Richey

Duncan, on 26 April 2013 - 11:44 PM, said:

And leaving it on their battered corpse as a warning to others? I like it.

Sometimes when someone is talking or rustling plastic bags close enough to me to be really annoying but too far away for me to be able to ask them to be quiet, I fantasize about having a supply of elastic bands to ping at them....

I have just returned from Cabaret at the Lowry in Salford.  I have seen the production twice before, once in the West End and once on a regional tour.  Tonight's show was the best of the three.  The casting is absolutely spot on.
I am not a Will Young fan and I went to this highly sceptical of the casting.  I think the production itself is superb but it seems to have been reinvented with Will Young as the Emcee.  He's camp, he spits, snarls, gurns, shouts and screams his way through the role (and he sings hauntingly well).  He takes us through the decadence and horror of the time and he gives a revelatory performance that is both funny and immensely sinister.  The show seems to be centred more around the Emcee and this is to its advantage.
Michelle Ryan was a great Sally Bowles - Samantha Barks was too young in my opinion - but Ryan gives a performance that is emotional.  Her voice is good too.
The other casting roles are all excellent.  The elderly couple are too sickly sweet for me in this production but it doesn't harm the production, although the Hawaiian dancers are possibly OTT.
I noticed quite a few changes from the West End production.  Most changes improve the show further.  Oddly though, 'Don't Tell Mama', one of my favourite songs, is now shown from a backstage point of view so we only hear snatches of it.  Tomorrow Belongs To Me was my highlight - I won't spoil how it's done but it's amazingly effective and powerful.  And the final scene is still overwhelming.
The show feels fresher than ever and Will Young is giving the performance of his life.  5/5