Cabaret in Chicago; Porchlight Music Theatre

Very positive review in the Tribune from Chris Jones.

"In Porchlight Music Theatre’s intimate production of the beloved Kander and Ebb musical “Cabaret,” the best Chicago show so far in 2023, there will be little you have seen before."

I saw this last week and thought it was excellent. However, I was unsure why they changed the "The Gorilla Song" to have a mouse that then turns into a rat at the end. I haven't seen a recent production of Cabaret other than this one - is this a change only Porchlight made, or have other recent productions (e.g. the West End production) done something similar? I'm mixed on the effectiveness of the change - I can understand why it would be more "on point" in some ways and possibly they wanted to stay away from the racial slur imagery of a gorilla? I'm also not sure why they didn't use the typical ending of the Emcee coming out wearing concentration camp attire - I'm not sure if this is a change from the usual ending or if it was the 2014 Broadway Revival that changed the traditional ending.

The British 2006 revival was a pig, so the change is not unprecedented. Josh is fantastic- I worked with him on my show “Tink” in 2016 where he was music director. His array of talents seems limitless.

Nicticorax said: "I've also heard very good things about this production!

I don't mean this next part to sound insensitive at all, so apologies if it does. Since Josh Walker is a little person, I wonder if the production touches on or implies anything about the Nazi's targeting of disabled or otherwise marginalized bodies. I feel like there could be something interesting to be mined there, much in the same way that I'd love a production where the Emcee is explicitly trans, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming."

It didn't in my opinion - and this is what made the ending even more perplexing, because I think the traditional "Emcee in a concentration camp uniform" ending would have worked even better given the symbolism.