I thought Fra Fee’s facial expressions in this show were masterful acting. It really suits the small stage and intimate feeling theatre. We were sat in the dress circle behind the stage and he was so good at quickly turning and giving us snide looks. It’s hard to explain but he was the best Emcee I’ve seen.
I totally agree with you! All those subtle facial expressions and gestures were so fascinating. And I loved how his singing voice also changes from scene to scene, and even within a single number like Tomorrow Belongs to Me.
I was at the show last night and Amy sounded absolutely insane. You can tell she isn't worried about preserving her vocal cords anymore - I've seen her several times now & her Cabaret was so intense that I couldn't even focus on the rest of the show. She's so talented!
fra is possibly the best man i have ever seen on stage. he does it in a way that i thought i could only ever dream of someone doing it. its literally perfect, and no one that ive seen on youtube has portrayed it so perfectly like him. everything has intention, and its so spooky yet so enticing, which no one has done from i have seen. its eerie to me how spot on he was, like surely a person like this cannot exist??
I saw Amy Lennox's performance in the Olivier Awards and it gave me goosebumps. Btw. If I visit London while this production is going on, I'll try to watch it. It feels like I would really enjoy it.
I was lucky enough to win a lottery ticket yesterday, and had no idea until I got there that it was so many of the cast's last shows. The creative team (including Eddie Redmayne and Callum Howells) was two rows in front of me and it was so wonderful to see how excited they were and how supportive. Fra Fee was PHENOMENAL from the first second. Every inch of him was embodying that role, it took less than 30 seconds for the whole audience to lean in and be held in anticipation in his every breath. He definitely does feel energetic and boyish, getting more and more erratic throughout until the shift at the end. 'I don't care much' was genuinely terrifying for a second, I loved it. Amy Lennox - similarly from the first second you see her you want to see more. 'Don't Tell Mama' was hilarious, 'Maybe This Time' broke my heart and was so beautiful - I loved it being a pause in time where she gets to think and consider Cliff's offer of raising a child together, and even as she decides to go with it, you can feel the hopelessness of it. Everything with her feels like Sally is cognizant of the consequences but choosing not to be, and knows how she is viewed but does what she has decided anyway - just like you said, brushing off the reality rather than being naïve of it. 'Cabaret' was out of this world. The whole theatre was on their feet for a solid minute after it. She really went for it, her voice must have been hurting afterwards, and it was brutal and heart-breaking. You're right it was ferocious, and so filled with rage and determination. I honestly think it's the best performance I've ever seen of anything. Cliff changing from gentle novel-writer caught up in the world of magical Berlin to desperate angry Cliff was a bit shocking - it really is a quick turn to him almost hitting Sally and demanding they leave which made it easier to believe Sally would not want to be with him, but you're totally right that it could have been built up to in the second act because it felt so sudden. That moment in the party at the end of the second act is so sudden and shocking, you could feel the atmosphere in the room change in a split second, and that's definitely because of what you said about Stewart Clarke's performance, finding the comedy and charisma in his character. I can't rave about this enough. I wish I could re-live it. Thank you for talking about it!
Plucking your eyebrows and painting them on was very common in the 1920s, so that's probably why Amy's eyebrows were blocked out and painted on! I researched nightclub culture and queer culture in Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s for an art project, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw Cabaret live how many costumes I recognised from period pictures! Also their shoes were period accurate which both me and my friend really appreciated. I love how they managed to create such a specific vibe for the show without losing the historical details!
Hot take? Sally Bowles is THE leading role for actresses that get pigeon holed as “the comedic friend.” Like, that is the role they can finally get considered for and transition out of their type casting.
I finally got to see this production last August with Fra and Amy, in spite of there being a 20 minute show stop to deal with an elderly patron who wasn’t well, it was an incredible performance, both leads were phenomenal, Amy in particular! Really wish I could have seen Eddie and Jessie, but whoever is in the leading roles this is a magnificent production.
Wow I totally didn't see this review coming but YES I saw this fantastic show with my friend last week and Fra and Amy were INCREDIBLE. Amy gave such an inspiring and beautiful performance, my fave Sally Bowles interpretation by far. Particularly her rendition of Cabaret (for those of you who can't see the show before she leaves, check out her Olivier Awards performance it is a stunner). Fra was also delightful as EmCee, perfectly walked the line between being flamboyant/humorous/silly and downright terrifying and untrustworthy. Honestly just a perfect show, from atmosphere to staging to costuming and acting/singing choices made. I'm sure the new incoming cast will be great, but MAN I am so glad I got to catch this show whilst Amy and Fra were still in it
I've only seen Amy Lennox at the Olivier awards and she absolutely blew me away and it was definitely one of the best performances at a theatre awards show I've seen definitely top 15 awards show performances I've ever seen her performance still haunts me and I think about it despite seeing that video months ago
very intrigued and excited to see what madeline brewer brings next to the role of sally, i’m a massive fan of her tv + film work so, it’ll be fun to see her take on such an iconic role for the stage and see how she adapts her craft accordingly.
I saw Fra Free and impish was a good description, definitely not as sinister as other versions. Slightly sidelined for sally but Lennox is sooooo good that it makes sense this is a sally focused production. A performance that becomes more and more unhinged as it goes along.
I’m so happy I got to see Cabaret where these 2 amazing talented people got to star in the same performance of the show. Very lucky actually that I got to see it just a few months before they were meant to leave Honestly one of the best nights of my life! Amy Lennox is such a great Sally Bowles and Fra Fee for me was the show stealer as Emcee where every scene he appeared in was captivating and entertaining and ugh I’ll never forget it never! I can’t say much of course but I will say 1 word…FABULOUS! ✨
I just love it when things related to work pop up on my suggested 😂 But may I just say, I was super proud of my chest hair on Fra’s costume. It was a fun costume to help put together.
I was stunned by Amy Lennox's brilliant, angry performance of Cabaret at the Olivier Awards. This is, to my mind, the definitive version of that song. I have seen Natasha Richardson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michelle Williams on Broadway and of course, Liza Minelli. Amy Lennox killed it. I cannot wait for this London production to open on Broadway in 2024.
I'm not surely if this is widely known, but every new cast is redirected in rehearsals to create a different character from the last cast to keep it fresh. I saw Eddie initially in NYE. Then during Fra's run saw Andre who was both Eddie and Fra's understudies. Andre played it exactly as Eddie did, and then when I saw Fra last month I could see the difference between the performances.
Very interesting! I didn't get to see the original cast so have only seen this once and it was with Fra and Amy. Very interesting to hear this indepth analysis and comparison - absolutely live for the level of detail you give in these types of reviews! Funny to imagine them in the Last Five Years together, can't really picture it after seeing them so strongly as Emcee and Sally 😂
Great review. I wish they could have brought the Eddie Redmayne production to NYC. He’s a wonderful actor. I hope they mount some incarceration of CABARET in NYC or LA. I remember there was a limited run at STUDIO 54 but not sure who stared. Stay well. 👍🙏😎
Hiya! PLEASE do a review on the clockmakers daughter, it also has Fra Fee in it and it's a real comfort watch. I'd also like to know your opinion on what will happen with it haha
fyi amy went through some makeup and hair changes since the show started!! i spoke to her and originally she had her real hair in the show, before switching to a wig a few months in to be more period accurate, so i assume the eyebrows are similar :)
Jessy Buckley as Sally Bowles was not one when I saw the show in Feb.So I have So frame of reference to her performance But I must give a shout out to Emily Benjamin who was playing Sally that day. She was fantastic. I have booked for the next cast starring Callum Scott Howles and Madeline Brewer. What I am most excited about is the week-end of the 22/23 of October as it is the first ever Musical Con, at the Excel Centre in London. So many exciting guests including Kerry Ellis, Adam Garcia, Luke Byers, Miriam Teak Lee, Leyton Williams.
You really are a very bright, insightful guy - I know you have a career in teaching but would you not think of going in theatre directing? You would bring out so much in actors …. I know very hard to break into that side of things- I mean this as a compliment
The new cast is amazing. I've seen the new cast 4 times - Callum, Madeline, Danny, and the supporting cast members that stayed with the show is still the best show in London! Front row table seats!!
Did you get to see Callum Scott, Madeline Brewer and Sid Sagar in their roles and are you going to review them? And also, are you going to review the current cast?
I've wanted to see Cabaret for a while, but I have MAJOR anxiety around immersive and interactive shows. I didn't cope well at all with the immersive Great Gatsby performance, so I was wondering how Cabaret compares in terms of levels of immersion? Are the seats further from the stage less immersive, and might these be better seats? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
100%!! if you chose any seats not in the stalls youre not going to get any interaction during the show. the interaction comes in the pre show where in the bars - which can get crowded - there are dancers and musicians. but if you were to arrive early before it gets busy and go into the auditorium as soon as possible, you wouldn't find too much interaction!
It was mostly just people at the tables who had people dancing in their faces, and there was a brief bit after the interval where they got people up to dance, but literally three people and they were in the very front row. You might get some in the stalls in the end aisles. I was in the middle and did not interact at all. There are people performing as you come in, but I found them very easy to avoid, and it got crowded enough that the performers were on the bar or on a little stage. I nipped through to my seat and didn't interact with anyone. Easy enough to do, I promise!
I just watched it again with 3rd casting few days. The first time was the original cast. It’s phenomenal performance. The Eddie & Jessie really did fabulous performance. But the third casting Callum Scott Howells & Sally Bowles were ruined the whole show. Sorry to be straight forward. Personally, I don’t recommend to go to watch the third cast show.
I wish I could afford to see this show, mostly because I want to write about it, because everything I’ve seen and heard about this staging tells me I would absolutely hate it. I adore Cabaret, it’s my favourite musical. I saw Samantha Barks in it years ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was 14 years ago and I can still remember her delivery of certain lines. She was incredible. I saw Amy Lennox perform Cabaret at the Oliver Award and hated it, Kander and Ebb were the finest songwriters in musical theatre, why is she shouting it like that, also, if Sally performed like that wearing a frumpy suit she’d get fired. She’s entertainment, that’s not entertaining. Also, I saw one of the productions with the ending that has EmCee and the boys from the Kit Kat Club killed in a gas chamber. And from what I’ve read this production doesn’t do that. It’s sanitising what happened the LGBT community. From what I’ve seen and read it reminds me of Eddie Redmayne’s career, playing dress up with the lives of marginalised people, and to be clear that’s a dig at the director and Redmayne, not the cast, except Redmayne. And frankly Rebecca Frecknall bottled it, she removed ‘the boys are beautiful from Wlkommen’ and sanitised the ending, she wants the drama of marginalised lives but not the reality.
you forget that sally was previously fired from the kit kat club! she really isn't the most amazing performer, and the suit is symbolic! if you saw the full production, you'd understand why she's wearing such a bland suit. having seen it and going to see it a second time, it absolutely doesn't trivialise history - unlike the original production which did far more. not every production's the same and that's what's so great about a show like cabaret, it's cool to not like it but i'd say that's quite a harsh judgement :)
The ending absolutely does not feel sanitised! I think you're maybe missing a bit of context on the role of the Emcee in this production. He feels less like an actual character & more like the spirit of Berlin. They have him sing the first rendition of 'Tomorrow', and he's the one who really drives the show's increasing feeling of Nazi malevolence (instead of e.g. Ernst). He's fully metamorphosed into the ringmaster of the Nazi regime by the ending, so it would make no sense to kill him off for being a transgressive. They actually don't really focus much on the Emcee's sexuality, even in Wilkommen. Again, he feels more like the club's ringmaster than an active participant in what's happening there - it's very different to e.g. Cummings. I think it makes perfect sense that they didn't focus on hiring an LGBT actor for that reason. That's not to say they totally neglect the LGBT side of the story. I think Cliff's sexuality is really well done (and incidentally there are definitely quite a few LGBT people involved with the show).
@@cece-707 compared to an ending where Emcee dies in a gas chamber it is sanitised. Maybe they don’t want people to have to deal with the reality of the lives of those at the Kit Kat club (and remember Cabaret is loosely based on a memoir). Maybe I just can’t see Cabaret any other way than the way I saw it, I was so blown away, by both the performances and how unapologetic it was.
hey! this became much longer than i intended it to (first time youtube commenter) so apologies in advance 😅 i genuinely think you raise some really important points, but i do disagree that this production is a ‘sanitised’ version. i very much got the sense that this version especially was trying to encourage more soul-searching within the audience than others i’ve seen, and definitely doesn’t want you to leave still in the fantasy. but it also very deliberately cuts off where it does- we leave berlin when cliff does, and don’t see any of the aftermath. we can only work off of what we each know of history, and this open-endedness i think really emphasises the Dread, especially when we say goodbye to herr schulz, with his unwavering (facade of?) optimism. similarly, fräulein schneider’s “what would you do?” staged in the round is Much more impactful than other performances i’ve seen of it- the platform she’s stood on lifts up so she very much is facing the audience rather than just sally and cliff. it’s Really explicit and Really well done in its direct accusation of the audience- i guess similar to how the original production i think had a giant mirror reflecting the audience? and like the above commenter said, the emcee isn’t really presented as a full character in this one? unlike everyone else at the kit kat club we Never see him ‘off stage’- he is never anything But the emcee, no actual identity. he’s the character equivalent of a play within a play. and so i think in this specific adaptation it would have been reductive to include that as the final scene, and almost felt like shoe-horning it in for brownie points? i wholeheartedly agree that it’s important to address the persecution of lgbt people, because it is something that’s so often left out - but this adaptation chose to focus on other areas and i agree with their decision here. i think i actually would’ve been Less comfortable with redmayne in the role if they had ended it that way- it would’ve felt like the danish girl all over again. it also wasn’t based off a memoir per se, but an *incredibly* fictionalised account of isherwoods time in berlin, which was altered to become a play, which was altered to become a musical- so it’s been through several filters to reach the stage it’s at here, and countless liberties have been taken from the figures’’ original lives. to my knowledge none of the people he based the characters that ended up in cabaret off of were murdered by the nazis, thankfully, so perhaps i’d also feel differently if they had been (open to correction) having said all of this, i think if the first performance i’d seen had ended that way, then its absence in other adaptations would be much harder for me to reconcile as well- i’ve actually yet to see a version that Does include it so would love to hear more about how it was addressed? all best ! :)
Where Fra Fee disappointed me was exactly onwards from I Don't Care Much, and then the hamminess with everything that followed after. He seemed to slip into a kind of emotionless evil, very show-boaty, while Eddie Redmayne highlighted the lines about the burdens of poverty, which felt far more emotional and at same time, chilling to me. And I think Amy Lennox is a total star, her book scenes were even better acted than Jessie.
Saw Andre Refig (cover emcee) on a few weeks ago (slightly bias, he's a friend from uni)) and found that his I don't Care Much (my favourite, if very underrated song) had more impact but I think that potentially is more to do with the way he looks and holds himself in the costume. I could accept that Andre was a political type who was going to strip me of my individuality whereas I found it harder with Fra. But then Fra makes playing act one emcee look like a walk in the park. So I guess it's getting that juxtaposition right.
@@lucyrharrold I saw Andre recently as well! You can tell him he does a great job! His ahem suited performance is closer to how Eddie played it, except for the playing a bit more with physicality. But as for you, Andre's second half just held better for me, because it feels more calculated.
@@lucyrharrold Andre is technically good & I did really enjoy his final few scenes, but I thought he really faded into the background overall. It felt very much like The Sally Show, whereas Fra gave the role so much personality that I think the show felt way more balanced.
Sally Bowles isn't meant to be an accomplished singer, singing flat throughout is part of the role. A hard thing to do for Amy Lennox who is an accomplished singer.
I saw this show yesterday evening with a female friend, both of us were bored to tears and left at the interval, the theatre was also quite cold, I’m a regular theatre goer and have only seen two productions where I left early however I will admit that everyone has different tastes in west end shows, I was expecting more pezzazz, glamour and uplifting dancing sadly this show was not for me.
I thought Fra Fee’s facial expressions in this show were masterful acting. It really suits the small stage and intimate feeling theatre. We were sat in the dress circle behind the stage and he was so good at quickly turning and giving us snide looks. It’s hard to explain but he was the best Emcee I’ve seen.
I totally agree with you! All those subtle facial expressions and gestures were so fascinating. And I loved how his singing voice also changes from scene to scene, and even within a single number like Tomorrow Belongs to Me.
I was at the show last night and Amy sounded absolutely insane. You can tell she isn't worried about preserving her vocal cords anymore - I've seen her several times now & her Cabaret was so intense that I couldn't even focus on the rest of the show. She's so talented!
fra is possibly the best man i have ever seen on stage. he does it in a way that i thought i could only ever dream of someone doing it. its literally perfect, and no one that ive seen on youtube has portrayed it so perfectly like him. everything has intention, and its so spooky yet so enticing, which no one has done from i have seen. its eerie to me how spot on he was, like surely a person like this cannot exist??
I saw Amy Lennox's performance in the Olivier Awards and it gave me goosebumps. Btw. If I visit London while this production is going on, I'll try to watch it. It feels like I would really enjoy it.
I was lucky enough to win a lottery ticket yesterday, and had no idea until I got there that it was so many of the cast's last shows. The creative team (including Eddie Redmayne and Callum Howells) was two rows in front of me and it was so wonderful to see how excited they were and how supportive.
Fra Fee was PHENOMENAL from the first second. Every inch of him was embodying that role, it took less than 30 seconds for the whole audience to lean in and be held in anticipation in his every breath. He definitely does feel energetic and boyish, getting more and more erratic throughout until the shift at the end. 'I don't care much' was genuinely terrifying for a second, I loved it.
Amy Lennox - similarly from the first second you see her you want to see more. 'Don't Tell Mama' was hilarious, 'Maybe This Time' broke my heart and was so beautiful - I loved it being a pause in time where she gets to think and consider Cliff's offer of raising a child together, and even as she decides to go with it, you can feel the hopelessness of it. Everything with her feels like Sally is cognizant of the consequences but choosing not to be, and knows how she is viewed but does what she has decided anyway - just like you said, brushing off the reality rather than being naïve of it.
'Cabaret' was out of this world. The whole theatre was on their feet for a solid minute after it. She really went for it, her voice must have been hurting afterwards, and it was brutal and heart-breaking. You're right it was ferocious, and so filled with rage and determination. I honestly think it's the best performance I've ever seen of anything.
Cliff changing from gentle novel-writer caught up in the world of magical Berlin to desperate angry Cliff was a bit shocking - it really is a quick turn to him almost hitting Sally and demanding they leave which made it easier to believe Sally would not want to be with him, but you're totally right that it could have been built up to in the second act because it felt so sudden.
That moment in the party at the end of the second act is so sudden and shocking, you could feel the atmosphere in the room change in a split second, and that's definitely because of what you said about Stewart Clarke's performance, finding the comedy and charisma in his character.
I can't rave about this enough. I wish I could re-live it. Thank you for talking about it!
Plucking your eyebrows and painting them on was very common in the 1920s, so that's probably why Amy's eyebrows were blocked out and painted on! I researched nightclub culture and queer culture in Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s for an art project, and I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw Cabaret live how many costumes I recognised from period pictures! Also their shoes were period accurate which both me and my friend really appreciated. I love how they managed to create such a specific vibe for the show without losing the historical details!
Hot take? Sally Bowles is THE leading role for actresses that get pigeon holed as “the comedic friend.” Like, that is the role they can finally get considered for and transition out of their type casting.
I finally got to see this production last August with Fra and Amy, in spite of there being a 20 minute show stop to deal with an elderly patron who wasn’t well, it was an incredible performance, both leads were phenomenal, Amy in particular! Really wish I could have seen Eddie and Jessie, but whoever is in the leading roles this is a magnificent production.
Wow I totally didn't see this review coming but YES I saw this fantastic show with my friend last week and Fra and Amy were INCREDIBLE. Amy gave such an inspiring and beautiful performance, my fave Sally Bowles interpretation by far. Particularly her rendition of Cabaret (for those of you who can't see the show before she leaves, check out her Olivier Awards performance it is a stunner). Fra was also delightful as EmCee, perfectly walked the line between being flamboyant/humorous/silly and downright terrifying and untrustworthy. Honestly just a perfect show, from atmosphere to staging to costuming and acting/singing choices made.
I'm sure the new incoming cast will be great, but MAN I am so glad I got to catch this show whilst Amy and Fra were still in it
Didn't see the first cast. Cannot get over how brilliant the whole thing was. I was sobbing a lot during the title song holy moly.
Just when I was debating whether to go see this production or choose something else when I visit London in October. You are a blessing!
Be aware that the cast will change per the 3rd of October. Callum Scott Howells will play ‘The Emcee’ and Madeline Brewer will play ‘Sally Bowles'.
I am such a fan of you and your enthusiastic reviews. Much love and gratitude from San Francisco…..
I've only seen Amy Lennox at the Olivier awards and she absolutely blew me away and it was definitely one of the best performances at a theatre awards show I've seen definitely top 15 awards show performances I've ever seen her performance still haunts me and I think about it despite seeing that video months ago
very intrigued and excited to see what madeline brewer brings next to the role of sally, i’m a massive fan of her tv + film work so, it’ll be fun to see her take on such an iconic role for the stage and see how she adapts her craft accordingly.
I saw Fra Free and impish was a good description, definitely not as sinister as other versions. Slightly sidelined for sally but Lennox is sooooo good that it makes sense this is a sally focused production. A performance that becomes more and more unhinged as it goes along.
Thank you for keeping us up to date with all things theatre as usual!! Really wish I could see this one.
I’m so happy I got to see Cabaret where these 2 amazing talented people got to star in the same performance of the show. Very lucky actually that I got to see it just a few months before they were meant to leave
Honestly one of the best nights of my life!
Amy Lennox is such a great Sally Bowles and Fra Fee for me was the show stealer as Emcee where every scene he appeared in was captivating and entertaining and ugh I’ll never forget it never!
I can’t say much of course but I will say 1 word…FABULOUS! ✨
I just love it when things related to work pop up on my suggested 😂
But may I just say, I was super proud of my chest hair on Fra’s costume. It was a fun costume to help put together.
I was stunned by Amy Lennox's brilliant, angry performance of Cabaret at the Olivier Awards. This is, to my mind, the definitive version of that song. I have seen Natasha Richardson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michelle Williams on Broadway and of course, Liza Minelli. Amy Lennox killed it. I cannot wait for this London production to open on Broadway in 2024.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on Madeline Brewer and Callum Scott Howells
LOVING the themed outfits lately :)
I'm not surely if this is widely known, but every new cast is redirected in rehearsals to create a different character from the last cast to keep it fresh.
I saw Eddie initially in NYE. Then during Fra's run saw Andre who was both Eddie and Fra's understudies. Andre played it exactly as Eddie did, and then when I saw Fra last month I could see the difference between the performances.
Exactly the same is not quite true is it, with Andre. Half the energy, half the naughty, trickster feeling from his Emcee.
Very interesting! I didn't get to see the original cast so have only seen this once and it was with Fra and Amy. Very interesting to hear this indepth analysis and comparison - absolutely live for the level of detail you give in these types of reviews! Funny to imagine them in the Last Five Years together, can't really picture it after seeing them so strongly as Emcee and Sally 😂
Great review. I wish they could have brought the Eddie Redmayne production to NYC. He’s a wonderful actor. I hope they mount some incarceration of CABARET in NYC or LA. I remember there was a limited run at STUDIO 54 but not sure who stared. Stay well. 👍🙏😎
Hiya! PLEASE do a review on the clockmakers daughter, it also has Fra Fee in it and it's a real comfort watch. I'd also like to know your opinion on what will happen with it haha
fyi amy went through some makeup and hair changes since the show started!! i spoke to her and originally she had her real hair in the show, before switching to a wig a few months in to be more period accurate, so i assume the eyebrows are similar :)
Jessy Buckley as Sally Bowles was not one when I saw the show in Feb.So I have So frame of reference to her performance But I must give a shout out to Emily Benjamin who was playing Sally that day. She was fantastic. I have booked for the next cast starring Callum Scott Howles and Madeline Brewer. What I am most excited about is the week-end of the 22/23 of October as it is the first ever Musical Con, at the Excel Centre in London. So many exciting guests including Kerry Ellis, Adam Garcia, Luke Byers, Miriam Teak Lee, Leyton Williams.
I saw Cabernet 6 times including with Joel Gray in the 70’s.
You really are a very bright, insightful guy - I know you have a career in teaching but would you not think of going in theatre directing? You would bring out so much in actors …. I know very hard to break into that side of things- I mean this as a compliment
The new cast is amazing. I've seen the new cast 4 times - Callum, Madeline, Danny, and the supporting cast members that stayed with the show is still the best show in London! Front row table seats!!
Did you get to see Callum Scott, Madeline Brewer and Sid Sagar in their roles and are you going to review them? And also, are you going to review the current cast?
They are both sensational. I've seen them twice and sad I won't again!
Great video!!
You and your boyfriend should debate some of musicals and plays. It would be very interesting.
I've wanted to see Cabaret for a while, but I have MAJOR anxiety around immersive and interactive shows. I didn't cope well at all with the immersive Great Gatsby performance, so I was wondering how Cabaret compares in terms of levels of immersion? Are the seats further from the stage less immersive, and might these be better seats? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
100%!! if you chose any seats not in the stalls youre not going to get any interaction during the show. the interaction comes in the pre show where in the bars - which can get crowded - there are dancers and musicians. but if you were to arrive early before it gets busy and go into the auditorium as soon as possible, you wouldn't find too much interaction!
I get super anxious with immersive things too, so glad someone else asked this!
It was mostly just people at the tables who had people dancing in their faces, and there was a brief bit after the interval where they got people up to dance, but literally three people and they were in the very front row. You might get some in the stalls in the end aisles. I was in the middle and did not interact at all.
There are people performing as you come in, but I found them very easy to avoid, and it got crowded enough that the performers were on the bar or on a little stage. I nipped through to my seat and didn't interact with anyone. Easy enough to do, I promise!
worth noting that if you’re in the dress circle, during the pre-show one of the actors may sit nearby you and perceive you, but won’t talk to you
Please do Mason and Maude now please.
Will you do a review on the new cast also?
Hopefully! 🤞
I’ve been watching this channel for a while, and this is the first time Mickey Joe looked like a stereotypical theater kid. 😅
_Put down the knitting, the book, and the broom_
_Time for a holiday…_
I just watched it again with 3rd casting few days. The first time was the original cast. It’s phenomenal performance. The Eddie & Jessie really did fabulous performance. But the third casting Callum Scott Howells & Sally Bowles were ruined the whole show. Sorry to be straight forward. Personally, I don’t recommend to go to watch the third cast show.
Loved the video and content ( as always).
Didn't like your black shirt / top today as you blended into parts of the background.
Great show but spent a fortune on drinks 😂
I wish I could afford to see this show, mostly because I want to write about it, because everything I’ve seen and heard about this staging tells me I would absolutely hate it. I adore Cabaret, it’s my favourite musical. I saw Samantha Barks in it years ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was 14 years ago and I can still remember her delivery of certain lines. She was incredible.
I saw Amy Lennox perform Cabaret at the Oliver Award and hated it, Kander and Ebb were the finest songwriters in musical theatre, why is she shouting it like that, also, if Sally performed like that wearing a frumpy suit she’d get fired. She’s entertainment, that’s not entertaining.
Also, I saw one of the productions with the ending that has EmCee and the boys from the Kit Kat Club killed in a gas chamber. And from what I’ve read this production doesn’t do that. It’s sanitising what happened the LGBT community.
From what I’ve seen and read it reminds me of Eddie Redmayne’s career, playing dress up with the lives of marginalised people, and to be clear that’s a dig at the director and Redmayne, not the cast, except Redmayne. And frankly Rebecca Frecknall bottled it, she removed ‘the boys are beautiful from Wlkommen’ and sanitised the ending, she wants the drama of marginalised lives but not the reality.
you forget that sally was previously fired from the kit kat club! she really isn't the most amazing performer, and the suit is symbolic! if you saw the full production, you'd understand why she's wearing such a bland suit. having seen it and going to see it a second time, it absolutely doesn't trivialise history - unlike the original production which did far more. not every production's the same and that's what's so great about a show like cabaret, it's cool to not like it but i'd say that's quite a harsh judgement :)
The ending absolutely does not feel sanitised! I think you're maybe missing a bit of context on the role of the Emcee in this production. He feels less like an actual character & more like the spirit of Berlin. They have him sing the first rendition of 'Tomorrow', and he's the one who really drives the show's increasing feeling of Nazi malevolence (instead of e.g. Ernst). He's fully metamorphosed into the ringmaster of the Nazi regime by the ending, so it would make no sense to kill him off for being a transgressive.
They actually don't really focus much on the Emcee's sexuality, even in Wilkommen. Again, he feels more like the club's ringmaster than an active participant in what's happening there - it's very different to e.g. Cummings. I think it makes perfect sense that they didn't focus on hiring an LGBT actor for that reason.
That's not to say they totally neglect the LGBT side of the story. I think Cliff's sexuality is really well done (and incidentally there are definitely quite a few LGBT people involved with the show).
@@cece-707 compared to an ending where Emcee dies in a gas chamber it is sanitised. Maybe they don’t want people to have to deal with the reality of the lives of those at the Kit Kat club (and remember Cabaret is loosely based on a memoir). Maybe I just can’t see Cabaret any other way than the way I saw it, I was so blown away, by both the performances and how unapologetic it was.
hey! this became much longer than i intended it to (first time youtube commenter) so apologies in advance 😅
i genuinely think you raise some really important points, but i do disagree that this production is a ‘sanitised’ version. i very much got the sense that this version especially was trying to encourage more soul-searching within the audience than others i’ve seen, and definitely doesn’t want you to leave still in the fantasy. but it also very deliberately cuts off where it does- we leave berlin when cliff does, and don’t see any of the aftermath. we can only work off of what we each know of history, and this open-endedness i think really emphasises the Dread, especially when we say goodbye to herr schulz, with his unwavering (facade of?) optimism. similarly, fräulein schneider’s “what would you do?” staged in the round is Much more impactful than other performances i’ve seen of it- the platform she’s stood on lifts up so she very much is facing the audience rather than just sally and cliff. it’s Really explicit and Really well done in its direct accusation of the audience- i guess similar to how the original production i think had a giant mirror reflecting the audience?
and like the above commenter said, the emcee isn’t really presented as a full character in this one? unlike everyone else at the kit kat club we Never see him ‘off stage’- he is never anything But the emcee, no actual identity. he’s the character equivalent of a play within a play. and so i think in this specific adaptation it would have been reductive to include that as the final scene, and almost felt like shoe-horning it in for brownie points? i wholeheartedly agree that it’s important to address the persecution of lgbt people, because it is something that’s so often left out - but this adaptation chose to focus on other areas and i agree with their decision here. i think i actually would’ve been Less comfortable with redmayne in the role if they had ended it that way- it would’ve felt like the danish girl all over again.
it also wasn’t based off a memoir per se, but an *incredibly* fictionalised account of isherwoods time in berlin, which was altered to become a play, which was altered to become a musical- so it’s been through several filters to reach the stage it’s at here, and countless liberties have been taken from the figures’’ original lives. to my knowledge none of the people he based the characters that ended up in cabaret off of were murdered by the nazis, thankfully, so perhaps i’d also feel differently if they had been (open to correction)
having said all of this, i think if the first performance i’d seen had ended that way, then its absence in other adaptations would be much harder for me to reconcile as well- i’ve actually yet to see a version that Does include it so would love to hear more about how it was addressed? all best ! :)
Where Fra Fee disappointed me was exactly onwards from I Don't Care Much, and then the hamminess with everything that followed after. He seemed to slip into a kind of emotionless evil, very show-boaty, while Eddie Redmayne highlighted the lines about the burdens of poverty, which felt far more emotional and at same time, chilling to me. And I think Amy Lennox is a total star, her book scenes were even better acted than Jessie.
Saw Andre Refig (cover emcee) on a few weeks ago (slightly bias, he's a friend from uni)) and found that his I don't Care Much (my favourite, if very underrated song) had more impact but I think that potentially is more to do with the way he looks and holds himself in the costume. I could accept that Andre was a political type who was going to strip me of my individuality whereas I found it harder with Fra. But then Fra makes playing act one emcee look like a walk in the park. So I guess it's getting that juxtaposition right.
@@lucyrharrold I saw Andre recently as well! You can tell him he does a great job! His ahem suited performance is closer to how Eddie played it, except for the playing a bit more with physicality. But as for you, Andre's second half just held better for me, because it feels more calculated.
@@lucyrharrold Andre is technically good & I did really enjoy his final few scenes, but I thought he really faded into the background overall. It felt very much like The Sally Show, whereas Fra gave the role so much personality that I think the show felt way more balanced.
Sorry, you have beautiful eyes
Have
Am I minding something, Lennox constantly sings flat. I just don’t get it.
Sally Bowles isn't meant to be an accomplished singer, singing flat throughout is part of the role. A hard thing to do for Amy Lennox who is an accomplished singer.
I saw this show yesterday evening with a female friend, both of us were bored to tears and left at the interval, the theatre was also quite cold, I’m a regular theatre goer and have only seen two productions where I left early however I will admit that everyone has different tastes in west end shows, I was expecting more pezzazz, glamour and uplifting dancing sadly this show was not for me.