Life is a Cabaret
- Rebecca Root
- Mar 29, 2015
- 2 min read
Glamour, sex and a bit of wartime romance, what else does a Broadway show need?
In its third Broadway revival since its 1966 debut, the 54th street wonder, Cabaret, is dropping its curtain and what a wonderful run it has had.
Over the last 11 months, Alan Cumming has returned to his award winning role of Master of Ceremonies and executed it with as much pizzazz and disturbing charisma as he had in years before. It truly is hard to imagine anyone else who could embody such an intriguing and intoxicating character as well as he.
Accompanying the maestro, Cumming has had a string of famous leading ladies, directed by Sam Mendes, to play the role of Sally Bowles. Michelle Williams took to the role when the show opened in April, followed by Emma Stone, who received outstanding reviews, before she passed the fur coat on to Brit beauty Sienna Miller.
In the final six weeks, Sienna has been praised for her accurate portrayal of a woman about town who struggles with the concept of true love and fails to shake off the remnants of that good time gal to embrace a suburban dream with a relatively normal American. However well she portrayed Miss Bowles, her singing talents have failed to create any kind of magic for the audience though.
Even without seeing this musical, people recognise the hit tunes Life is a Cabaret and Maybe This Time. Both require a belly full of power behind them to take the audience to that hair-on-end level of awe. Unfortunately, Miss Miller’s tones fell flat and provoked nothing other than a desire to shove her out of the way and perform it with all the muster required ourselves.
Aside from this, the story of Cabaret plays out poignantly with all the feel good entertainment of a 1930s jazz house until the undertones of war and morality filter through. It brings the audience a heart-wrenching message about the Holocaust and is a surprising reminder of the atrocities our world has faced.
Studio 54 as the location only highlighted further the special nature of this production. With an already stellar cast, Cabaret has long been renowned but in Studio 54 the ambience has been shifted up a gear.
Set out like a swinging speakeasy, red shades adorn table lamps and instead of rowed seats you’ll find clusters of tables and bar stools as scantily clad waitresses peruse over attendees.
From the moment you enter this historical party house, the feel of the cabaret seeps through so by the time Cumming and his cast have played their not so merry tale across the stage, you are exhausted, exhilarated and astounded by the spectacular bedazzling Cabaret.
Comentarios