By: Brianna Bonham
As a theatre geek, I went into Cabaret with very high expectations, and I was not disappointed.
The audience was met with two different seating options, as they entered the auditorium. There were wooden risers built that had a slight curve around the stage, and held seats to give the place an almost “theatre in the round” feel.
The second option was round tables around the sides and front of the stage; each table held a lamp and table number. Before the show began, the Cabaret Boys offered the tables menus with refreshments such as cookies, biscuits, sparkling water, pink lemonade, coffee, and tea. If the audience members had a couple dollars, the Cabaret Boys would take audience members’ orders and interact with them.
If you want to grab a cabaret table, get there early! I was fortunate to sit at the cabaret table four, which is right next to one reserved for an actor for a scene in the show. It was a really good way to break the fourth wall and make the audience feel involved.
The set and lighting combined made the show feel dingy, but in a good way. The air looked slightly smoky in the light and the mirrored set was stippled with rust and dirt colors to give it an older feel. Darker lighting was used during the scenes that took place in the cabaret to give the space a darker appearance.
Costumes were done very well, and all looked very time period appropriate which set the scene for much of the show. Those who had never seen the show before may have been a little shocked to see that the Kit Kat boys and girls wore minimal clothing as they danced around the stage and cabaret tables to gave the show that raunchy, nightclub feel.
The main characters all had very appropriate costumes, Emcee and Sally both sporting more colorful, extravagant clothing. Sally wears a beautiful red coat in a couple scenes that I loved, because even though we had just seen her dance onstage in lingerie, it gave her an elegant poise and class. Other characters such as Cliff and Fraulein Schneider wore more practical, simpler costumes, with less color which reflected their characters quite well.
The actors and actresses all did a marvelous job staying in character, carrying their accents, and projecting to the audience throughout the entire show. I was very impressed with the ability to hear everything they were saying consistently. There were a couple times where it was hard to catch what they were saying, but I think it was a mixture of the accents and the speed at which they were talking that caused me to miss a few seconds here and there, so keep your ears open.
I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous about Emcee going into the show, because he is so bizarre and exorbitant, and when people think of Cabaret, a lot of people can’t picture anyone else but Alan Cumming playing him. All of my fears were disbanded after the first number because Gabriel Elmore did an amazing job playing Emcee. He was so relaxed and gave the character a sense of ease as he danced eroticly with the other cast members. The Kit Kat boys and girls were an essential part to the show and provided great audience interaction, and a seedy quality to the space whenever they were on stage.
Rebecca LaPorte (Sally) and Janelle Rae Davis (Fraulein Schneider) both sang beautifully and gave their characters so much life, though the characters were very opposite. LaPorte belted Sally’s rebellious anthem “Don’t Tell Mama” and hit every note perfectly. Davis utilized character voice and facial movements to make her aging character believable. Her despise for Lindsay Spear’s character, the fiery red-head Fraulein Kost, is hilarious as Kost keeps sneaking sailor boys into her home.
Zachary Warner plays the likeable Cliff and was refreshing to watch on stage. His interactions with Sally, Ernest, and the other characters were very believable and added quality to the show. Taylor Mead was flawless in his portrayal of Herr Schultz, giving the mousy man a lovable light in all of his numbers and providing great comic relief overall.
I would not recommend the show to kids under 12, because it is filled with lewd humor. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and I look forward to seeing it again the second weekend.
Contact the author at bbonham15@wou.edu or on Twitter @WOUjournalphoto
