Theater Review by Carol Rocamora . . . .
“What good is sitting alone in your room?”
Good question! And the answer lies in the succeeding line: “Come hear the music play!” It’s a lyric from a song in Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret, offering the best musical score on Broadway this season, new or revived.
But that’s no surprise—this beloved classic has had a long and rich history on the New York and London stages, starring generations of theater’s greats ever since its Broadway debut in 1966, directed by Harold Prince, with Joel Grey as the Emcee, Jill Haworth as Sally Bowles, and Lotte Lenya as Frau Schneider. Since then, it has had several Broadway revivals—with Joel Gray again (1987), and then Alan Cumming in the Emcee role (1998 and 2004). In London, the great Judi Dench starred as Sally (1968), and both Sam Mendes and Rufus Norris directed subsequent revivals (1993, 2006). Indeed, the production history reads like a Who’s Who in Contemporary Theatre. It’s fair to say that its creators (book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb) deserve its longevity.
But now for the present: Director Rebecca Frecknall’s revival was performed in 2021 in an immersive production at London’s Playhouse Theatre on the West End. And now she’s directing it on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre, radically reconfigured for her vision. It’s sensational. It’s also deeply, deeply disturbing—far more than any revival I’ve seen of this landmark musical.
Set in 1929-30 in Berlin during the decline of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism, the story follows an American writer named Clifford Bradshaw (Ato Blankson-Wood), who has come to the city to work on a novel. He visits the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy and decadent cabaret establishment, where he falls for an adventurous young Englishwoman named Sally Bowles (Gayle Rankin), who is trying to succeed as a singer. They take up residence together in the rooming house of Fraulein Schneider (Bebe Neuwirth), a spinster who is developing a romantic relationship with a Jewish grocer named Herr Schulz (Steven Skybell). As their parallel relationships develop, the ugly advance of Nazism threatens their hopes and dreams.
Many of the play’s scenes take place in the Kit Kat Klub, presided over by the Emcee (Eddie Redmayne, in an overpowering performance). The Klub (with its lewd dancers) becomes the metaphor for the depraved times into which Germany is sinking, as the terrifying specter of Nazism is threatening to engulf them all.
In contrast to past revivals, director Frecknall (a rising star in London theater) has taken this production of Cabaret over the top. With her ingenious design team, she’s created an immersive experience, wherein the audience enters through a back door of the theater and follows its dark serpentine corridors to a pair of underground bars, where drinks and treats are served for an hour prior to the show, while musicians (piano, base, clarinet) entertain us. Then we proceed to the theater itself, which has been entirely reconfigured, with a circular stage in the center, surrounded by lamplit café tables where drinks are served again. Champagne flows freely. Behind these tables, there are rows of seats – over which a balcony hangs, containing a band (on both sides of the stage) as well as more audience members. As we sit in awe of our surroundings, exotic dancers move through the rows around us, soon to emerge as members of the Kit Kat Klub ensemble.
As you can imagine, the mood is festive and the experience is sensational, unlike any other this season (set and costumes by Tom Scutt, lighting by Isabella Byrd).
What struck me, however, is its transformation from the London production (which I saw two years ago) to the New York one. Frecknall’s 2021 London revival was dark and dazzling, but this New York one is surreal, threatening, and ultimately macabre.
Central to this transformation is the performance of Eddie Redmayne (a gifted, versatile British actor) as the Emcee. Dressed in a variety of wildly flamboyant costumes (from Satanic to clownish), he presides over the Kit Kat Klub with a demonic authority (and a strong singing voice). His “Willkommen, bienvenue” sets the tone that whips his singers and dancers into an orgiastic frenzy—one that continues throughout the production (the exotic choreography is by Julia Cheng). His delivery of “Money makes the world go round” is especially disturbing. And his duet with the dancer dressed as a gorilla—“If you could see her through my eyes”—is grotesque.
At times, a riser emerges from under the stage floor, lifting the Emcee high in the air, surrounded by the writhing dances below. It’s a powerful, surreal image—and a frightening one—of complete authority (a troubling reminder of what threatens us today).
The Klub has become a purgatory where souls are trapped between the dying present (the Weimar Republic) and the terrifying future (the Nazi rule). And this maniacal Emcee is running the show with complete confidence and control. As he explains: “It is so tawdry and terrible, and everyone is having a good time!”
As the ambitious Sally Bowles, Gayle Rankin offers a new and surprising interpretation of the role—far more hard-edged than her predecessors. To offset it, Ato Blankson-Wood offers a more empathetic portrayal as Cliff, her innocent, impressionable lover. So do Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell as the aging lovers doomed by the rise of Nazism and antisemitism. Their gentle duet, “Marriage,” is especially touching—and painful, in retrospect.
Though overpowering and disturbing, Frecknall’s Cabaret is nonetheless a memorable, timely theatrical experience. As Cliff describes it: “There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin. In a country called Germany, and it was the end of the world . . . ”
Then, there’s the telling line that follows: “ . . . And we were fast asleep.”
Is this not a clear warning? How many times do we have to hear the frightening lyrics of “Tomorrow belongs to me” (the song heralding Nazism) to get the message?
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Open run at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). www.kitkat.club
Photos: Marc Brenner
