Reviews for 'Cabaret' revival, mixed at best

(Photo: Marc Brenner)

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

On Sunday, the much anticipated (and expensive) revival of ‘Cabaret’ opened on Broadway.

The production stars Eddie Redmayne as the 'Emcee', Gayle Rankin as 'Sally Bowles', Bebe Neuwirth as 'Fraulein Schneider, Ato Blankson-Wood as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz,’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and Natascia Diaz as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’

Directed by Rebecca Frecknall, this revival received much acclaim on the West End, where it ran last year. Given its success overseas, many thought it would continue that success once it opened on 42nd Street.

Much of the audience reactions I’ve seen have been positive. However, some also pointed out that the show doesn’t come close to being worth the ticket price ($600 for orchestra seats). There have also been reports of an incident involving an audience member grabbing Redmayne in the middle of the performance.

Yesterday, the review embargo was lifted, and critics had the chance to state their thoughts on the show. Let’s say their reactions were mixed.

Some were kind. Emlyn Travis of Entertainment Weekly said,

“Rankin is nothing short of spectacular as the ostentatious performer, knowing when turn on her character's charming nature and when to pull back the curtain to reveal a weariness that makes it feel as if life's hardships have been weighing on her shoulders for centuries. Still, when the curtain lifts and the spotlight beams down upon her, Rankin ensures that Sally transforms into an unforgettable star with her coquettish performances of "Don't Tell Mama" and "Mein Herr."“

Tim Teeman of The Daily Beast was also positive when he said,

“The excellent Redmayne’s first appearance sees his body twist and contort as he leads that “Wilkommen.” He leers, inspects, points and stares at us, ingeniously filleting every part of the Emcee’s role: a kind of otherworldly, morally questionable sprite of mischief, playful, pantomime narrator, and stricken clown who knows too much about the horrors of Nazism that Henry Gottfried’s Ernst Ludwig comes to represent (his transition from suave smuggler to stone-cold bigot is appositely stark).”

Others weren’t so kind. In fact, some had some pretty extremely negative reactions to the piece.

Adam Feldman of TimeOut said,

“Great expectations can be a problem when you’re seeing a Broadway show: You don’t always get what you hope for. It’s all too easy to expect great things when the show is a masterpiece like Cabaret: an exhilarating and ultimately chilling depiction of Berlin in the early 1930s that has been made into a classic movie and was revived exquisitely less than a decade ago. The risk of disappointment is even larger when the cast includes many actors you admire—led by Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee of the show’s decadent Kit Kat Club—and when the production arrives, as this one has, on a wave of raves from London. To guard against this problem, I made an active effort to lower my expectations before seeing the latest version of Cabaret. But my lowered expectations failed. They weren’t low enough.”

And Chris Jones in his review for the New York Daily News said,

“You may look at all this differently. But I have to say that selling a dinner “upgrade” to the “Pineapple Room” offends me. That fruit is what Herr Schultz offers to his love, prior to being shipped off to a concentration camp, or so the show strongly implies, given that he is already in the Nazis’ sights. In this show, fruit is a symbol of generosity and love in a world of horrors. It’s not a flavor of costly cocktail nor a high-end status symbol. How gross.”

As I mentioned before, this is pretty consistent with the audience reactions I’ve seen thus far. The show is good, but not great. Is it worth a $200-$600 ticket? Absolutely not.