30 December 2023 I 19:30 I Kit Kat Club, London
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Following such an entrancingly masterful performance back in April, it was never a question of if I would return to the Kit Kat Club, but when! Kander & Ebb's illusive Cabaret continues to thrill London audiences, treating the experience as not simply watching a musical, rather being invited into a lustful club night, expression at the heart of everything. Since our previous visit, the cast has significantly changed, and Cabaret really thrives on these rotations. It becomes so fascinating to see a new actor step into these roles, and the breadth of their adaptation to make the character artistically their own. This really keeps the show fresh and alive.
The minute you walk into the side door, you are thrown into the roaring 1920s, the highlight of West End immersion. Unless you have taken a visit, it is impossible to describe the feeling of walking in, the rush of excitement where the entertainment begins even before the auditorium. Cabaret explores the sexual freedoms of the early 20th century, and the restless desire to be one's true self, where we feel the pressures of outside life melt away. The first time watching this show, it is easy to be swept away by the glamour, but this return allows me to focus on the impending threats the plot proposes, and the characters I initially discarded.
I cannot express my immense joy to see music icons Jake Shears and Self Esteem / Rebecca Lucy Taylor starring in Cabaret, legends of the industry and previously huge fans of both!! Shears is wildly impressive as the Emcee, a firecracker of a force who explodes onto stage igniting a whole new depth. He has the accent nailed tremendously, and his attention to detail with all of the Emcee's different personas are solid and refined. There are many ways of playing the Emcee, and Shears is delightfully unhinged, with Money a particular highlight in hauntingly intense facial expression. While Self Esteem is very much born to play Sally Bowles, excelling with the quirky yet vulnerable layers to Sally's character. She gives a perhaps more contained Sally, though her showstopping Cabaret unleashes these frustrations in an explosive scene, ultimately breaking with excellent work acting through the song. They compliment each other wonderfully as our leading pair, with potency and fire.
Covering Clifford, Taite-Elliot Drew portrays quite an internally complex character, and it is a marvel to see his emotional progression as a displaced American in pre-war Germany. Particularly his relationship with Sally, which is measured and controlled. As Drew's antithesis in a directly frightening Ernst, Wilf Scolding is blood-curdling as his political position in the Weimar republic is discovered. He commands a role that wants to make you shrink into your seat, and maintains the same waves of goosebumps and gasps as the first time.
Beverley Klein and Teddy Kempner shine through their wacky coupling as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz. They share some incredibly funny moments, including romancing over a pineapple, holding comedic breaks of silliness. At times they become tested, and share an ultimatum of heartache, but it is endlessly easy to sympathise with them. Especially Klein's voice during What Would You Do, so powerful to command with vocally impassioned pain.
Tom Scutt's design is utterly inspiring, where such a rapidly paced musical is condensed within the round staging. However just because the 'stage' is considered the raised platform, the action isn't defined by this, a lot occurring away from the limelight, beside us and around these edges. Especially for anyone watching for the first time, the extent of entrances and exits are guaranteed to surprise you! Tickets to see Cabaret can be expensive, though I wholeheartedly believe this extra cost is worth the price, with pre-show and interval entertainment that drags everyone into the club, you are never simply the passive spectator. The modern style manifested into a traditional space is mesmerising. Equally with Scutt's costume design, embracing Rebecca Frecknall's direction, are outlandish, larger than life in the essence they are deflecting everything that happens underneath.
This production of Cabaret is the most monumental and successful of it's kind. The drive away from the ordinary bowler hat vision keeps the musical more relevant and accessible. From Julia Cheng's expertly crafted choreography to wrap the stage and beyond, to such an endlessly talented and tireless cast, this adaptation will be cemented in theatre history.
And a final mention, 'even the orchestra is beautiful'. Led by Jennifer Whyte, you can see the full list of creatives involved in Cabaret here: https://kitkat.club/cabaret-london/cast-creative/
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