Cabaret

Synopsis

Based on the play by John van Druten and the original stories by Christopher Isherwood. Set in late thirties Berlin. Cabaret first came to the stage in New York in 1966 and became a hit film with Liza Minnelli and Michael York in 1972. The story tells of American cabaret singer Sally Bowles, impoverished writer Cliff Bradshaw and their friends Frauline Schneider and Herr Schultz along with a host of divinely decadent characters whose lives are described by the Emcee. Their dreams for the future are finally shattered as their lives are inexorably drawn towards the horrors of World War II.

Our Review:

1 August 2002

Despite it's age (hard to believe it's nearly 40 years old now), Cabaret was, and still remains, one of the most daringly modern of Broadway musicals in both its overall style and in its reflection of the seediness of the pre-World War II Berlin nightclub in which it's set, contrasting it (or perhaps linking it) with the rise of Nazism.

Based on the short stories of Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret tells the story of young American writer Cliff and his acquaintance with the enigmatic cabaret performer, Sally Bowles, who he meets in the sordid 'Kit Kat Klub'. A touching sub-plot concerns the relationship between the neighbours' elderly landlady, Fraulein Schneider, and her Jewish beau, Herr Schultz, who grapple with the uncertainty of their future together. The eccentric and usually camp 'Emcee', punctuates proceedings with his musical commentary on the main action.

The musical boasts an incisive and not overly sentimental book by Joe Masteroff...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 16 September 2002:

I was really looking forward to this after the success of `My one and Only last year. What a disappointmentit turned out to be. The direction was tepid with absolutley no sense of danger. The choreography a complete mess and I am afraid Alexandra Jay has a lot of learning still to do before she can deadline! If the sub plot between Shultz and Schneider becomes the main focus of the evening it shows how badly miscast the two leads actually were. On the positive side I thought Bleach was a wonderfully seedy MC and looked in a different class to the rest of them. Chichester should really have backed the original director, rarely have I seen so many hacked off blue rinse patrons....

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