Many, many people dislike this "immersive" staging (it is always unclear into what verisimilitude we are supposedly submerged, since it conjures neither Berlin in any era nor a compelling space displaying decadence or outre performance art; it just looks like a mauled Broadway theater with a Vegas club stage.) The elevation of the Emcee to event casting damages the show's storytelling. Yes, Cumming was given a spotlighted focus, but it paid off emotionally with the coupe de theatre that shook the audience in profound, historical ways. Here, the Emcee just fades into Nazi robotics. Cliff and Sally's relationship, once the centerpiece of the narrative, seems to stymy - or bore - the director, and it makes no discernible sense: missing are stakes, romance, or even a compelling symbiosis of two lost souls on the cusp of apocalypse. Everything is jettisoned for an "idea" that can't manifest as an audience experience. But to quote the Emcee, "Don't take my word for it, ask" the critics. I re-read them after I saw it, and understood fully all of the reservations. The word of mouth was never what it is in the West End.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 9/7/25 at 03:28 PM