Cabaret previews - Page 13

[Kad]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 12:42am

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.

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

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 12:53am

adamgreer, there was a more recent revival in London not too long ago that threw in a whole lot of nudity and really tried to push the shock factor. A lot of productions since the first Broadway bow of the Mendes version in 98 seem to go out of their way to one up each other and really scandalize their audiences. I feel that sometimes the story gets lost in an effort to be really outrageous in some productions.

And MB, I have seen one production where it was pretty clear that the MC did pretty much all but rape the gorilla during "If You Could See Her." It was bizarre and added nothing to the story other than "look how gritty and dark we are."

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 4:28am

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.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 12:10pm

There is a video of the 1987 revival? Where is that sucker?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 1:17pm

...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.

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 7:05pm

Just curious.....Instead of Alan Cumming, who would you like to see as the MC in this "new" revival?

Updated On: 3/25/14 at 07:05 PM

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 7:26pm

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

[callitquits]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 7:38pm

I think Zachary Quinto would be thrilling.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 8:04pm

"Bobby Steggert as the MC"

That's a joke, right?

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 8:13pm

Amanda Palmer was amazing as the MC at ART in Boston a few years ago, as was the production.

[Theatrefan2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 8:30pm

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.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 8:48pm

Mendes stages Two Ladies with one of the ladies being a man in drag.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 10:29pm

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.

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

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 10:36pm

"Two Ladies" was NOT written for the Mendes revival, it has been in the show since the original Broadway production.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 10:47pm

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

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 11:11pm

After seeing him in JCS and replacing Raul in the Taboo concert, I could see a Jeremy Kushnier taking a stab at the emcee.

I'd love to see some young, fresh face come in and dazzle us as a replacement some time down the road. Or an established name going outside their comfort zone and tearing it apart. The previous revival had several great replacements, I hope this does as well.

[Phantom487]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 7:25am

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

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 7:46am

I've always wanted see Mario Lopez in the MC role.

[theeatah]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 9:31am

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

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 10:19am

And, of course, one of the two ladies is also a man in the Fosse movie.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 10:51am

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

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 11:02am

^ Maybe you didn't catch the '87 revival of the '65 production, which, while jettisoning certain things, added "I Don't Care Much."

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 12:03pm

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

[someone.else's.story2]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 12:11pm

I love Alan Cumming and hope to see him in this again. That said, I also think the suggestion if Jeremy Kushnier is a great one. I could also see Raul Esparza play it ( perhaps her already has? I don't know)

[Kad]

Posted: 3/26/14 at 12:30pm

"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.

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