Cabaret previews — Page 12

No comment on the production, but I will say this: I would die laughing if the critics decided to re-print their 1998 reviews in protest.

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I saw the second preview Saturday night and enjoyed the show very much from the mid mezzanine. I was my first exposure to Cabaret except for having seen the movie many moons ago. I loved Cumming's performance and thought he was all in. I especially appreciated when he wasn't front and center, and he was merely observing the goings-on from the upper level, half in shadows. I could feel something from him in those moments, I swear. I liked Michelle Williams too. The staging, lighting, and orchestra added up to a transporting show. After seeing it, I realized that the closer you are to the stage, the better (in my opinion). So if you're on the fence about where you want to sit, I encourage you to dip into your 401(k) for front mezzanine seats (if you can even get them). I think that's the perfect spot for this show.

So, Williams will probably be nominated and will sing 'Cabaret' at the Tony? I guess, at least.

Do we know if there will be a cast recording of this production? I know it's limited so I wasn't sure...I hope so.

Whether they get a full number on the Tonys is fairly contingent on whether the production can get nominated.

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Williams reads very young. She can't play it as worldly as Richardson, who looked more mature. I liked her more girlish take. She seemed somewhat tentative and vulnerable at times-testing her sexuality. She didn't have as many miles as Richardson's Sally.

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I think Sally Bowles is rather like Hamlet- she can be played in a million different ways by a very diverse range and age of actresses and they can all be good- I think that's one of the reasons the last revival was able to successfully star cast the role as long as it did.

Can anyone who has seen it tell me if the ending is the same as the London production?

I think he/she means

*SPOILERS*

The recent ending when everyone is nude since they are about to die at the gas chambers

*END OF SPOILERS*

Did they even strip people naked for the gas chambers? Is that actually documented or did they do that in the London production just to try and shock people?

If Cabaret is set in 1931, isn't that a bit early for gas chambers?

"Did they even strip people naked for the gas chambers? Is that actually documented or did they do that in the London production just to try and shock people?"

The peak of gas chamber killings was reached at Treblinka, where 10 gas chambers were in simultaneous use. Here 2,500 people could be gassed within one hour. The victims were forced to enter the gas chambers naked and with raised arms so that the room could contain a maximum number of bodies. Babies were thrown on top of the crowd. This method was well-conceived, because the poison gas produced a quicker, deadlier effect if as little air as possible was in a chamber. Therefore the "ultimate" gas chambers were constructed to be as low as possible (about 2 m from floor to ceiling).
To avoid panic, a lot of Nazi gas chambers were camouflaged as bath rooms. Signs were installed, with inscriptions directing the victims toward their final place. In the gas chambers themselves, fake plumbing was added and fake showers installed in the ceilings. Even pieces of soap were handed out sometimes (at Auschwitz and Chelmno), before the victims entered the gas chambers.