Cabaret - Playhouse Theatre

[distantcousin]

La Buckley sounds glorious on the recording. I wish I'd taken a second mortgage out to get a ticket, after all.

Definite shades of Anna Maxwell Martin (based on the vocal performances).

If they ever manage to get Billie Piper to give us her Sally, I will get myself down the Playhouse at ALL costs!

[shambles]

Piper recently said she wants to do musicals, but not on stage since she'd never be around to tuck in her kids at night.

[ctas]

Jan 10, 2023 16:23:12 GMT princeton said:

Hoping that you've booked for the 8 March matinee......

Just to say.. the Playhouse box office staff were very helpful about a ticket swap for a similar table, and I retain my title of Best Older Sister 😂 (I have explained this does not account for unscheduled days off, but I’ve done the best I can!)

[nottobe]

I have to say if Buckley's rendition of the title number isn't my top song on Spotify wrapped at the end of the year I will be very surprised. The whole recording is brilliant and I look forward to when my Vinyl arrives!

[Being Alive]

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

I should say I think all cast recordings of Cabaret are dreadful - you either have a Sally who is rubbish, or a Sally who is trying to be rubbish and I don't want to listen to either of those things.

[shambles]

I don't really listen to any cast recording as traditional songs per se and I rarely listen to individual songs on them. It's always as a whole album. I don't think there's a single song I can think of that works that for me that way ( jukeboxes don't count). I'm not really fussed about how beautifully someone sings it, I just want the cast album to deliver the texture and emotion and my memory of the show if I saw it or evoke what it would have been like if I didn't. I think this one does.

[bobbievanhusen]

Jan 20, 2023 22:06:00 GMT Being Alive said:

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

I should say I think all cast recordings of Cabaret are dreadful - you either have a Sally who is rubbish, or a Sally who is trying to be rubbish and I don't want to listen to either of those things.

i felt she sang alot more on the recording, imstead of the really shouty version she did in the show.

The OLCR with Judi Dench and Kevin Colson is wonderful. Its far from dreadful. It's my go to recording of the show

[couldileaveyou]

Jan 20, 2023 22:06:00 GMT Being Alive said:

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

And she actually toned it down a lot for the recording!

[crabtree]

Listening to the CD, Eddie certainly has a relentless bag of tricks up his sleeve.

[Being Alive]

Jan 21, 2023 10:47:47 GMT couldileaveyou said:

Jan 20, 2023 22:06:00 GMT Being Alive said:

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

And she actually toned it down a lot for the recording!

I know...but in the context of the show the yelling is THRILLING...it just sounds rough on the recording

[apubleed]

I personally found Buckley's yelling too much in the theatre but think it's toned down appropriately on the CD - I enjoy it!

[theatrenerd]

Full cast album listening party from Friday night can be caught up on Instagram (can’t see it on YouTube or anywhere else yet). A fantastic insight into the production by Eddie, makes me want to go back and see the new cast already!

www.instagram.com/tv/CnpxCCGoVjS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[distantcousin]

Jan 20, 2023 22:06:00 GMT Being Alive said:

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

I should say I think all cast recordings of Cabaret are dreadful - you either have a Sally who is rubbish, or a Sally who is trying to be rubbish and I don't want to listen to either of those things.

So you want Liza Minnelli-esque renditions of all the songs? An Amercanised alternate-Sally Bowles?

[Being Alive]

Jan 23, 2023 10:12:51 GMT distantcousin said:

Jan 20, 2023 22:06:00 GMT Being Alive said:

I think the recording is fine, but why would anyone want to listen to Buckley singing those songs out of context?

It works in the context of the show, on the cast recording it's just a woman yelling...

I should say I think all cast recordings of Cabaret are dreadful - you either have a Sally who is rubbish, or a Sally who is trying to be rubbish and I don't want to listen to either of those things.

So you want Liza Minnelli-esque renditions of all the songs? An Amercanised alternate-Sally Bowles?

I just don't personally want to listen to someone either being rubbish or trying to be rubbish on a recording - this isn't a Buckley specific issue for me, I don't think any cast recordings of Cabaret work for this exact reason. You need to see it in the context of the show for me, otherwise it just doesn't work.

Glad it does for others, but if I want to hear the songs sung on a recording, then yes I'll probably go to Liza

[Kubrick]

This recording is marvelous and brings back such memories.

[mkb]

I'd been adamant that there was no way I was paying a three-figure sum for this. I'd seen at least three previous versions of Cabaret on stage, the most recent being the 2019 tour (five stars), and which I was sure could not be topped.

But FOMO, the overwhelmingly positive feedback on here, and a third-row stalls table seat at today's Saturday matinée for £150 persuaded me to relent. I managed to snag a good Dress Circle single at £100 for my partner. As always when two seats together are not available, we take a random pick to see who sits where and swap at the interval.

Thus, I had the advantage of viewing proceedings from two different vantage points, the longer first act from downstairs, the second from above. Both were on the front seating side, rather than the new rear, the front being better I think. Although the production plays to all sides, the choreography seemed to favour the original front side.

My husband later explained that the audible sighs of joy coming from the circle as the lights dimmed for Act 1, were because the suspended lampshades over the stage were seriously blocking the view upstairs, and the sudden ascent of said lights to the rafters was a blessed relief.

While the view from the stalls was superb, the table seat was decidedly hard. The back was nicely padded but the seat "cushion" was thin and useless. I haven't had such bum ache since I travelled on Thameslink. The Dress Circle regular seat was, in contrast, supremely comfortable.

One final piece of business before discussing the show itself concerns ATG and their penny-pinching. For a show with such inflated prices, you'd think the theatre could manage more than one staff member scanning tickets and one checking bags. The long line meant that, from arrival outside to reaching the Green Bar (for pre-purchased snacks/drinks), took the best part of half an hour. Huge thanks to the unflappable waitress who endured my venting and restored my good mood with nothing more than genuine charm and bonhomie.

The show itself has some very clever touches and is very different to what I've seen before. I am not sure the intimacy of the Kit Kat Club worked in its favour. I missed the spectacle of the big musical set-pieces.

I actively disliked the Act 1 costumes and make-up of the assorted cabaret performers. The remit seemed to be to subvert stereotypical sexual fetish attire by making it as unalluring as possible. The result was a cross between clown and grotesque that, while no doubt deliberate, had the effect of dehumanising the characters. I felt no emotional engagement with their plight.

What was outstanding was the performance as Emcee of Callum Scott Howells. What a revelation! With his pumped-up biceps, this is a world away from It's a Sin's Colin. His stage presence and star quality shine. He dominates whenever on stage. I hope he'll find time to grace the stage again and not be entirely lost to film and tv.

If I'd not seen Cabaret before, and had I paid half as much, I think I'd be raving about the production at the converted Playhouse. But as it stands, it's a noble, brave and memorable reinvention that has not quite matched the benchmark set by the previous version.

Four stars.

Act 1: 14:05-15:39
Act 2: 15:59-16:47

[lonlad]

>>He dominates whenever on stage. I hope he'll find time to grace the stage again and not be entirely lost to film and tv.[/quote]

Callum opens on Feb 21 in Romeo and Julie at the National/Dorfman, so your wish has been granted. He's the real deal and, in fact, I had thought he'd left CABARET by now (his cover, Matthew Gent, is coming in for a few weeks before John McCrea takes over). Whom did you see as Sally?

[mkb]

I believe it was Madeline Brewer. (She looked like the picture on the website.) I think yesterday was the last day for her and Callum.

[Steve]

Jan 29, 2023 2:14:56 GMT mkb said:

I actively disliked the Act 1 costumes and make-up of the assorted cabaret performers. The remit seemed to be to subvert stereotypical sexual fetish attire by making it as unalluring as possible. The result was a cross between clown and grotesque that, while no doubt deliberate, had the effect of dehumanising the characters. I felt no emotional engagement with their plight.

What was outstanding was the performance as Emcee of Callum Scott Howells. What a revelation! With his pumped-up biceps, this is a world away from It's a Sin's Colin. His stage presence and star quality shine. He dominates whenever on stage. I hope he'll find time to grace the stage again and not be entirely lost to film and tv.

For me, those costumes are a major part of what I find so unique and special about this production.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Other versions have indeed been more earthy and alluring, but there is something so sinister about those mechanical looking costumes, as if the distractions of this Cabaret are part of some greater machine working in concert with the politics and emotions of the people to bring about horror as some kind of inevitability.

I saw the Saturday matinee, and I also loved Callum Scott Howells in his (second last appearance in the) Emcee role, as he seemed to me to be moving like a (muscular) sinister machine, diabolically pushing forward both the distractions and the inevitability of the coming horror. There was such deliberate yet effortless control to his movements, with the Emcee's zaniness subservient to the mechanical nature of his movements.

I felt he and the costumes worked in frightening robotic sync, and what a contrast to his equally scene-stealing yet unforgettable good-natured affability in the Menier's "She Loves Me," as the most junior yet most charming of the shop assistants lol!

Eddie Redmayne, by contrast, seemed to me to be playing the Emcee like an elastic (one of the most astonishingly elastic performances I've ever seen) comedian, with an improvised looseness and remarkable range in his movements and manner of speaking that screamed of an inner "freedom" rather than slavery to the machine, as if the costumes he was forced to wear couldn't capture his soul. For that reason, I found his personal plight much more tragic and moving than I experienced Howell's Emcee, who felt much more complicit in the horror.

Both approaches worked powerfully for me.

Madeline Brewer's Sally Bowles felt more of a psychological mess to me, her rasping confused desperation evident from the beginning, than Jessie Buckley's, who felt more self-contained and powerful. I never felt there was any hope for Brewer's Sally, as she seemed so tragically internally broken by some horrible history, whereas Jessie Buckley's Sally felt like she might have broken free of her psychological bonds and then upsettingly fails to do so.

Once again, both approaches worked for me.

I think Richard Katz is amazing as Herr Schulz, possibly the most dreamy, light, gentle and romantic I've seen that character.

Overall, I adore this production. From the Kit Kat Club itself, with it's one way passages leading you seductively towards doom, to the mechanical costumes and performances of the dancers winding that doom on, I felt like a ballerina caught in a clockwork music box, lulled by the music into accepting my inevitable doom. Wonderful!

I do feel the ending is a bit subtle, and can be experienced as an anticlimax. It takes time to sink in, and doesn't have the punch of more bloody and visceral endings that have capped other productions. Overall, though, I will be back to see this production again, as I love it! 5 stars from me.

[Dr Tom]

I caught this again on Monday night, which I'd booked expecting this to be the first night with the new cast. As it happened, I got Matthew Gent and Emily Benjamin, both of whom come highly recommended in their roles. It's great that they're allowed to put their own twist on their performance as well.

They've found a new route into the Kit Kat Club, which managed to get me rather confused, especially as I arrived close to the start. No drink token any more, but you do get a business card telling you the location of the bars.

Upper Circle seat C1 is terrible, with a lighting rig blocking off at least half the stage. It's a shame, as most of the Upper Circle has a very clear view, but this seat is just too far across to the edge. Not such a big deal as I've seen the show, but one I would certainly avoid in future.

Quite a few covers (and some debuts) on in the ensemble as well.

Worth seeing during the two week changeover period. This still seems to be selling well as experience theatre, regardless who is on.

[mkb]

There were complimentary shots to help yourself to as we went in on Saturday afternoon.

[nomoretalkofdarkness]

You still get a complimentary Drink when entering through the Stage Door Entrance. But I believe it depends on what time you get there as they were offering them on Tuesday.

Also Can't Recommend seeing Matthew Gent and Emily Benjamin enough, as they are both fantastic in their own ways that was really refreshing as I very much struggled to Get into the previous two.

[djp]

Jan 23, 2023 19:50:01 GMT Kubrick said:

This recording is marvelous and brings back such memories.

Strangely on youtube if you look for Amy Lennox cabaret  you may still find youtubes with a similar logo which look like part of a cast recording of that cast too . Interesting comparison with Jessie.

[sondheimhats]

Hello,

I'm coming in from the US next month to see some shows, and I purchased a ticket to Cabaret with the intention of seeing Aimee Lou Wood in the role.

Just this morning I saw an article saying that she would be out for certain performances, which, as far as I can tell, wasn't indicated in the initial press release. There also doesn't seem to be any indication of which performances she'll be out. But given that I have a ticket to a Wednesday matinee, it seems like I'm right in the "danger zone."

Given everything I've heard about the refund policies on the West End, I'm assuming that I would NOT be entitled to a refund if she was out for my performance, even though it wasn't announced beforehand. Is that correct?

In either case, has anyone seen her performance schedule published anywhere?

[anthony40]

Feb 13, 2023 14:43:24 GMT sondheimhats said:

Hello,

I'm coming in from the US next month to see some shows, and I purchased a ticket to Cabaret with the intention of seeing Aimee Lou Wood in the role.

Just this morning I saw an article saying that she would be out for certain performances, which, as far as I can tell, wasn't indicated in the initial press release. There also doesn't seem to be any indication of which performances she'll be out. But given that I have a ticket to a Wednesday matinee, it seems like I'm right in the "danger zone."

Given everything I've heard about the refund policies on the West End, I'm assuming that I would NOT be entitled to a refund if she was out for my performance, even though it wasn't announced beforehand. Is that correct?

In either case, has anyone seen her performance schedule published anywhere?

Hello,

Firstly, welcome (in advance). I hope that in addition to the shows that you have booked that whatever else that you whist you're here, that you enjoy yourself and have fun.

Just to respond to one part of your post, usually you wouldn't be entitled to a refund.  Most theatres cover themselves by saying that the attendance of any one performer cannot be guaranteed.

If the show as a whole could not go ahead because of circumstances beyond the theatres control, like a flooding, an electrical issue that couldn't be fixed in time or something more serious then there would be no question.