CABARET at the Kit Kat Club Previews- Page 8

[Voter]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 12:21am

I did a 2 sho day today. Tommy at 2pm and Cabaret at 8pm. I was very disappointed with what I saw. I have never seen any other amateur or professional production of this show. Eddie Redmayne and Bebe Neuwirth are carrying this material and are phenomenal. Is it bad that I would rather see Water for Elephants again? I think the race is between Tommy and Merrily We Roll Along.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 12:41am

Natascia Diaz was a terrific Sally in the San Francisco Playhouse production of Follies a couple of years ago. One of my favorite performances, and she played the character a little differently each time I saw the show. Not surprised she’s doing well in Cabaret.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 6:23am

inception said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Whereas to me, she’s more tragic when played older. Again, this is why I just love the character so much. She can be almost anything and it works in completely different ways."

But SPOILERS

she gets pregnant, so she can't be too old. Makes more sense when she is under 30."

When exactly do you think menopause hits? 30 and a day??

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 7:43am

Lol. Yes, obviously when i said “older”, i didn’t mean 60.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:04am

Avg age for  menopause is 51. So while it gets more difficult to conceive after 35, it's not terrible rare. (Think about all those Catholic families with ten plus children!)

I totally get Jordan's point. A 40 year old still chasing that lifestyle, giving up what could be her last chance to have a child (no, not all women WANT a child, I know) is more tragic than a young adult making those same choices. 

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:13am

dramamama611 said: "Speaking ofNastascia Diaz, is she understudying Sally?"

Diaz is covering Fraulein Schneider. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:21am

Also to me, "Maybe This Time" doesn't have the same impact when performed by a young Sally. It's always read to me as a song sung by a woman who's been THROUGH IT and a lot. 

[aj88]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:24am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "CoffeeBreak said: "Wow. Ato Blankson-Wood is highly overrated but this is a new miscast. He's not good as Cliff. The creative should recast CliffNOWbefore reviews. The director should have thought this through. Wow. The weakest of the bunch. He almost ruined the reality of the evening."


What exactly is so bad about his performance that he has gotten so many negative reactions in the role so far on this board? It’s a tricky part but not exactly challenging. Is he over-acting it, or…? Keep in mind also that the fault in a bad performance always lies at least partly with the director."

While I do think that he sort of improved in Act Two to an extent, I just found him to be rather lifeless and lacking any kind of real character in Act One. It was truly an energy shift any time he had a major moment that would pull me out of a scene. I think the role has enough of a blank canvas quality that you can actually bring more life to it...but then again, it sounds like people had issues with the London Cliff so it could have to do with the director. 

I still think the best Cliff was Adam Godley.

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:25am

Jordan Catalano said: "Also to me, "Maybe This Time" doesn't have the same impact whenperformedby a young Sally. It's always read to me as a song sung by a woman who's been THROUGH IT and a lot."

I completely agree and that's part of what I really like about casting Gayle as Sally. I know she's only 34 but I like that she is not in her 20's and doesn't look it - especially for the 1920's/30's she would have been considered an old maid. 

Updated On: 4/4/24 at 09:25 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:28am

Oh, 100%. I'm not talking about Gayle at all, just a discussion of the character in general. 

Updated On: 4/4/24 at 09:28 AM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:53am

And Natasha Richardson was the same age as Rankin and gave the best performance I've ever experienced in the theater. I never once thought 'Oh that poor barren woman.' ;)

I haven't yet seen this on Broadway and I may not because I very much didn't care for it in London. I saw Madeline Brewer and Callum Scott Howells (both very good), I just really didn't care for Frecknall's vision for this piece. The Cliff in that cast gave the single worst performance I've ever seen on a West End or Broadway stage and now I'm wondering if it isn't the actual conception of the character by Frecknall rather than the actor. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:57am

Some of y’all are acting like they aren’t in the first week of previews. 

[inception]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:58am

1) I do understand menopause.

2)I don't mean that an actress over 30 can't play Sally Bowles, but that IMO it makes more sense that the character is under 30.

Sally is still rather inexperienced., despite all the worldliness she projects. The diaphragm was available by the 1930's.  I think an older woman in that milieu would have been using some sort of birth control. 

It is interesting that the inspiration for Sally in Isherwood's original novel was only 19 at the time he knew her in Berlin.  Just reading the Wikipedia article about her - Jean Ross - on the train this morning,  and I found this section about her singing interesting:

"Isherwood described Ross' singing talent as mediocre: "She had a surprisingly deep, husky voice. She sang badly, without any expression, her hands hanging down at her sides—yet her performance was, in its own way, effective because of her startling appearance and her air of not caring a curse of what people thought of her." Likewise, acquaintance Stephen Spender recalled that Ross' singing ability was underwhelming and forgettable: "In my mind's eye, I can see her now in some dingy bar standing on a platform and singing so inaudibly that I could not hear her from the back of the room where I was discreetly seated.""

More on Sally Bowles here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Bowles

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 10:13am

And, of course, Jean Ross led a far more fascinating and productive life than we are led to believe the character of Sally Bowles would have. But I'm not saying I disagree with you about a younger Sally being a perfectly valid interpretation. But, whatever the age of the actress, Sally is representative of reckless nihilism and I think she wouldn't use a diaphragm at any age. 

 

[lopside]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 10:15am

I genuinely thought Omari Douglas gave a moving, sensitive, sweet performance, kind of a nerd. To me the direction seems to be that Cliff is truly an innocent whose mind kind of gets blown, drawn like a moth to Sally who also bullies him a little. It's just that people overshoot that bit, especially when it's people like Omari who thrives on flamboyance (anyone who saw It's A Sin can attest to that). 

But honestly, the people acting like Ato is doing something very embarrassing, especially that one poster with a grudge against him, when all he is kind of bland and finding that sort of difficult to navigate with the bigger moments, is laughable. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 1:36pm

TotallyEffed said: "Some of y’all are acting like they aren’t in the first week of previews."

lol true but at the same time this is a transfer from London’s West End which has been playing there since 2021. Sure there will be tweaks here and there but I doubt they’ll do any major cuts/changes.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 1:57pm

While I do think that he sort of improved in Act Two to an extent, I just found him to be rather lifeless and lacking any kind of real character in Act One. It was truly an energy shift any time he had a major moment that would pull me out of a scene. I think the role has enough of a blank canvas quality that you can actually bring more life to it...but then again, it sounds like people had issues with the London Cliff so it could have to do with the director.

I still think the best Cliff was Adam Godley.

"

I recall reading a review of the London production that said something along the lines of "Eddie Redmayne would have made a great Cliff, but then again that would mean we'd be deprived of his performance as The Emcee".

Maybe it's an issue with the underlying material. You don't often get vivid characterization with an audience surrogate character.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 3:39pm

Wick3 said: "TotallyEffed said: "Some of y’all are acting like they aren’t in the first week of previews."

lol true but at the same time this is a transfer from London’s West End which has been playing there since 2021. Sure there will be tweaks here and there but I doubt they’ll do any major cuts/changes."

 

I'm talking about performances still settling in, obviously they won't be making any "major cuts" to Cabaret.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:44pm

I was VERY wrong about something and need to apologize. The stickers they give out here are nothing like the ones they have in London. Whenever I see it there, I always tend to just put the sticker on the back of my case and then after a couple days, I peel it off and they always just slide right off. No reason why, just something I did once and it became "tradition". ANYWAYS. I went to peel this one from the other night off and it was glue. It took me ten minutes of scrubbing to even begin to get it to come off. 

When I go back, I'm just telling them I don't have a phone.

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:52pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I was VERY wrong about something and need to apologize. The stickers they give out here are nothing like the ones they have in London. Whenever I see it there, I always tend to just put the sticker on the back of my case and then after a couple days, I peel it off and they always just slide right off. No reason why, just something I did once and it became "tradition". ANYWAYS. I went to peel this one from the other night off and it was glue. It took me ten minutes of scrubbing to even begin to get it to come off.

When I go back, I'm just telling them I don't have a phone."

Geez! I don't think I can pull that card but I don't want sticky residue on my camera. I will always respect the rules but I do not want a sticker ruining my phone camera. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 9:57pm

Just keep your phone in your pocket and when you get to the person handing them out just say you left it at home. 

[theblackumbrella]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 11:39pm

Overall I think there is much more to like than not like in this production. Eddie Redmayne is by far and away the best thing about it. He is never out of character even when he’s watching from the side. His portrayal is rather physical and he is in control of all his limbs and digits in mesmerizing ways.

Bebe Neuwirth plays the role well and her second act number is staged very effectively. Skybell is also affecting, but the role seems much smaller than I remember it. His voice has a beautiful tone to its upper register that aids in conveying the fragility of his character.

Frecknall knew how to utilize the round for most ever musical number, but I found her staging of Mein Herr to be pretty lifeless and dull.

Her “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” doesn’t necessarily make sense until the end, which I’ll let y’all discover on your own.

I agree with other posters who say Gayle Rankin has the ability to really grow into the role. She had moments that were great. Her book scene leading up to “Maybe this Time” and that song were probably her strongest moments. “Cabaret” was good and I appreciate how the suit makes sense whereas the Olivier performance was so confusing.

I liked Ato Blankson-Wood as Cliff. Akin to Rankin he’ll grow layers into his portrayal, but for this being their first week of performances, he’s off to a strong start.

The theater renovation is really well done. I saw no reason to get there as early as I did. The “performers” before the show struck me as high school theater nerds who were let loose from their black box wonderland. They didn’t speak so all of their interaction was in miming - awkward. And they did not look like they belonged in this era. I would much prefer some band members playing on the stage as you walk in. There was a small group off to the side and they evoked more authentic energy than any of the performers.

The cast interaction that kicks off act 2 was MUCH more impactful and enjoyable than anything I saw in the preceding hour.

The set and lighting is beautiful. The sound could be worked out. I was in row A of the OG mezz and a lot of Wilkommen I could only understand because I knew the words. It could just be that Eddie’s accent is thick and takes a minute to get used to.

Please use a period specific hand microphone if such thing exists. Randomly having Eddie or Gayle use a modern hand mic was very reminiscent of the original Spring Awakening, but that dichotomy was purposeful.

As we exited we got “founding member” pins. I didn’t enter through the stage door so maybe if I had I would’ve been more swept up in the immersion.

It’s in good shape and could be great. That’s why there’s a preview period.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 11:42pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Just keep your phone in your pocket and when you get to the person handing them out just say you left it at home."

Now, how does one do that when you enter through security show your ticket scanned from your phone is already out? So how does one keep your phone then in your pocket as all this goes by quickly when entering?

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 11:46pm

I think Frecknell doesn’t really have a clear grasp on the character of Cliff. I thought the actor I saw in London gave truly one of the worst performances I’ve seen on a professional stage, but from what I’m hearing here with an actor I know is great, it feels like it may be a direction problem.

I really loved this in London, but I do feel the reception here will not be as rapturous. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 4/4/24 at 11:51pm

I haven’t seen this production, but I am in love with the Sam Mendes Cabaret.  Roundabout should have just remounted it at Studio 54 and we all would be watching the DEFINITIVE production of CABARET.  No reason for this one. The choreo in this new one looks ugly.  And the costumes.  You cant beat the WONDERFUL Rob Marshall choreo and William Ivey Long design!!

Updated On: 4/4/24 at 11:51 PM