Cabaret Reviews

[KanderEbb]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 2:47pm

It's the opening night tonight. Post the reviews here please.
Good luck with my favorite show in this season.

Updated On: 4/24/14 at 02:47 PM

[ethan231h]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 3:18pm

I'm expecting great reviews especially for Michelle Williams and Linda Emond!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 3:26pm

I certainly hope Emond and Burstein (and the entire production really) get glowing reviews. Can't wait to read the notices.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 3:49pm

Does anyone know if Brantley or Isherwood will be reviewing this for the Times? If I recall correctly, Brantley reviewed the 1998 production, so maybe they'll let Isherwood give it a go? Well, one can hope.

[KanderEbb]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 3:57pm

I think Brantley may give a review, as he did in 1998. Hope Linda Emond could finally get a nod this time, as he gave her a huge rave in Death of a Salesman. After all, she deserves it.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 3:59pm

I loved the show! But I'm curious to see if any critics agreed with me that Michelle wasn't quite right. Her singing was very interesting, but I had a problem with her characterization.

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:07pm

Brantley was at the show on Sunday afternoon.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:13pm

What do you mean "Edmond could finally get a nod this time"? She's a two time Tony nominee.

[KanderEbb]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:14pm

I co-sign the idea that Michelle Williams is not a good Sally, Jane. Besides, things might be a bit against her if Brantley gives the Cabaret review, because he is a HUGE fan of Natasha Richardson. Williams has a way too big shoe to fit in, in this particular situation.

[KanderEbb]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:18pm

Sorry I didn't make myself clear, All That Jazz... I mean she is snubbed in both Drama League Nomination and Outer Critics Desk Award Nomination in this season.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:53pm

I think that Michelle Williams plays the role quite well! I find that she really gave a huge chunk of emotion to her performance. When she sings the title song "Cabaret" it is PERFECT. I know that Alan Cumming thought that she was on of the best Sally's

you never know :)

but aside from that Emond and Burstein really should get Nominations if not Win though it will be a tough race between Burstein and Ingelhart!

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 4:58pm

" I know that Alan Cumming thought that she was on of the best Sally's "

Haha! I'd hate to hear who thinks are some of the worst!

[Alix]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 5:08pm

As I posted in the Cabaret Previews thread, I thought Michelle was very good overall (particularly in the second act and "Cabaret," which was astonishing), but didn't come off as quite confident enough, especially in "Don't Tell Mama" and, to a lesser extent, "Mein Herr." I also realized a few days after I saw the show that, for the first time, I wasn't entirely sure I believed that Sally was really pregnant. I've never questioned this before (and I think it's pretty much universally taken to be true?) but something about her performance left me wondering if she was making the whole thing up. Not sure what to make of that, but it's interesting. (I'm realizing as I write this that it's also possible that this was influenced by Lindsay Lohan's recent announcement that she had a miscarriage...and the subsequent reactions of many people who think she is lying.)

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 7:56pm

Cabaret Photographs and Reviews

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:13pm

Matthew Murray is mixed to negative:

"The upshot is that if you saw and liked this Cabaret the last time around (it closed in 2004), you’ll probably like it now. The score remains unbeatable, even if the specific selection of numbers (drawn from the previous stage versions and the 1972 film) can sometimes feel haphazard and nonsensical. The supporting roles are expertly filled, with Linda Emond a compellingly empty Fräulein Schneider, whom you believe unquestioningly would sacrifice her chance at happiness for the certitude of existence; Danny Burstein a likable, but hardly shrinking, milquetoast Herr Schultz; and Aaron Krohn and Gayle Rankin quietly threatening as Ernst and Fräulein Kost. And though each new book of Cabaret makes Cliff more of a nonentity, Bill Heck brings a deflated vivacity to the part that comes as far as any I’ve seen to retrieving it from obscurity.

Cumming remains a commanding Emcee, savoring each salacious step he makes and note he sings. Less suavely terrifying than engrossingly ugly, he’s a flawless model for what Mendes and Marshall are going for, and a charismatic center around which the evening can be structured. Reveling in the rot around him and contributing to it as much as he’s able, this Emcee may not appear dangerous but is decadent after a fashion, and, overstated a portrayal as it may be, it more than fulfills its role as society’s disquieting fulcrum."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:17pm

NBC New York is mixed to positive:

"But it’s also been 10 years since that “Cabaret” closed. And in those 10 years, there has been a shift in what our society deems as provocative. Why, look no further than down the street at the Belasco Theatre, where “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” -- a show that, in 1998, was an underground Off-Broadway cult hit deemed too edgy for Broadway -- is selling-out houses in a production led by an Emmy-winning, out gay actor. Times, they have a-changed. And suddenly the sexual aggressiveness of the 1998 “Cabaret” seems tame.

To put it another way: imagine watching Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” video for the first time today. Would you be as outraged by Spears’ sexy schoolgirl look having seen Miley Cyrus swing around naked on a wrecking ball?

Just because this “Cabaret” doesn’t carry the same shock value as it once did doesn’t mean we should strip this production of its worth. “Cabaret” is a seductive piece of theater, beautifully designed and with stellar performances throughout. Moreover the show’s story, about a seedy nightclub in 1930s Berlin and how the relationships of its patrons and neighbors are affected by the rise of the Nazi party, rings as poignant as ever."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/Review-Caberet-Broadway-Revival---256599831.html

[ethan231h]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:21pm

yeah i don't agree with Matthew Murray at all!

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:22pm

^There's a shock. Rarely does he have an insightful thing to say. Once in a blue moon he gets it right. This is not that time.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:23pm

The NBC NY review is quite a rave for Williams. I agree with his assessment of her performance.
Updated On: 4/24/14 at 08:23 PM

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:24pm

I honestly wonder at times where Murray's interest in theatre comes from since he doesn't seem to like anything.

Updated On: 4/24/14 at 08:24 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:26pm

The NBC NY review is quite a rave for Williams. I agree with his assessment of her performance.

I MOSTLY agree, though I thought "Williams’ voice is lush, for example, but she adds shaky moments to show us that Sally’s internal insecurities." was a little much. I don't think I'd classify her voice as "lush." She's even said in interviews publicly that she isn't a very strong singer. But I agree about her acting choices.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:26pm

I agree with M. Murray's assessment of Williams.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:26pm

Timeout is Positive

THE BOTTOM LINE A Broadway jewel returns in all its glittering, tarnished glory.

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/cabaret-1
Updated On: 4/24/14 at 08:26 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:29pm

Feldman is more than positive. He basically wet his pants.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:46pm

i love how Williams got the rave she deserved from NBC!