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Post by distantcousin on Nov 16, 2022 11:21:05 GMT
The new leads are underwhelming. Madeline Brewer quite clearly lacks stage experience, giving stitled deliveries and seeming to read out punctuation as well, and offers no characterization beyond being prim. They had got it so right with Amy Lennox. Callum SH has opted for going HAM, and seems to have taken a couple of notes from Will Young, which is not a good thing in my book. They've punched up the Two Ladies staging, which he benefits from. Everything else still works as wonderfully as it has always done. Michelle Bishop is a great, great new Kost. I really liked the new-to-me Richard Katz as Schultz. wondering now whether I should hang on for the next cast change! I did wonder if CSH would play it like Will Young - who I've seen twice, enjoyed - but want to see a different take. And if La Brewer is giving a technical performance like this, it'll drive me mad!! |
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Nov 18, 2022 0:17:31 GMT
Back again tonight and didn't get given a drinks token. Feels a little random as to when they're giving one out?
Had Matthew Gent as the Emcee and Emily Benjamin as Sally and both were fantastic.
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Post by playingdangerous on Nov 29, 2022 19:08:05 GMT
Any new info on the next Sally and Emcee?
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Post by theatrefan77 on Nov 29, 2022 19:54:14 GMT
I don't think they've been cast yet
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Post by theatrenerd on Nov 29, 2022 22:27:39 GMT
Thought it may be worth mentioning the cast will be on this year’s Royal Variety Performance (ITV1 on 20 Dec) and Callum and Madeline will be on The Graham Norton Show New Year’s Eve Special performing “Wilkommen” and “Don’t Tell Mamma”. How exciting!
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Post by theplayer on Dec 4, 2022 0:10:04 GMT
Although I prefer plays to musicals, I've always really liked Cabaret. It has an edginess and underlying melancholy that really appeals to me.
Cabaret is the only show of which I have ever seen more than one production. I saw a production at the Lyric Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in July 2007.
I attended Saturday's matinee at the Playhouse.
The set design is amazing! The attention to detail is great. They really managed to capture the vibe of the Kit Kat Club.
Madeline Brewer is superb as Sally Bowles. The actor who played the Emcee is the understudy to Callum Scott Howells, who was ill. His name escapes me.
The rest of the cast are also great.
I must admit, while this production does retain the show's inherent raunchy nature, it is less risque than the aforementioned 2007 production, which featured nudity.
I really enjoyed it!
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Dec 4, 2022 0:33:56 GMT
Matthew Gent  You also had the debut of the Herr Schultz understudy Grant Neal! |
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Post by mattnyc on Dec 4, 2022 14:34:22 GMT
I feel like I need to express just how much i adored Madeline’s Sally. Having seen the others before her in this production I think Madeline is far and away the best so far, to me. In fact, having seen all but one Sally from thr Mendes revival on Broadway I’d say Madeline is one of the better Sally’s I’ve ever seen.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Dec 4, 2022 15:17:17 GMT
I feel like I need to express just how much i adored Madeline’s Sally. Having seen the others before her in this production I think Madeline is fat and away the best so far, to me. In fact, having seen all but one Sally from thr Mendes revival on Broadway I’d say Madeline is one of the better Sally’s I’ve ever seen. She won’t like being called fat I’m sure |
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Post by mattnyc on Dec 4, 2022 16:18:16 GMT
lolol. Obvious typo. I’m sure she’ll forgive me. |
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Post by sfsusan on Dec 9, 2022 0:11:58 GMT
I saw this again tonight (first saw it with Eddie Redmayne shortly after it opened) and was mostly pleased by the changes. I thought Callum Scott Howells was excellent (he had a strong singing voice and made a very chilling and believable transition to a Nazi clone) as was Madeline Brewer.
I wasn't as thrilled with Vivien Parry as Fraulein Schneider,but can't put my finger on why. I just thought Liza Sadovy was much better.
Less pleasing than the performances were the audience reactions in a couple of spots. When Ms. Brewer was still finishing her very emotional, tormented rendition of 'Cabaret', a woman behind me seemed to take the song as inspiring life advice and let out a loud "woo!!!" at a pause in the song.
And during the Kristallnacht scene, lots of the audience was laughing when the blackout lifted and the debris was falling. I can only assume they were younger people who didn't know about Kristallnacht, and didn't get the tie between the stomped wedding glass and the shattered glass of Herr Schultz's store windows.
'Tomorrow Belongs to Me' created an awkward ending for Act 1. It felt inappropriate to applaud it, and I ended up not expressing my appreciation for the performances in the first act. (I don't remember this from my first visit, so don't know if that's a change or not.)
Also, if anyone is considering the Green Bar meal package, it's a bit of a hassle to get from your meal down to your seat (they suggest you arrive for dinner at 6:45 pm, and you really should start for your show seat by 7:15, especially if you want to visit the toilets first). And it's another hassle to get back up to the bar for your second drink, ice cream and macaron, then back to your seat in the 20-minute interval. Next time, I'd opt for the sandwich box and drinks at a table in the stalls.
The toilets are somewhat vaguely signed, as one is marked 'urinals' in some places, but the door itself simply says '4 cubicles, 8 urinals', but it's basically the men's room. The ladies' sign says "Toilets" and the door says '8 cubicles'. (There was a similar situation at the Old Vic the other night, with most women asking a nearby usher if 'x cubicles' meant it was the ladies' toilet.)
One more thing I didn't notice the first time is that the tiny drink shelves at the stalls seats are at just the right height for people to brush drinks and bottles off as they try to squeeze past to their own seats. And at the end of the show, a drink spilled in the balcony above me dripped onto my head and coat.
But I really enjoyed the show and am glad I went again.
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Post by lonlad on Dec 9, 2022 0:34:39 GMT
>>I wasn't as thrilled with Vivien Parry as Fraulein Schneider,but can't put my finger on why.
Probably because she's about 1000 times too much in the part and plays it as if she's trying to out-Sally Sally. Liza S and Elliot L were sublime and richly deserved their supporting Oliviers - arguably more so than the lead trophies for Jessie and Eddie. Callum on the other hand is a major revelation here: a really superb performance.
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Post by alece10 on Dec 9, 2022 8:59:16 GMT
>>I wasn't as thrilled with Vivien Parry as Fraulein Schneider,but can't put my finger on why. Probably because she's about 1000 times too much in the part and plays it as if she's trying to out-Sally Sally. Liza S and Elliot L were sublime and richly deserved their supporting Oliviers - arguably more so than the lead trophies for Jessie and Eddie. Callum on the other hand is a major revelation here: a really superb performance. [b No disrespect to the woman but I didn't like her singing voice. It sounded a bit screechy- there is probably a technical term for it. |
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Post by lonlad on Dec 9, 2022 9:49:39 GMT
It's metallic and shrill, you're absolutely right.
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Post by jgblunners on Dec 9, 2022 9:58:27 GMT
I’ve been back to Cabaret at each cast change and while Callum is excellent and almost as captivating as Eddie was, I think Madeline is the weakest Sally so far. That’s not to say she’s not talented - she clearly is - but she is also clearly less experienced on stage than the other Sallys. With a few more years’ experience under her belt I reckon she’d be brilliant, but I feel that at the moment she doesn’t exude that confidence and magnetism that the other Sallys have had.
As a side note: Emily Benjamin, the alternate Sally, is exceptional, and anyone on the fence about whether to book a performance where Madeline is off shoud just take the jump. You won’t be disappointed!
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Dec 9, 2022 10:59:08 GMT
I think Matthew Gent is fantastic as the emcee. He was on yesterday |
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Post by sfsusan on Dec 9, 2022 16:51:27 GMT
Oh my gosh, if that was the cover... wow!! I'm even more impressed! (Sorry for the misidentification... I don't buy programs, didn't see a notice and nothing was announced.)
As far as the toilets, I actually don't care if they're unisex as long as they're all cubicles. I'm not sure theaters are doing it to be 'woke' but to speed up the lines. And as long as the only thing I'm seeing is folks washing their hands, I don't care what gender they are.
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Post by andrew on Dec 10, 2022 1:02:28 GMT
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Post by playingdangerous on Dec 10, 2022 2:09:21 GMT
Finally!! Was hoping the news coming next week was going to be Eddie returning but this is just as good. |
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Post by Kubrick on Dec 10, 2022 2:36:29 GMT
Amazing news!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2022 7:58:55 GMT
If the toilets discussion is going to continue, I wonder if Mods might move it to its own thread?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 10, 2022 9:07:00 GMT
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Post by Kubrick on Dec 10, 2022 14:52:01 GMT
Happy to read that it was recorded live, which has been my hope since hearing the production was recorded last winter.
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2,859 posts
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Post by couldileaveyou on Dec 10, 2022 14:54:11 GMT
oh it must be the soundboard they were playing during the shooting of the trailer
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Post by cheri78 on Dec 11, 2022 11:30:14 GMT
Having seen so many different productions of Cabaret, this was exceptional. I particularly liked So What/What would you do?/Maybe This Time and although missed the original finale with the wonderful off key Wilkommen reprise, this ending was really moving and the drab grey suits and use of revolve really effective. One question though, I was there on a no preshow day (all performers ill apparently) so it was a waste of time getting there 1h early, but I was puzzled why the preshow recorded music was modern electronic stuff which couldn't be further removed from the era we were about to enter. OK I get that we were in a club, but surely something more in period would have been better. Still, small niggle and I must say that the £70 Dress Circle seats were excellent for sightlines.
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You also had the debut of the Herr Schultz understudy Grant Neal!
