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Post by pi on Oct 13, 2024 8:49:34 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Oct 13, 2024 17:33:50 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Oct 13, 2024 17:48:19 GMT -5
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Post by Jablea on Oct 13, 2024 19:29:34 GMT -5
Unfortunately most of his review is redacted, but he gave it 10/10. "It certainly exceeded my expectations, and I'm happy to award it 10 stars out of 10." If you have a reddit account you can click on each blacked out spoiler section and it will reveal itself. |
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Post by girldrummer on Oct 13, 2024 20:35:19 GMT -5
I do hope someone brings over the entire review that was so redacted. Sounds like this person was pleasantly surprised, even overwhelmed by the show. I'd love know what he thought about Adam in particular. 10 out of 10, I assume.
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nonotme
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Post by nonotme on Oct 13, 2024 21:41:46 GMT -5
I do not have a reddit account. However, when I clicked on the redacted lines paragraph by paragraph I could read the material. Give it a try. I hope it works for others.
peace&love
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Post by pi on Oct 13, 2024 21:50:14 GMT -5
BIG SPOILER ALERT! Detailed review of the show.
An In Depth Ten Star Review of Cabaret at the Kit Cat Club starring Adam Lambert, Auli'i Cravalho, and Bebe Neuwirth on Oct 7, 2024, 7:30pm
I am going to preface this review with a couple of things that very well could have influenced my experience in a positive way. The first is that I won the lottery on Luckyseat and the next day I found out that not only was I seeing this show for $25, I was going to be seated at a table in the second row from the stage. The second is before the show I took 15 mg of edible THC, followed by another 5 at intermission. What follows is filled to the brim with spoilers, as this show has been around for long enough that I expect enough people to know the plot. If you don't want the story to be revealed I wouldn't read this (and if you've only seen the movie, let me warn you that there are significant differences to the stage version). This is mainly to address why this show holds a place in my heart and why I thought this particular production did it so well, and to hear what other people who saw it agree with and disagree with.
Without further ado: Cabaret is a show that means so much to me. This is a musical that is so full up with catchy bangers that someone could easily be caught off guard by the plot if they only knew the music, which is possible since a few of the songs are very famous... but the tragic and disturbing plot is why I love this show so much. This is not a night out to escape reality with Roxie and Velma in Chicago. Cabaret is real. It makes you feel something, and it hurts. I say this having never seen it live on stage before. I have seen the Sam Mendes production starring Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming on YouTube, and I've seen the Bob Fosse film from 1972 starring Liza Minelli, Michael York and Joel Grey which I'm surprised has never been remade to this day, but I digress: the point is I'd never seen this musical performed live on stage before.
I'll be honest, originally when I saw the casting of Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee and Gayle Rankin as Sally I was perplexed, and I wasn't in any hurry to see it. Months went by and I figured if I win the lottery, I'll see it. Then Adam Lambert and Auli'i Cravalho were announced as the new lead actors and I had the reaction I guess a lot of people had for Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin... and at this point I finally won the lottery! I had heard that people who win that lottery have a chance at getting a table by the stage but I never thought that would be me, but it was. So I called my fellow theater head friend to man this table with me and finally watch this show which I was aware got very mixed reviews (although I didn't look into any of them in depth), and what we saw was glorious. Initially you walk through an alleyway before an usher puts a sticker over your phone camera. Then you get inside a good looking theater and you're offered a free little shot of Schnapps (which I declined, and I'm told by my friend wasn't very good). Before the show you can walk around and see some cool albeit confusing dance numbers downstairs. I still wonder how it connected to the show... it certainly didn't feel like we were in a Cabaret in 1930. However, as we took our seats about 5 minutes before the show a band took over the stage playing a Gypsy style tune that felt relevant to the place and time period we were about to be immersed in, and served as a call for the audience to take their seats.
From the opening number you are given a very warm 'Wilkommen' to the club, with the Emcee giving an individual introduction to each of the ensemble performers, before they all join in for the final chorus which I found emotionally overwhelming. You'd easily be fooled that everything is alright, but when Cliff is given an eerie 'Welcome to Berlin' by the ensemble it's clear that something is wrong. We remain distracted from the looming dread over the first hour with Bebe Neuwirth's rendition of 'So What' (her appearance on stage was given well deserved applause) and the introduction of Sally Boles with the nostalgic 'Don't Tell Mama' and a near showstopper version of 'Mein Herr'. The romance between Cliff and Sally develops with 'Perfectly Marvelous' with the Emcee accompanying the arrangement with 'Two Ladies'.
Everything seems fine at this point, and the positive vibes reach their height with what might be the loveliest piece of music in the show. It's officially titled 'It Couldn't Please Me More' but I have always known the song as 'Pineapple'. The romance between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz is my favorite plot line in this show, and I think removing it in the film for the sake of Liza Minelli's screen time was a significant mistake. This relationship is what is so moving and heartbreaking about Cabaret, because it's doomed from the get go, and it starts off with a song that makes you feel like absolutely everything will be alright... but the moment they decide to form a relationship we are reminded this is Berlin in 1930, and Adam Lambert emerges to sing 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me'. He is no longer in his Emcee attire. It is so beautiful, but it is so haunting.
I have to hand it to Kander and Ebb. This song is so catchy, but it sounds like a tune that would be sung by a fascist group! This is not a song you want to be humming days after the show, but it's just too catchy to forget. The timeframe between the start of 'Pineapple' and the end of 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me' is genuinely some of the best theater I've ever seen and I don't think it was just the drugs that gave me this experience. You go from 'what could possibly go wrong?' to 'oh my god we are so f**ked" in minutes. Adam Lambert walked off the stage to no applause, and I found this very appropriate.
Then it's time for the one so many have been waiting for, and Auli'i Cravalho doesn't disappoint with her admittedly timid version of 'Maybe This Time' upon revealing to Cliff that she is pregnant, which Cliff has a very positive reaction to. Cravalho takes this opportunity not to show off her vocal pipes, but her acting which I think is very important for this number. It doesn't have to be, and I don't think it should be a show stopper. That comes in Act 2. This is followed by a slowed down version of 'Money' which I adored for giving Adam Lambert yet another opportunity to exhibit his vocal talent (and another costume, even farther from his original attire). We're treated to another tender song between the elderly lovebirds with 'Married' before the mask of what's happening at this time in Germany is ripped off entirely as the entire ensemble joins in for a reprise of 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me' at a party meant to celebrate the engagement of Fraulein Schneider (German, presumably Christian background) to Herr Schultz (German Jew). You can now undoubtedly pinpoint why this song has such an eerie vibe: it is an anthem of the Nazis as they rise to power in the early 1930s.
Act 2 begins with a dance number courtesy of the Kit Cat Club ensemble led by the ensemble, but there is a much less welcoming vibe this time as they perform a Nazi-themed kickline. The Weimar Republic's days are numbered, and Cliff is very wary of what's happening while Sally remains oblivious, seemingly by choice. The brutal reality sets in as Herr Schultz' room is attacked by who he insists are foolish schoolchildren, but he knows this isn't true and so does Fraulein Schneider. Schultz and the Emcee (now dressed in frightening, menacing clown-like attire) make eye contact. The Emcee at this point is not a person but a presence representing the shift into Nazi Germany, and he is coming for Schultz, who runs off. This is followed up with yet another extremely catchy, yet so filthy number with 'If You Could See Her' where it is directly illustrated how the Nazis (represented by the Emcee) viewed the Jewish people. Herr Schultz' line not too long before might be the most heartbreaking in the entire show: "you would be married to a Jew, but a German the same as any other German."
If only he had known how false this statement was. Schneider calls off the marriage and leaves Schultz out of fear for her own life, and when Sally & Cliff implore her to reconsider she asks them the simple question: 'What Would You Do?' and vows to survive whatever is coming before walking off stage for the last time, inviting fitting applause from the audience. Sally and Cliff fight over what's happening in Germany, Cliff says they need to leave for America the next day while Sally says her career is there in Berlin. Sally's denial of what is happening is commented on by the Emcee, who emerges in attire that marks the full transformation of the country into Nazi Germany, singing 'I Don't Care Much' which was Adam Lambert's shining moment of the night. I cannot describe accurately how moved I was by his performance of this song. It takes a lot to make me cry, but this came very close, and it's followed up with the show stopper of the night: Sally Boles' rendition of the title song 'Cabaret' which marks her choice to remain the star of the club as opposed to running away to America to have a baby with Cliff.
Auli'i Cravalho absolutely owned this song, and was rewarded with applause that lasted over a minute and a few people giving a standing ovation. I'm still thinking about it a week later. What I didn't like was there was no appropriate moment to applaud Adam Lambert before that. The guy made me shiver in my seat.
Sally and Cliff break up after she reveals she's aborted her pregnancy and chosen to stay in Berlin, telling Cliff she truly believes he would have been a good father. Herr Schultz again vows that he will survive what is coming as although he is a Jew, he is a German with the same rights as any other German. He walks off the stage to no applause, which I thought was perfect. This good man is going to die. You want him to flee the country the same as Cliff, but he chooses to stay. It is painful to watch. The only one who realizes what's going on AND gets away is Cliff. Finally, the Emcee in generic Nazi attire bids the audience 'Auf Wiedersehen' with the finale as the ensemble appears one last time in the same attire for the final drum roll before the lights fade to black.
I adored this production. I will say that I think I was seated on the better 'side' of the house. The August Wilson Theater has been edited a bit to form the Kit Cat Club, so audience members are sitting all around the center stage. I felt like the actors were facing my side more than not, which makes me wonder if people on the other side had a negative experience. I was very impressed with Auli'i Cravalho, it was great to see a legend like Bebe Neuwirth show she's still got it, Steven Skybell easily kept up with the lead actors as Herr Schultz, easily the biggest single victim of this musical, Calvin Leon Smith gave a great performance as Cliff, and Adam Lambert was just STUNNING. I know it was controversial, but I was a fan of the way they used the Emcee to depict the society's descent into fascism as the musical went on and Adam Lambert was an excellent choice for the role. I've heard that there are concerns about this show continuing into 2025 but I don't think the vast majority of people would regret going to see it, even though most aren't as excited about the new lead actors as I am. Would I have had the same experience had I not been seated at a table by the stage for $25 with a heavy dose of THC? It's a valid question, but I do believe this production did a great job putting on such an important musical despite those factors. Cabaret is a very relevant and important musical, and I say it was done very well in this revival. I hope Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club continues into Summer 2025. It certainly exceeded my expectations, and I'm happy to award it 10 stars out of 10.
www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/1g2w36c/an_in_depth_ten_star_review_of_cabaret_at_the_kit/
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Post by pi on Oct 13, 2024 21:54:19 GMT -5
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Post by pi on Oct 14, 2024 1:53:45 GMT -5
www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/1g33xej/cabaret_adam_lambert/This is a current review posted 6 hr. ago. Cabaret & Adam Lambert
Hey all, I'm not going to do an indepth review like I sometimes do because the show has now been around long enough that there's plenty other good reviews on here to read through. Plus, I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the play (30 years of musicals and yesterday was literally the first time I've ever seen Cabaret.... I know i know). The songs were great, the set and costumes were immaculate, and the actors were by and large very good. But the story was... I don't know... disjointed? But I know it's beloved play so I won't dwell on that here. What i do want to say is this: I have never much cared for Adam Lambert. This goes back to American Idol and him making a comment that implied he only lost because he was gay... which I thought was just so asinine and reductive to an important cause. I watched that whole season and he was simply the second best on the show (future careers not taken into account). As such, I've never listened to him with Queen (though I suspect he's actually really good at that). So, it's with a pretty healthy dose of happy surprise that I can say he was phenomenal. Not just his voice (which I knew was good but he actually had far more control of the soft notes than I thought), but also his acting was excellent. For me, relative to the rest of the cast, he absolutely stole the show. I am now a big fan and hope this is not his last Broadway show. I think, if he wants it, he absolutely can win a Tony in his future. Panda_RocketI 100% agree with your assessment of Adam Lambert. I just saw this with my close friend, and we specifically waited for after Eddie Redmayne because we were not impressed by the Tony's performance. We had no idea who would replace him, and when we first heard it was going to be Adam Lambert, we had mixed feelings. We knew he was theatrical and had a great voice, but in terms of performing our only frame of reference was Glee. In this... he was INCREDIBLE. Truly unbelievable. I found myself tearing up multiple times. As horrifying as the song is, when he sings Tomorrow Belongs to Me the first time, a capella with just backup vocals, it was unparalleled. At intermission, my friend and I turned to each other to discuss and we both said "this part was made for him and it's hard to picture anyone else in this role." He played everything perfectly, it was both delightful and chilling. He captured every tone, and sang beautifully. We're so glad to have had the privilege to see it. zilfranYeah, honestly, while there was certainly other talent on the stage, it almost seemed like there wasn't based on how much he outshined all of them. Every scene he was in was way better than every scene he wasn't in. Queenv918Adam is absolutely captivating in this role. I wanted him to be on stage for every single moment of the show. Apprehensive_Cow_118He nails this role.
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quackn
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Post by quackn on Oct 14, 2024 5:05:20 GMT -5
I didn't read the Reddit review because I didn't want to know the entire show, however, I did read the short second review. I am perplexed. I don't recall Adam ever saying he lost because he was gay. As a matter of fact, at the time, I recall him saying the opposite. The media kept pushing the "gay" reason. It was only years later after millions of the same do you think you lost becaise you were gay question he said yeah, maybe. And he was clearly the second best singer on the show? Really? - Anyhow, glad this guy came around is is now seeing what he had missed all these years. Loved that he thinks Adam could win a Tony. We all know how good he is. I am hoping this will open the eyes to the rest of America.The talent just oozes out of him.
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