Cabaret
Fri, 16 May 2003, 12:14 amAHarwood23 posts in thread
Cabaret
Fri, 16 May 2003, 12:14 amHiya,
Now I hate giving negative reviews.. But I just saw one show and I just can not keep my mouth shut.
Cabaret.
My god. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Bored!!!
Ok first of all. Todd Surprised me. I expected Boy from oz and got a pretty decent Emcee. Vocally and Physically good. He performed well.
The real let down? The story of Cliff and Sally.
Oh MY GOD!!!
The guys from Pageant know what I'd say about their performances.. It was - (LET ME HEAR YA MICHAEL AND DREW) BULL%#$^
Talk about half assed and lacking any 1. Emotion. 2. Stage Presence. 3. Flair or anything remotely interesting.
Like that song from Buffy and like what I saw the young lad in Mamma Mia in Sydney doing - Going through the motions. Done it before and doin it again is how it felt.
He was so stereotypically American with annoying register to boot (prolly direction I dunno). He looked down or was covered face wise for half the show - the half he was in - And lacked any spunk or credibility. Just a whining git if ya ask me.(I should know cos I am one myself) Which would explain why Young Ms Beck's Sally Bowles would go for him. SHe lacked any Pezazz herself. Some nice moments but ultimately a let down and hard to watch without the eyes wandering onto my star of the show and Drew's gonna love me - TEXAS!!!!. She rocked. So much power and stage presence. I was in awe of her confidence and her verasity. SHe really got into it.
I honestly don't think Tina or Lisa could have done any better - but that comes from recycling good little Kathy Seldon types for the meaty roles such as Sally. You want someone to play a tough as nails slutty type who loves sleeping round and being promiscuous. Get a woman who can do it - like Liza. Though theres prolly no beating her.
You can't base a show like this on a goody two shoes type and a man who never shows his face.
The rest of the cast were great! Frau and Frauline were brilliant though Nadine Rocked the show especially with her Act One send off. The first Lead performer (besides Todd) who gave it an oomph. But too late for me and I think a lot of the audience. By the time Act Two came round, people were noticeably fidgeting and coughing. Never a good sign and my eyes were wandering to take in the ceiling of the Burswood theatre, wondering who would survive if the place caught on fire. - Sounds silly but it's true. I was that bored.
The sets were brilliant, the band rocked as did the dancers. But that was half the problem.. They were two good and outshone the stars on several occassions.
Like the supporting casts and the band - I;'d like to see more cycling through of actors for the leads, rather than seeing people who are talented, but not suited to the cast be sent back over to us time after time.
All up - I've seen better shows done around Perth with seamless dialogue that didn't drag, people held captivated by the production and a portion of the production values. And they've been "Amateurs".
I know I wasn't the only one to feel this way and I wish now I had seen David Gardette's Verison of the show (this was the first time I've seen Cabaret the whole way through but from the snippets I've seen I desired more).
It's not the worst show, but far from the best I have seen.
GO TEXAS!!!!!
[%sig%]
Now I hate giving negative reviews.. But I just saw one show and I just can not keep my mouth shut.
Cabaret.
My god. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Bored!!!
Ok first of all. Todd Surprised me. I expected Boy from oz and got a pretty decent Emcee. Vocally and Physically good. He performed well.
The real let down? The story of Cliff and Sally.
Oh MY GOD!!!
The guys from Pageant know what I'd say about their performances.. It was - (LET ME HEAR YA MICHAEL AND DREW) BULL%#$^
Talk about half assed and lacking any 1. Emotion. 2. Stage Presence. 3. Flair or anything remotely interesting.
Like that song from Buffy and like what I saw the young lad in Mamma Mia in Sydney doing - Going through the motions. Done it before and doin it again is how it felt.
He was so stereotypically American with annoying register to boot (prolly direction I dunno). He looked down or was covered face wise for half the show - the half he was in - And lacked any spunk or credibility. Just a whining git if ya ask me.(I should know cos I am one myself) Which would explain why Young Ms Beck's Sally Bowles would go for him. SHe lacked any Pezazz herself. Some nice moments but ultimately a let down and hard to watch without the eyes wandering onto my star of the show and Drew's gonna love me - TEXAS!!!!. She rocked. So much power and stage presence. I was in awe of her confidence and her verasity. SHe really got into it.
I honestly don't think Tina or Lisa could have done any better - but that comes from recycling good little Kathy Seldon types for the meaty roles such as Sally. You want someone to play a tough as nails slutty type who loves sleeping round and being promiscuous. Get a woman who can do it - like Liza. Though theres prolly no beating her.
You can't base a show like this on a goody two shoes type and a man who never shows his face.
The rest of the cast were great! Frau and Frauline were brilliant though Nadine Rocked the show especially with her Act One send off. The first Lead performer (besides Todd) who gave it an oomph. But too late for me and I think a lot of the audience. By the time Act Two came round, people were noticeably fidgeting and coughing. Never a good sign and my eyes were wandering to take in the ceiling of the Burswood theatre, wondering who would survive if the place caught on fire. - Sounds silly but it's true. I was that bored.
The sets were brilliant, the band rocked as did the dancers. But that was half the problem.. They were two good and outshone the stars on several occassions.
Like the supporting casts and the band - I;'d like to see more cycling through of actors for the leads, rather than seeing people who are talented, but not suited to the cast be sent back over to us time after time.
All up - I've seen better shows done around Perth with seamless dialogue that didn't drag, people held captivated by the production and a portion of the production values. And they've been "Amateurs".
I know I wasn't the only one to feel this way and I wish now I had seen David Gardette's Verison of the show (this was the first time I've seen Cabaret the whole way through but from the snippets I've seen I desired more).
It's not the worst show, but far from the best I have seen.
GO TEXAS!!!!!
[%sig%]
Re: Cabaret
Fri, 16 May 2003, 02:45 pmLove you both, but I'm with Anthony on this one.
IMHO, I thought it was a very badly cast version of a very good production, in a completely inappropriate and oversized venue.
I was very familiar with this production prior to seeing it, so I knew exactly what to expect, and I was in the first few rows, but the cast just didn't fulfil my expectations.
When Anthony said, 'lack lustre', I don't think he meant he would rather have seen smiling, energetic, happy cabaret girls and boys. I agree with him actually - they were dingy, lolling and horrible the way they were meant to be, but they just lacked the *performance* energy required. If you notice, Todd had oodles of 'energy' - something you need even if you're playing a dead person on stage - but, was still lolling and disgusting (I also agree - he was better than I expected, but still not great). I actually think it has more to do with the fact that we're seeing the cast at the end of a year-long, eight-show-a-week run so they're tired, tired of the show, and it's showing - Todd's just come in so he's bright eyed and bushy tailed. Judi Connelli and Henry Szeps struck me as particularly lack lustre and slow on the uptake, mainly, I felt, because they're just tired. Having just finished a four and a half month, three-show-a-day touring show, I have some idea of what they feel like, and can fully understand where they're coming from. No matter how professional you are, there's no way of avoiding it, and there's really nothing they can do about it short of re-casting. That's our lot, unfortunately, of being in Perth and getting the ends of runs.
And I honestly thought Cliff was badly acted, although the head-down thing didn't bother me either - he's not meant to be whiny, and I actually think Ian Stenlake would be disappointed if he realised he was giving that impression. If you read 'I Am A Camera' the original play by John van Druten that Cabaret is based on, the character of Cliff (or in that case Chris, or in the case of the movie Brian) is a very intelligent and articulate man, observing the horror of what is happening around him, while at the same time coming to terms with his own sexuality. Nothing whiny about him at all. Just coz he don't sing, Simon, doesn't mean you can't like him ;-)
And Anthony, David Gardette's Cabaret was an unabashedly Sam Mendes tribute show. I think you'd find (and David, you'd acknowledge?) that it was a re-creation of the very production that's on at Burswood now, with, for once in Hackett Hall's life, an appropriately sized space, with very similar costuming. And probably a better cast.
I totally agree with Simon, though, that Nadine Garner should have played Sally. SHE'S kept up the performance energy, despite the long run, while still being horrible that I think Anthony was after, and had the guts, horror and history that Rachel Beck just couldn't get.
In my mind, though, no one can go past Natasha Richardson (NOTHING like Liza but just as good if not, dare I say, better) and Alan Cummings on the Broadway cast recording. That is what music theatre is all about to me - no beautiful voices, but getting to the absolute guts of the text, which is what the Sam Mendes production (but not this Perth leg of it) is all about.
[%sig%]
IMHO, I thought it was a very badly cast version of a very good production, in a completely inappropriate and oversized venue.
I was very familiar with this production prior to seeing it, so I knew exactly what to expect, and I was in the first few rows, but the cast just didn't fulfil my expectations.
When Anthony said, 'lack lustre', I don't think he meant he would rather have seen smiling, energetic, happy cabaret girls and boys. I agree with him actually - they were dingy, lolling and horrible the way they were meant to be, but they just lacked the *performance* energy required. If you notice, Todd had oodles of 'energy' - something you need even if you're playing a dead person on stage - but, was still lolling and disgusting (I also agree - he was better than I expected, but still not great). I actually think it has more to do with the fact that we're seeing the cast at the end of a year-long, eight-show-a-week run so they're tired, tired of the show, and it's showing - Todd's just come in so he's bright eyed and bushy tailed. Judi Connelli and Henry Szeps struck me as particularly lack lustre and slow on the uptake, mainly, I felt, because they're just tired. Having just finished a four and a half month, three-show-a-day touring show, I have some idea of what they feel like, and can fully understand where they're coming from. No matter how professional you are, there's no way of avoiding it, and there's really nothing they can do about it short of re-casting. That's our lot, unfortunately, of being in Perth and getting the ends of runs.
And I honestly thought Cliff was badly acted, although the head-down thing didn't bother me either - he's not meant to be whiny, and I actually think Ian Stenlake would be disappointed if he realised he was giving that impression. If you read 'I Am A Camera' the original play by John van Druten that Cabaret is based on, the character of Cliff (or in that case Chris, or in the case of the movie Brian) is a very intelligent and articulate man, observing the horror of what is happening around him, while at the same time coming to terms with his own sexuality. Nothing whiny about him at all. Just coz he don't sing, Simon, doesn't mean you can't like him ;-)
And Anthony, David Gardette's Cabaret was an unabashedly Sam Mendes tribute show. I think you'd find (and David, you'd acknowledge?) that it was a re-creation of the very production that's on at Burswood now, with, for once in Hackett Hall's life, an appropriately sized space, with very similar costuming. And probably a better cast.
I totally agree with Simon, though, that Nadine Garner should have played Sally. SHE'S kept up the performance energy, despite the long run, while still being horrible that I think Anthony was after, and had the guts, horror and history that Rachel Beck just couldn't get.
In my mind, though, no one can go past Natasha Richardson (NOTHING like Liza but just as good if not, dare I say, better) and Alan Cummings on the Broadway cast recording. That is what music theatre is all about to me - no beautiful voices, but getting to the absolute guts of the text, which is what the Sam Mendes production (but not this Perth leg of it) is all about.
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