6:44pm

Will the Emcee/Sally alternates starting in June come from the existing cast's understudies, or should we be expecting 2 new additions?

Updated On: 4/22/24 at 06:44 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 6:44pm

Is the August Wilson cursed?

 

back to back productions of musical revivals that started in London, got rave reviews there, transfered with different performers and both Broadway mountings get slaughtered by the press and drag the leading lady into the ground.

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 4/22/24 at 6:55pm

TaffyDavenport said: "Will the Emcee/Sally alternates starting in June come from the existing cast's understudies, or should we expecting 2 new additions?"

GIVE ME PIERRE MARAIS AND CRYSTAL KELLOGG.

I NEED SOME ASF CABANRET BACK SOMEHOW (i am still in denial about a regional show that only lasted a month and that i saw 17 times closing)