Cabaret previews — Page 13

The ENTIRE SHOW is foreshsdowing what will happen when the Nazis rise to power.

Cabaret is a wonderful, beautiful show that's not at all subtle about that point.

We don't need to see Ernst haul on a barrel of zyclon-b or something at the end to drive that point home.

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Updated On: 3/25/14 at 12:42 AM

Yeah the London revival had yet another song list I believe and differences--and nudity not just in the ending but with Fraulein Kost's sailors too and maybe at the Klub. It ran for two years from 2006-2008 and was a success, and then toured, and then the same creative team opened again in the Wet End in 2012 with new designs and stagings (for some reason) and now that production is still touring...I think--notorious cheap UK producer Bill Kenwright I think designed it to be cheaper. I'm a little surprised the Mendes with Marshall and New York's revisions never went back to London. There are some clips, like of Will Young as he Emcee online--nothing too exciting though here's Sheila Hancock singing So What https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NynZUBCDsq4

Back to the current production--is this the only time there have been two major Broadway remounts of two different productions of the same show? If that makes any sense... Meaning, not counting return engagements of a tour or something... I've seen the video of the 1987 revival (which is fascinating just to see so much of the original staging--which is not nearly as "safe" as many now seem to think) so know the changes made including some of the added "gay" lines of dialogue kept now, but we've still essentially had both a major remount of the original production with the original MC, and a remount of the later production with its original MC.

...in private collections... :P It's just so/so quality but I was happy to be given a copy simply to see some approximation of the original staging (of course the changes were well known, but some other elements were missing--Hal Prince was mad that the producers, for example, didn't pay for the entire Boris Aronson set--ie the lights leading off to infinity behind the "limbo" area.) The Telephone Song dance is particularly brilliant.

I would have liked to have seen Bobby Steggert as the MC.

"Bobby Steggert as the MC"

That's a joke, right?

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Thank you for letting me know. I found the London production a bit much in many respects. I did not mind the nudity as much as I found that some of the situations, songs were corrupted. Two ladies I felt should never have been reimagined into a menage a 20. It was always the MC and two ladies rather than all men and women in the same bed. I did, however, like the way they flushed out the Cliff character. For me the ending was not nudity for nudity sake but a heartbreaking ending that found the theatre completely silent. And the MC never dances with the gorilla, it is seen behind the screen turning into a woman with a jewish badge when the screen comes down. I also found Will Young overrated in the part. But I felt that production would/could never come to the US.

Yeah, the song was written for the Mendes revival and the lyrics are supposed to be sarcastic: "and he's the 'only' man" and a comment on how same sex relations were seen as completely OK in pre-Hitler times in Germany.

Edit: As AEA AGMA SM pointed out, I am an idiot who has no idea what he is talking about. Please disregard this comment as it is completely inaccurate.

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Updated On: 3/25/14 at 10:29 PM

Oh wow, I'm an idiot. Totally spaced on that. Forget what I just said.

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What do they have as far as merchandise? Is there a windowcard yet?

I'd like to see Will Swenson play the role.

Saw CABARET last night. I'd never seen the '98 revival, though I'd seen the original as an adolescent. I was mightily impressed with Alan Cumming. He seemed to take a much more pivotal role than I remember regarding Joel Grey. I'm glad "I Don't Care Much" made its way into the score after being cut from the '65 version. I thought that number fared much better than the inclusion of "Maybe This Time" from the movie. I did miss "Meeskeit," though, as well as "Why Should I Wake Up." Since Cliff tells Sally to "wake up" and ends the show by typing something like "we were all asleep," I think the song would have continued the metaphor nicely.

I'm still of divided mind on Michelle Williams, who I found uneven, better in some scenes than others. I think as she gets more performances under her belt, she will only get better. I kind of liked that her singing was basically so-so, which lends more credence to Sally's difficulty in finding jobs. I never bought that Minnelli was a third-rate wannabe in the movie version.

Loved, loved Burstein and Emond as the older couple and their "Married" waltz. Could that mirror ball have been resurrected from Studio 54's former life? LOL.

The show might be too deja-vu for those who've seen the '98 version, but for me, it was a fairly enjoyable evening in the theater.

Updated On: 3/26/14 at 10:51 AM

Can someone tell me how "Maybe this time" fits in? Is it a book song or a club number?

"Can someone tell me how "Maybe this time" fits in? Is it a book song or a club number?"

It's a book song. Sally steps out of the scene as Cliff is convincing her to keep the baby and live a life with him, sings it, and then steps back in.

Edit: as for merchandise, they had windowcards, messenger bags, "Don't Tell Mama" t-shirts- probably more. I didn't do more than glance at the merch stand. Roundabout's been making a concerted effort to step up the merchandise this season, so they had stuff ready to go.

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Updated On: 3/26/14 at 12:30 PM