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
Sat, 17 May 2003, 01:25 pmAnthony Harwood wrote:
> ...why not stage it in an appropriate
> theatre? So what not big enuff crowds? They'd still make
> money and people could actually enjoy the show
No, they probably wouldn't make their money, unless they charged even more for the tickets - and they're slugging $70 per ticket as it is. Granted, Burswood doesn't cost much to hire (who'd use it otherwise?) but they still have to pay the sizeable cast and crew at Equity rates, plus living away allowance, plus provide Equity standard accommodation (or equivalent living fee), plus their airfares, plus set transportation...it goes on. And being International Concert Attractions, I'm sure they do want to make a tidy profit, but if that means they're able to keep bringing us rippers like The Trocks and The Hollow Crown (both also ludicrously priced, but worth every cent), then I don't mind sitting through, and paying for, a sub-standard Cabaret, to be honest. I guess better known shows like Cabaret are going to be their bigger audience pullers too, since Mr & Mrs 'Ooh Todd's Wearing a Frock!', have heard of it unlike The Trocks or Sir Derek.
> Drive carefully everyone and watch out for Turtles hogging
> the roads!!!
Find help, and quickly.
And to pick up on a point of Simon's that I didn't address:
> The movie of Cabaret has done damage to the real show. It's
> not glitter and gold. The real story is nasty.
Are we talking about the same movie here? That film still gives me the horrors and I've seen it an awful lot. Yes, Liza wears a few pretty frocks, but the Kit-Kat girls are pretty feral - I think Sam Mendes' costumes are a nod to the ripped undies, hickies, and ghoulish make-up of the film. Bob Fosse's choreography (especially for Money) is gloriously depraved - I think even more so because he completely understates it, whereas Rob Marshall appeared to go for let's-grab-the-crotch-and-show-our-botties-lots which I thought was great for the first few numbers, but got a little tedious after a while. I seem to recall the dog of the young Jewish aristocratic woman being strangled by Hitler youth and left on her doorsteop. Sally still had her abortion in the film, smoked opium, and the hideously chilling 'If You Could See Her Through My Eyes' is also in there. Tomorrow Belongs to Me sung by a beautiful blonde tenor, then having the camera pan slowly back to reveal his red armband? Gives me chills thinking about it. And that final shot of the swastikas, dotted around the room, reflected in the wall of the Kit Kat club is one of the great scenes of film history. We must talk soon so you can remind me of the glitzy, toned down bits, because to be honest, I can't really think of any.
The other strength I think the film has, and this is compared to the stage version of the script as a whole, not the Sam Mendes one specifically, is I prefer the sub-plot of the younger, afore mentioned Jewish aristocratic woman becoming involved with the other student that Cliff/Brian/Chris takes on, who we find out later is a Jew in hiding - not least of which is because it's true. These were two people who actually existed and who Christopher Issherwood (the real man behind Cliff) wrote about in his memoirs. I'm quite puzzled as to why they turned it into the older couple for the stage which, I felt, never really made the point it was trying to (or was that just Judi and Henry? I never once believed they were in love, to be honest, and that they just decided to get married because they were old and lonely). And their songs are highly forgettable - I KNOW you agree with me on that Simon, although I warmed to 'Married' once Nadine 'Marlene' Garner chimed in. I'm not exactly sure why Sam Mendes felt he had to pull them out of the trunk for this production because, in my opinion, they add nothing.
That's all I have to say for this hour...
[%sig%]
> ...why not stage it in an appropriate
> theatre? So what not big enuff crowds? They'd still make
> money and people could actually enjoy the show
No, they probably wouldn't make their money, unless they charged even more for the tickets - and they're slugging $70 per ticket as it is. Granted, Burswood doesn't cost much to hire (who'd use it otherwise?) but they still have to pay the sizeable cast and crew at Equity rates, plus living away allowance, plus provide Equity standard accommodation (or equivalent living fee), plus their airfares, plus set transportation...it goes on. And being International Concert Attractions, I'm sure they do want to make a tidy profit, but if that means they're able to keep bringing us rippers like The Trocks and The Hollow Crown (both also ludicrously priced, but worth every cent), then I don't mind sitting through, and paying for, a sub-standard Cabaret, to be honest. I guess better known shows like Cabaret are going to be their bigger audience pullers too, since Mr & Mrs 'Ooh Todd's Wearing a Frock!', have heard of it unlike The Trocks or Sir Derek.
> Drive carefully everyone and watch out for Turtles hogging
> the roads!!!
Find help, and quickly.
And to pick up on a point of Simon's that I didn't address:
> The movie of Cabaret has done damage to the real show. It's
> not glitter and gold. The real story is nasty.
Are we talking about the same movie here? That film still gives me the horrors and I've seen it an awful lot. Yes, Liza wears a few pretty frocks, but the Kit-Kat girls are pretty feral - I think Sam Mendes' costumes are a nod to the ripped undies, hickies, and ghoulish make-up of the film. Bob Fosse's choreography (especially for Money) is gloriously depraved - I think even more so because he completely understates it, whereas Rob Marshall appeared to go for let's-grab-the-crotch-and-show-our-botties-lots which I thought was great for the first few numbers, but got a little tedious after a while. I seem to recall the dog of the young Jewish aristocratic woman being strangled by Hitler youth and left on her doorsteop. Sally still had her abortion in the film, smoked opium, and the hideously chilling 'If You Could See Her Through My Eyes' is also in there. Tomorrow Belongs to Me sung by a beautiful blonde tenor, then having the camera pan slowly back to reveal his red armband? Gives me chills thinking about it. And that final shot of the swastikas, dotted around the room, reflected in the wall of the Kit Kat club is one of the great scenes of film history. We must talk soon so you can remind me of the glitzy, toned down bits, because to be honest, I can't really think of any.
The other strength I think the film has, and this is compared to the stage version of the script as a whole, not the Sam Mendes one specifically, is I prefer the sub-plot of the younger, afore mentioned Jewish aristocratic woman becoming involved with the other student that Cliff/Brian/Chris takes on, who we find out later is a Jew in hiding - not least of which is because it's true. These were two people who actually existed and who Christopher Issherwood (the real man behind Cliff) wrote about in his memoirs. I'm quite puzzled as to why they turned it into the older couple for the stage which, I felt, never really made the point it was trying to (or was that just Judi and Henry? I never once believed they were in love, to be honest, and that they just decided to get married because they were old and lonely). And their songs are highly forgettable - I KNOW you agree with me on that Simon, although I warmed to 'Married' once Nadine 'Marlene' Garner chimed in. I'm not exactly sure why Sam Mendes felt he had to pull them out of the trunk for this production because, in my opinion, they add nothing.
That's all I have to say for this hour...
[%sig%]
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