If so much of it weren’t so out of balance, this fourth Broadway revival of “Cabaret” would be impressive in its complete transformation ofKander and Ebb’s great musical – physically, visually, and, in one respect, morally.
Much of the credit or blamegoes to Tom Scutt, who is the costume designer, scenic designer, and theater designer of the production, which was a hot ticket in London, and is opening tonight with a different cast except for Eddie Redmayne as the Master of Ceremonies.
As costume designer, Scutt drapes Redmayne in a series of clownish outfits so ghoulish and eccentric that they dominate his performance.
As theater designer, Scutt has turned the August Wilson into aBerlin nightclub during the rise of Nazism.Subsumed in that role is his minimalist scenic design:There’s a small stage in the round in which the musical unfolds, unfettered by sets or much in the way of props, except for one bizarre scene with a circle of what looked like little toy Nazis.
The front rows around the stage are full of cabaret-style tables with (fake) phones and (real) liquor and food service.
Starting 75 minutes before the musical, there is also a blastingly loud party in a subterranean part of the Kit Kat Club,newly installed beneath the theater, with a cash bar, and a separate cast of circus-like dancers and musicians writhing through the crowd, which is standing around packed together without much to do. This “Prologue,” as it’s misleadingly labeled, has no discernible plot and a decidedly non-Weimar, post-punk vibe –the sort of gathering that Michael Musto would attend (And, on the night I attended, there he was!)
Later, during the musical itself, the performers bring selected members of the audience on stage to dance with them.
“Cabaret” has always been an intentionally unsettling work of art, in which the audience feels so entertained by the tuneful score and seductive dancing that we, like most of the characters, hardly notice the creeping fascism and antisemitism – until we’re hit in the face with it. The most effective productions subtly leave us with a guilty feeling of complicity.
The literal cabaret in what’s officially called “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” makes us extravagantly complicit, but removes the guilt. At the end of the evening, staff members handed out a button with the production’s cryptic logo and the words “Founding Member.” If they were true to what’s supposed to be the ultimate message of the musical, shouldn’t they instead be asking us for our identity papers?
This misguided production, in short, has gotten the balance wrong between unsettling and entertaining.
Interestingly, the imbalance often tilts in the opposite direction.
Rather than making the cabaret numbers slinky and sexy,Scutt, director Rebecca Frecknall and choreographer Julia Cheng turn them tawdry and harsh. This made these songs less enjoyable for me to watch. They also make the later scenes of fascist ascendancy feel less of a shocking contrast, since both are off-putting, albeit in radically different ways. Perhaps that’s the point the creative team is trying to make – that the darkness of the Third Reich was an outgrowth of the Weimar-era debauchery. Whether or not that’s historically accurate, it makes the journey of the musical less dramatically involving.
Maintaining the right balance has always been particularly tricky with the character of Sally Bowles. The foolish, self-dramatizing singeris supposed to be a second-rate talent, yet the actress playing her is given many of the show-stopping songs of the show. In her indelible performance in the 1972 movie, Liza Minnelli was the consummate entertainer during the musical numbers, but tried to compensate by playing up her character’s blithe carefree reckless naivete when not singing. In the last Broadway revival exactly ten years ago, Michelle Williams seemed more true to the character in the musical numbers, transparently forcing ahappy-go-lucky exterior while always seeming just moments away from a nervous breakdown.
The new Sally Bowles, Gayle Rankin (who portrayed the prostitute Fraulein Kost in that 2014 Broadway revival), plays Sally as troubled and aggressively devoid of talent, or more precisely as the most vulgar of the Kit Kat Club ensemble. It’s a brave performance, but it made me wonder: How could the refined Clifford Bradshaw be charmed by this Sally Bowles?
Clifford is the stand-in for the Anglo-Americanwriter Christopher Isherwood, whose experiences in Germany between 1929 and 1933 inspired “Cabaret.”He is portrayed in this production byAto Blankson-Wood, who was Tony nominated for his role in “Slave Play” and praised for his Hamlet last year in Central Park.He seems miscast here, although it might just be a lack of chemistry with Rankin. When things turn unmistakably ugly in the final half hour of the musical, he seems to grow into the role.
Still,the Clifford-Sally story is pushed aside in this “Cabaret” in favor of the Emcee, who becomes the center of gravity. Instead of his musical numbers commenting on the main action, they become the main action. This was true as well when Alan Cumming was the Emcee. But to be blunt, Cumming was more deserving of the attention. Redmayne has proven himself a skilled, magnetic and adventurous actor, certainly on film, but also in his Tony-winning Broadway debut fourteen years ago, in “Red.”In “Cabaret,” he reveals a fine singing voice. But his performance struck me as largely a collection ofcostumes and mannerisms, twisted poses and twitches.
Luckily there are two performances that do more than their share in trying to right the imbalance.Bebe Neuwirth is exquisite as Fraulein Schneider, the landlady of the boarding house where Clifford rents a room; she brings attention to songs that are not normally among the most memorable in the musical – “So What” and “What Would You Do,” —which drive home the real-life despair and high stakes then facing people in Germany. Her performance is matched by Steven Skybell, as Herr Schultz, one of her boarders. The two older characters gently fall in love, accompanied by some lovely melodies, “It Couldn’t Please Me More,” and“Married.”In the most effective scene in which the Emcee participates:, he wraps a wine glass in a napkin and steps on it – central to the traditional Jewish marriage ritual – but it’s accompanied not by hurrahs, but by a loud boom, darkness,the sound of glass shattering, and the lights up on a fluttering of what might literally be stage confetti, but hits like a preview ofKristallnacht.
“It is nothing,” Herr Schultz tries to assure Fraulein Schneider. “Children on their way to school. Mischievous children. Nothing more.” But it is something more.
The scenes and songs with Neuwirth and Skybell,he on his eighth Broadway play or musical, she on her ninth, demonstrate that effective and affecting theater doesn’t have to be high concept or reimagined, or paired with a party.
Cabaret
August Wilson Theater
Running time:Three hours including an intermission (not including the “Prologue),
Tickets: $89 – $599. (Digital lottery: $25. Details)
Music byJohn Kander; Lyrics byFred Ebb; Book byJoe Masteroff; Based on the play byJohn Van Druten; Based on stories byChristopher Isherwood; Prologue Composer:Angus MacRae; Musical Director:Jennifer Whyte; Prologue Music Director:Angus MacRae; Associate Musical Dir.:Meghann Zervoulis Bate
Directed byRebecca Frecknall; Choreographed byJulia Cheng; Prologue Director & Cabaret Associate Director:Jordan Fein
Scenic, theater and costume design byTom Scutt; lighting design byIsabella Byrd; sound design byNick LidsterandAutograph; hair and wig design bySam Cox; Make-Up Design byGuy Common;
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, as The Emcee, Gayle Rankin as ‘Sally Bowles, Bebe Neuwirth as ‘Fraulein Schneider, Ato Blankson-Wood as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz,’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ Natascia Diaz as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’ Gabi Campo as ‘Frenchie,’ Ayla Ciccone-Burton as ‘Helga,’ Colin Cunliffe as ‘Hans,’ Marty Lauter as ‘Victor,’ Loren Lester as ‘Herman/Max,’ David Merino as ‘Lulu,’ Julian Ramos as ‘Bobby,’ MiMi Scardulla as ‘Texas,’ and Paige Smallwood as ‘Rosie.’ Hannah Florence, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban.
The Prologue Company, the dancers and musicians that welcome audiences to the club, feature dancersAlaïa,IRON BRYAN, Will Ervin Jr.,Sun Kim,Deja McNairand swingsIda SakiandSpencer James Weidie. The musicians of the Prologue areBrian Russell Carey(piano & bass),Francesca Dawis(violin),Keiji Ishiguri(dedicated substitute),Maeve Stier(accordion), andMichael Winograd(clarinet).
Photos by Marc Brenner
