For those familiar only with the
slick, bowdlerized 1972 movie version of “Cabaret,” you should consider making
the trip up to West Hartford to take in
Playhouse on Park’s current production of the John Kander/Frank Ebb musical. It
will open your eyes.
Last
year, MTC Mainstage proved that a venue with a limited stage could produce a
gripping, engaging production of “Cabaret,” and Playhouse on Park has confirmed
this with its gritty, sensual and very intimate take on the story of Sally Bowles
(Erin Lindsey Krom), the toast of Mayfair working at the Kit Kat Klub in
Weimar-era Berlin, where the Emcee (Brendan Norton) holds sway over a bevy of
dancers and singers, both male and female, who can no longer spell the word
“virginity.” Into this demimonde wanders Cliff (Jake Loewenthal), a somewhat
naïve American writer manqué who soon becomes entranced by and entrenched in
Sally’s world, a hedonistic environment that is beginning to darken as the
shadows of Nazism swirl and take form.
This
is an up-front, in-your-face production that seeks to immerse you in Sally’s
tainted world from the moment you walk into the foyer, which is dimly lit and,
with the clutch of theatergoers mingling, somewhat (intentionally)
claustrophobic. If your eyes wander a bit, you will see lightly clad actors and
actresses engaging in various activities not normally seen in a theater foyer.
The overt sensuality continues once you enter the main theater, for there you
will find other cast members mingling with the audience, presenting wiggling
posteriors and intriguing décolletages. If you are easily embarrassed you might
devote your total attention to the ads in the program until the lights dim, but
even then you cannot escape, for director Sean Harris and choreographer Darlene
Zoller won’t allow it. Like it or not, you’re there at the Kit Kat Klub, so you
best just sit back and enjoy the depravity. Obviously, this is not a show for
the young folks.
At
times, Zoller has the actors and actresses lay on (pun intended) the sexual gestures
just a bit too heavily – perhaps here less would have been more – but the
message is, if nothing else, clear. And what is the message? Well, as with all
things taken to excess, there comes a point when what was intriguing and
stimulating becomes mechanical and soul-shriving; the eyes go dead.
Set
against the decadence of the Kit Kat Klub is the boarding house run by Fraulein
Schneider (Kathleen Huber), where Cliff finds residence among the other
roomers, including Fraulein Kost (Ashley Ford), who patriotically services as
many sailors as she can, and Herr Schultz (Damian Buzzerio), a greengrocer who
also happens to be a Jew.
What
this production highlights is the moral morass normal people are confronted
with when faced with institutionalized evil, and how fear can affect human
relationships. Decisions are made by the central characters. Cliff, initially
co-opted by Ernst (Conor Hamill) to work unknowingly for the Nazis for money,
pays a physical and emotional price when he rejects the totalitarian
philosophy. Herr Schultz opts for denial, and pays the ultimate price. Fraulein
Schneider confronts the reality of those who are frail and powerless and eventually
allows evil to triumph out of fear. Sally chooses illusion over reality, and
the amoral Emcee is eventually caught up in and destroyed by that which he
taunted and jeered at. In essence, the message is simple: if you do not act to
defend humanity against its baser urges you will be consumed by them.
In
this depraved, dangerous environment there are moments of light. The tentative
romance between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz gives us “Married,” an
achingly beautiful duet that captures the hope that springs eternal, and when
Sally tells Cliff that she is pregnant and, instead of rejecting her, he
embraces her, “Maybe This Time” gives us a woman who senses that things just
might be different…this time. Yet these flickering flames are eventually doused
by the darker moments that capture venality (“Money”), prejudice (“If You Could
See Her” – they adhere to the original lyrics, which deliver a stinger at the
end of the song), decadence (“Two Ladies”), despair (“What Would You Do?”) and
nationalism used as a tool to inflame (“Tomorrow Belongs to Me”).
Setting
the tone for this dark tale, enhanced by Marcus Abbotts eerie, evocative
lighting, is Norton’s Emcee, who looks like he could have wandered off the set
of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Tall, lean almost to the point of
emaciation, and sporting somewhat ghoulish make-up, he prances and cavorts,
gloats and leers, and fondles anything that moves on two legs. He oversees both
the doings at the Klub and many of the emotional moments among Frau Schneider’s
borders, a dark, lurking presence that puts the lie to any hopes these people
might have of salvation.
Jake Loewenthal and Erin Lindsey Krom. Photo by Rich Wagner.
Krom’s Sally is
perky enough, although it is only with her final number, “Cabaret,” that we
truly get to see the fear and uncertainty that lurks beneath the bright, brash
surface. Playing off her, Lowenthal’s Cliff is solid and earnest, with just the
right touch of American naïveté. As the doomed, elderly lovers Huber and
Buzzerio create some of the most touching moments in the show – you believe
they really are who they are portraying and hence feel all the more for them at
the end.
If you decide to
come to the cabaret – and you should – be prepared to be entertained, but also
be prepared to be challenged and just a bit discomfited. “Mary Poppins” it
ain’t.
The show runs
through July 21. For tickets or more information call 860-523-5900 X 10 or go
to www.playhouseonpark.org.
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