“Cabaret” never gets old.
Although, truly, the musical by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb is kind of old — it first hit the boards in 1966. It’s had many revivals, tweakings and Tony Awards since.
Arizona Theatre Company currently has a lavish production of the play, packed with staggering talent, impressive costumes by Leigh Pearl and lighting that punctuated the decadence and the divine. Brian J. Lilienthal and Rachel Fae Szymanski designed the lighting together.
The play takes us to Berlin in the dying days of the Weimar Republic. Hedonism abounds, especially at the Kit Kat Club, where Sally Bowles headlines the cabaret and the androgynous Emcee revels in the decadence and invites us to revel as well. Meanwhile, the Nazis are afoot, just beginning their hold on power. Their threat is ignored by many in Berlin, and especially those who frequent the Kit Kat Club.
Sean Patrick Doyle, who changed costumes as frequently as Cher in concert, is the Emcee at the club. His voice is riveting, his body fluid and expressive. He gave us an Emcee we couldn’t turn away from.
Lori Wilner and David Kelly were tender and heartbreaking in the roles of Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, the older couple who fall in love. It’s a doomed love — he is Jewish, she is not — and they made us feel every thrill and every ache.
Madison Micucci has a beautiful voice, and she made Sally Bowles shallow and silly and self-serving, all which suit the character. But we wish her Sally had more layers that were revealed as the play went on.
It’s near-impossible not to love “Cabaret,” but this Sara Bruner-directed production had its problems. Biggest among them is that it tried too hard to make us see the decadence, the impending doom as Nazis take hold, the outrage of the hatred toward the Jews. In a way, it’s as though Bruner didn’t trust the audience to get the horror of it then, and the horror of it now. As a result, the subtlety that can make the tragedy more poignant was missing.
The first act ended with a terrifying rendition of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” a song that speaks to the glory that the Nazi regime is sure to bring. But it robbed the characters of hope in the second act. And that robbed the play of the tension needed to further bring the horror home.
But this is a musical with rich songs and a strong story. There’s a reason it’s considered a classic. And even with its problems, this production is well worth seeing.
