By now, most audiences are familiar with story of Cabaret. Clifford Bradshaw, a young American writer, winds up in Berlin in the late 1930's to pen the great all-American novel, but is sidetracked; not only by Berlin's sordid nightlife, symbolized by Sally Bowles, the headliner at the KitKit Club Cabaret, but also by the threat of the rise of the Third Reich, with its intolerance against Jews, homosexuals, and well, practically anybody or anything that is not, in fact, representative of the nation of Germany.
This SLU production, directed by department chair Gary Wayne Barker, seeks to "make sense out of the incomprehensible", and in many ways that search is evident, as the young actors here reach to understand events that shaped much of the 20th century, abroad and at home. It's a tough assignment, because if the audience isn't moved to remember the horror that is yet to come, then Cabaret can be just another play with cute, semi-sexy musical numbers. My only regrets for the evening were that the book numbers and the club numbers seemed so separate from each other that it seemed not just two different worlds, but two different shows. I would have loved to have felt more of a sense that the club numbers actually commented on the main stories, whether in direct comment, or foreshadowing. Otherwise, nicely done.
Mark Holzum as Cliff does well, giving glimpses both into Cliff's naivete, and his growing unease with his new surroundings. His is the character that the audience is supposed to identify with the most, and we do, being drawn into his temptations and his fears. In the little bit of time that he is allowed to sing, his voice is clear and pleasant, much like Cliff himself.
Allison Wolz as Cliff's new landlord, Frau Schneider, is obviously too young for the part (forgivable in this case, as it's a university production), but overcomes this obstacle with a good sense of the wit and weariness of this spinster. Billy Bommarito as her Jewish suitor, Herr Schultz, is very strong in the part, handling the role with humor and grace, and his songs wooing the Frau were lovely and well-sung.
Peter Hasser as Cliff's best-bud-in-Berlin, Ernst, also should great charm and humor, but needed a little more menace once we learn that his political leanings will never mesh with our heroes (although I have to admit, that I was quite amazed at the number of people who must have never seen a production of Cabaret – the packed house produced a very audible gasp when Hasser removed his topcoat to reveal a Nazi armband. Quite satisfying.)
The KitKat girls were lovely and well choreographed, but the sexiness was much more toned down than any other production of Cabaret I have ever seen (starting with SIUE's strong production in 1978, when supposedly you couldn't get away with it), and the sexual ambiguity was, as well. I'm wondering if this had something to do with being produced at an institution with religious ties?
Carl Schneider as the Emcee of the KitKat Club (and, our erstwhile tour guide to Berlin), aims to show us what fun German Cabaret artists had, while at the same time, seriously lampooning the very scary (and very familiar) rising sense of nationalism at the heart of the play. He sings his role well, and is funny and charming (although he seemed a little frightened on opening night) -- but what I was missing was a sense of "the dark side"; a sense of anger, dark sarcasm or premonition that this new regime was going to affect the fun-and-games of his (or anyone's) lifestyle. I think that's part of the reason that the Emcee has as much (or more) stage time as our leads. And, unfortunately, nothing he was doing was inflammatory enough to warrant the final image of the show. But, I guess, maybe somebody would say that that would be the point. I don't know. I just needed more.
Now to the iconic character of Sally Bowles. Katie McGee does standout work as Sally, and has the burden of being both bright and world-weary, brassy and vulnerable, lovable, as well as selfish and off-putting. McGee works it all. There's a reason some productions focus on Sally, even though this is clearly Cliff's story. Her character is the most "out there", and you need a strong actress/singer to help us understand Cliff's love affair (despite his sexual leanings) with both her and Berlin. The fetching McGee handles the singing, the English accent, the comedy, the pathos, and the sex appeal better than anyone onstage. McGee continues to grow leaps and bounds with every role, and I look forward to seeing her in many more things.
Vocal music direction by David Horstman always kept things crisp and understandable. The 4-piece band, directed by Joe Dreyer, after starting off with a rocky start on the opening number "Wilkommen" on Friday night, settled in, and were then both accomplished and enjoyable (I'm assuming helped by the sound design of Bryce Dale Allen, which balanced singers and band perfectly). Set design by Jim Burwinkel was visually lovely, as well as practical, with nice attention to detail; lighting by Mark Wilson, moody and evocative; and costumes by Lou Bird were excellent – especially the men's suits, the uniforms, and Sally's silver Act 1 closer. Choreography by Ellen Isom was excellent; fun and flirty (although, personally, I could have used a little more nasty – this was cabaret in Berlin, after all).
On the whole, this was a well-produced, slightly sanitized production of a great musical.
