QUOTE(art87 @ Jun 7 2008, 04:40 PM)

Well firstly I would have paid for a set rather than chopping up some old flats and painting them black. I would have perhaps made at least one of the characters mildly sympathetic in their characterisation. I would have cast someone who can sing in the lead role (I saw Anna Maxwell-Martin and she was godawful). I would have trusted the songs slightly more, and not used explicit sex at every possible opportunity (Two Ladies is funny because it's all "we just live together and share a bed but it's oh so innocent" and it's the audience who put a dirty spin on it, not because people are waving willies all over the place). I would have used the opening song to open the show (as it is written), rather than starting with a dull scene at the German border control...
I could literally work through the show scene by scene and tell you why I thought each and every one was terrible (except perhaps the final 5 Auschwitz-based seconds which I liked).
When I saw it it was clear that there was no way it could be saved as a production. Thank god it's going away, and then maybe, a few years down the line, someone will actually do it well.
OK, well I still disagree with you. The set was fine, no less basic than Chicago and that works fine too.
Erm, isn't Sally Bowles MEANT to be a mediocre singer, hence it doesn't call for a SINGER, rather an actress who can sing. It was only the Liza Minnelli spin on things that people suddenly thought Sally Bowles was this wonderful torch singer...hmm
Which was fine, because Anna Maxwell Martin is one of THE best actresses of the past few years and is excellent in everything she does. I loved her Sally, such a layered, subtle, ambigious interpretation.
I don't remember much explicit sex - any of the nudity was non sexual.
I can't believe anyone could find fault in every scene.
Everyone I ever recommended to go and see it though it was excellent.