EvanstonDad said: "Searched for this thread because I just tried to listen to the new Cabaret cast recording with Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. Eesh, couldn't make it through. I don't know what on earth Eddie is doing, but I literally could not listen to his line deliveries for an entire recording. Buckley has a good voice, but she just shouts through most of her songs. And the tempos were soooooo slow. I Buckley would never get through Don't Tell Mama and Mein Herr. On the plus side, the orchestrationssound great. Maybe it all plays better while watching it?"
I also could not get through it, which is probably a significant contributor to why I have not yet purchased tickets. For my 2 cents -- and I know this is a 20 year-old thread -- I think the OBC is far and away the best version.
I love the fact that Liza was in great voice and got to sing Maybe This Time; however, in cutting the Frau Schneider / Herr Shultz storyline, they eliminated what was for me probably the most heartbreaking song that I can ever recall in a musical (What Would You Do), including everything from Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Funny Girl, Fiddler and the Sondheim and R&H canons (I hated everything about Passion, so I got no heartbreak). When I was 16 and first saw it, I didn't get that storyline or Lenya's singing. As I grew older, it really got to me, and that is probably my favorite Kander and Ebb song ever (maybe tied with Maybe This Time, ironically).
I also thought that Jill Haworth's voice was perfect for the role; lastly, I much preferred the original Money Song to the movie's Money! Money! Money!, which I assumed was inserted to give Liza another song (since she would have no role in the original song).