Cabaret - Playhouse Theatre

[osdtdg]

Is shouty guy a good source for west end cabaret though? (I dont like them at all... so this may be my bias talking tbf lol)

[lolaluffneggle]

I can’t see Billy Porter doing it

[Being Alive]

It's the rumour I heard a few weeks back from a very reliable source if that helps 🤷🏻‍♂️

[theatrefan62]

Hard to take someone who claims to be a theatre expert/insider seriously when they say 'on the west end'.

Seems an odd move. Both Billy being a replacement so far down the line in London, and also box office wise. His name would mean more in NY and I'd have thought being the next broadway replacement would be more palatable to his ego.

[unseaworthy]

Just imagine the ticket prices if that happened

[budd]

Yikes, I hope not. Billy's shtick would be truly grating, particularly in this version of the show.

[Dave B]

Billy Porter is due in London to direct a play next year, industry reading in just a few weeks time.

x.com/KevinWilsonPR/status/1838931341590622429

[distantcousin]

Is there a specific reason Clifford keeps being cast as a non-white actor?

Makes no sense to me within the historical context.

[curiouskc]

Sept 26, 2024 13:46:09 GMT distantcousin said:

Is there a specific reason Clifford keeps being cast as a non-white actor?

Makes no sense to me within the historical context.

First off, last time I saw Cabaret, we had the Cliff understudy on and they were a white actor. So there's no strict rule about Cliff's race in the Frecknall production. And (though it has taken a while), it seems it's not the case that the two leads have to be cast as white either, with London now having had one lead Emcee and the new alternate Sally being actors of colour. There's also a lot of diversity in the actors playing the KKC boys and girls and these actors are often swings and emergency covers for leads too. I imagine part of reason Cliff is most often cast as a black actor may be because the role was originated by Omari Douglas, so when casting for takeovers it may be that more black actors turned out to audition for the Cliff role, knowing that their race wasn't going to be any kind of obstacle. 

Nor should it be. I don't really know why people claim it makes no sense in the historical context. There were black/mixed race people living in (and visiting) 1930s Germany. Some of them (such as this man) were black Germans who became Nazi collaborators in the hopes of avoiding persectution. They still would have been descriminated against and barred from a lot of regular jobs. But could they have been cabaret performers or penniless writers? Yes, definitely. The wiki page I linked describes a mixed race German man who could only make money as a circus performer. So the diversity in the KKC performers totally makes sense.   

[nicenin]

In film and TV it's now a requirement to have a diverse cast for funding, awards etc - I'm not sure if this applies to theatre?

I saw both Michael Ahomka Lindsay and his understudy Taite Elliot Drew in the role of Cliff. Absolutely nothing to do with his race obviously, but I seem to be one of the few that didn't take to MAL in the role of Cliff. I thought he looked uncomfortable up there and adrift, as if he didn't really "get" the piece.

[Being Alive]

Cliff hasn't worked in any iteration I've seen in this production - the direction they've decided to go in doesn't work (it didn't work with Omari, it didn't work with Michael, it hasn't worked with any of the other covers I've seen either) - it's the one element in this production that (whatever Frecknalls vision for it was) has consistently not worked on stage.

[nicenin]

What was Rebecca Lucy Taylor like? Any reviews I've seen are polarized i.e. she was amazing / awful.

[flouise]

Sept 30, 2024 12:31:11 GMT nicenin said:

What was Rebecca Lucy Taylor like? Any reviews I've seen are polarized i.e. she was amazing / awful.

I was impressed enough! The only other Sally I've seen is Emily Benjamin who I thought was the better of the two but I really enjoyed both performances

[fclou]

Michael Ahomka Lindsay has been my favourite Cliff of this production - I'll miss him. Omari was good too but the couple in between were quite forgettable and didnt add anything. Will Scolding who has also just gone was the best Ernst.

I saw RLT as Sally, she was good - she was very different and quite bratty, much older and harder than some of them. I thought Emily B was great too - Jessie B was good Madeline Brewer was fine, Cara Delving was surprisingly good - but I rather feel she is a bit of a real life Sally.

[doornumberthree]

Sept 30, 2024 12:31:11 GMT nicenin said:

What was Rebecca Lucy Taylor like? Any reviews I've seen are polarized i.e. she was amazing / awful.

I thought she was awful. I’ve seen every London Sally in this production except for Sally Frith, and Rebecca was by far the weakest and made me uncomfortable to watch with how bad she was. Plenty of people seemed to love her though, you’re right it’s so polarised!

[andrew]

I thought she was brilliant acting wise, was really surprised. Not a fan of her singing voice though. She's in my top 4 Sallys.

[nicenin]

I wish I'd seen RLT now as reviews are at one extreme or the other. Wasn't too impressed by that recording she did of a few of the numbers, she sounded flat and stilted, not that you can conclude anything much from that.

The only Sally I've seen is Cara D, but twice, she was excellent. There was something very Ken Russell-esque about her performance and she'd definitely be a stage draw for me in the future.

[dillan]

Is this not selling great? There's a show in literally 2.5 hours and plenty of seats still not sold - especially in the table stalls..

[Paulw]

Oct 2, 2024 10:29:04 GMT dillan said:

Is this not selling great? There's a show in literally 2.5 hours and plenty of seats still not sold - especially in the table stalls..

And the dynamic pricing is hitting, I have my eye on a seat but waiting to see if it drops to what I want to pay!

The leads don’t seem to be what they were (not saying that’s a bad thing) but that’s got to have an effect

[andrew]

This cast seems to really not selling, which is a shame as Adam is an amazing Emcee, the strongest one we've had since Redmayne.

[Being Alive]

The two names mean absolutely nothing to the general public.

I'm sure they're great but neither of the names have ANY public recognition.

[thedrowsychaperone]

It's odd as Katherine Langford has been in some VERY high-profile projects, and for a long time her face was literally plastered all over Netflix and all it's advertising... but it hasn't really translated into name recognition.

[theatrefan62]

Oct 2, 2024 11:21:30 GMT thedrowsychaperone said:

It's odd as Katherine Langford has been in some VERY high-profile projects, and for a long time her face was literally plastered all over Netflix and all it's advertising... but it hasn't really translated into name recognition.

I don't think its odd tbh. Her name alone doesn't mean much, she hasn't had a break out career where she would be recognised on name alone.

13 reasons why was a long time ago now, especially since it was at its peak. Cursed was a flop and movie wise her name is never really mentioned when Knives Out is mentioned and her Love Simon role was very much supporting.

[dillan]

Some great deals on TKTS for this - £58 for row C on the tables, never seen them this cheap before. Also saw Dress Circle row B for only £33!

[stagey]

Have heard on the grapevine that it is in fact Billy Porter as the Emcee next with Marisha Wallace as Sally