Cabaret has long been my most favourite musical of all time and there have been lots of different productions it over recent years in the UK but when I heard of this new production in London, with a fresh new take on the Kander and Ebb classic, with a star cast to boot, I was beyond excited and just had to go.
And WOW it certainly didn’t disappoint!
The theatre has completely been transformed into the Kit Kat Club, the name of the Berlin nightclub used in the musical and as you enter through the stage door you’re guided through dark corridors and enter the immersive space of the seedy underground vibe of Weimer Berlin and are greeted by semi naked dancers performing around the bars and into the auditorium enticing you to take your seats and building you up to the main show.
I was lucky enough to have an amazing stage side seat, with a telephone on the table, and a fantastic lunch, which was constantly being interrupted by the dancers making you feel part of the scenery, but you can opt for sitting in the gallery upstairs too.
And then the show starts. Eddie Redmayne is fantastic as the Emcee, and as he picks up his baton and introduces his cabaret performers and of course the toast of Mayfair Sally Bowles he sets the dark tone of what is to come for everyone in Germany at the time.
Emily Benjamin who was standing in for Jesse Buckley this particular showing, captures Sally Bowles’s carefree, self-obsessed yet vulnerable and fragile attitude perfectly and of course this is on show when it comes to her relationship with Cliff Bradshaw played by Omari Douglas, the American writer who’s come to Berlin thinking it was a place where he could live and let live but of course the times were changing fast.
The star of the show for me was Liza Sadovy as Fraulein Schneider, the landlady of a boarding house who ends up falling in love with Herr Schultz played by Elliot Levey, who runs a fruit shop. Together they have some of the best scenes and songs such as Married and It couldn’t please me more (A Pineapple) are performed with love, emotion and warmth. The heartbreak of Schneider’s decision to end their relationship because of the knowledge of what was to come for someone like Herr Schultz was felt around the room and in particular the realness and vulnerability Sadovy brings to the character really made her stand out, what an actress.
The rest of the cast are equally brilliant, particularly the ensemble who bring the mad, cartoonish, seedy and comical element whenever they are on stage.
The circular stage revolves and changes throughout the show, creating a space that is Fraulein Schneiders guest house one minute and the seedy club the next and the orchestra magnificently bring sparkle and spirit to Kander’s music.
This really is more than a show, it’s an experience from the moment you arrive to the second you leave and you’ll be crazy if you don’t try and get tickets while you still can.
Cabaret is running at the Kit Kat Club (aka the Playhouse Theatre, London) booking to 1 October 2022 with a new cast joining from 21 March 2022.
https://www.theplayhousetheatre.co.uk/cabaret
Review by Emma Ronan-Peate
The Biz 