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| Eric Scott Kincaid as the Emcee |
What
images come to mind when someone mentions the musical Cabaret? Well, most people are familiar with the 1972 film directed
by Bob Fosse that starred Liza Minelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. It was big,
it was flashy, especially given the distinctive Fosse choreography, and it
certainly “opened up” the 1966 Broadway show. In a way, it had an epic quality
to it, but somehow something got lost in the translation from stage to screen,
a sense of what the musical was really about. Yes, it captured the milieu of
Weimar Berlin’s decadence but what you probably remember most are the Fosse
production numbers. Well, if you travel to Music Theatre of Connecticut in
Norwalk you’ll experience a different Cabaret,
a more intimate two hours that focuses on the two “love” stories, if you can
call them that, and the darkness that descended on the world as the Nazis took
power in Germany.
As
directed by Kevin Connors, MTC’s executive artistic director and its
co-founder, this is, given the size of the venue, a scaled-down version of the
musical (for example, there are only two Kit Kat Klub girls), but that allows
the audience to focus on what is most important, which is the emotional
relationships of the show’s primary characters: Sally Bowles (Desiree Davar)
and Cliff Bradshaw (Nicolas Dromard), and Fraulein Schneider (Anne Kanengeiser)
and Herr Shultz (Jim Schilling). The musical numbers
written by John Kander and Fred Webb, take on deeper meanings, especially so
for the show’s signature song, “Cabaret,” sung by Sally.
Set in
Berlin in the 1930s, and based on Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin, it begins with Bradshaw’s arrival in Berlin
after meeting the somewhat mysterious Ernst Ludwig (Andrew Foote) on a train.
Bradshaw is quickly introduced to Berlin’s demi
monde as represented by the Kit Kat Klub, with its gender-challenging Emcee
(Eric Scott Kincaid) and “the toast of Mayfair,” Sally Bowes.
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| Desiree Davar as Sally Bowles |
The
inherent decadence of the era (and the denial of what is occurring in Germany
as the Nazis rise to power), is captured in the opening number, “Willkommen,”
sung in a suggestive, sensuous manner by Kincaid. The song suggests that the
Klub’s patrons can disregard the growing ugliness of the real world because
everything is “beautiful” inside the confines of the Klub.
Sally
is quickly drawn to Cliff, and in a song that borders on despair mixed with
hope (“Maybe this Time”, a song Davar delivers with a great deal of controlled
emotion), her character is established: she is a tarnished dreamer, a romantic
in a world ruled by harsh reality, because “everybody loves a winner, so nobody
loves me.”
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| Nicolas Dromard as Cliff Bradshaw |
Cliff
finds lodgings in a boardinghouse run by Fraulein Schneider, and this allows
for the introduction of the second plot line, for Herr Shultz also rooms there,
and he, though shy, is smitten with his landlady. Since he is an importer and
seller of fruit, Shultz, who is Jewish, woos Schneider with fruit, and
eventually proposes via a pineapple, leading to Kanengeiser and Schilling
creating a moving moment as they sing the tender ballad, “Married.”
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| Anne Kanengeiser and Jim Schilling |
Many
familiar with the various iterations of the musical may be disappointed that
songs they expect to hear have been excised from this production. Missing, for
example, are “Mein Herr” and “Money,” but this production can be viewed as a
drama with music, with the emphasis on drama. As such, the focus on denial
becomes crystal-clear: Fraulein Schneider turns away from her intended husband
because of the growing anti-Semitism in Germany; Herr Shultz denies the danger
he is in by claiming that nothing bad can happen to him because he is, after
all, German; Sally opts to reject Cliff’s offer to go with him to America
because she cannot embrace happiness and, instead, clings to the false world
that is the cabaret. The only character who seems to accept the inherent
tawdriness of Weimar Berlin is Fraulein Kost (the frisky Hillary Ekwall), the
other Kit Kat Klub girl. She services sailors to pay her rent, with an attitude
that this is just the way of the world – people use each other just to get by.
MTC’s production of Cabaret may not be what many patrons had been anticipating, but to
truly enjoy and understand what Connors has crafted it’s necessary to set aside
preconceived notions, for it is essentially a perceptive character study of
four people caught up in a world that is becoming darker by the moment. Hence,
when Sally sings “Cabaret” near the end of the show it is not a glowing tribute
to a certain lifestyle but rather a desperate attempt to justify that
lifestyle, to justify denial. After all, “Life is a cabaret,” isn’t it?
This
is, in essence, a dark story, emphasized by RJ Romeo’s lighting scheme. Carousel had its dark moments, but they
were balanced against the show’s closing number, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Such is not the case with Cabaret,
for several of the main characters do, in fact, in the end walk alone to their
doom. Kudos to Connors and the cast for bringing to life a disturbing, moving
tale of lost souls in a world verging on madness, a story that suggests that
you can’t stay in the cabaret forever.
Cabaret runs through April 14. For
tickets or more information go to www.musictheatreofct.com
or call 203-454-3883.
