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 vs Camera
Wed, 21 May 2003, 11:09 amWalter Plinge
Amanda Chesterton wrote:
> 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...
Ah...
Amanda, you lovely literate thing you!
I've always thought that Cabaret the film was not really a version of the stage show, it definitely comes across more as a film of "I Am A Camera" with the songs from Cabaret inserted for good measure.
And that is where I think it's strength lies.
Lets be honest here, dramatically Camera is a far more powerful version of Isherwood's original than Cabaret is, it's just that the songs are so catchy.
When talking about definitve Sally Bowles, apparently Liza was nothing as compared to Judi Dench in the original English Production.
As to the old couple.
The landlady was originally played by Lotte Lenya, the wife of composer Kurt Weill (Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, One Touch of Venus, etc). A real live Berlin cabaret singer from that period, and a star at that!
One wonders whether the chance to cast Lenya in the show wasn't the driving force behind beefing her character up considerably from the original.
The clincher for me is the love duet about the pineapple. One cannot help but wonder whether it is almost a blatant reference to Weill's "Der Silbersee", where a pineapple is also used as a major plot device.
I didn't see the recent production on the strength of comments from a friend who saw it in Melbourne. To quote: "Sally Bowles is supposed to be a talentless nobody who can't really sing trying desperately to make a name for herself, Lisa McCune was perfectly cast!" [saucer of milk, table two!] As far as he was concerned the best part of the show was the perv value of the guy from Human Nature playing the Emcee.
Call me old fashioned, call me a closet case, but sometimes I prefer my gay subtexts to BE subtexts, it makes me feel smarter than the average bear.
The X-Men movies, now THAT'S what I call a real gay subtext!!!!
Am looking forward to someone doing "I Am A Camera" in Perth again. I was in it last time up at Marloo, and it is a truly great play. And I wouldn't mind being given the chance to SEE it this time.
[warning to actors considering it - the part of Chris is almost NEVER offstage, even when he's got nothing to do!]
BTW I've also often felt that "Breakfast at Tiffany's was also just another version of "I Am A Camera", Holly Golightly and Sally Bowles the same character? think about it!
Paul Treasure
> 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...
Ah...
Amanda, you lovely literate thing you!
I've always thought that Cabaret the film was not really a version of the stage show, it definitely comes across more as a film of "I Am A Camera" with the songs from Cabaret inserted for good measure.
And that is where I think it's strength lies.
Lets be honest here, dramatically Camera is a far more powerful version of Isherwood's original than Cabaret is, it's just that the songs are so catchy.
When talking about definitve Sally Bowles, apparently Liza was nothing as compared to Judi Dench in the original English Production.
As to the old couple.
The landlady was originally played by Lotte Lenya, the wife of composer Kurt Weill (Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, One Touch of Venus, etc). A real live Berlin cabaret singer from that period, and a star at that!
One wonders whether the chance to cast Lenya in the show wasn't the driving force behind beefing her character up considerably from the original.
The clincher for me is the love duet about the pineapple. One cannot help but wonder whether it is almost a blatant reference to Weill's "Der Silbersee", where a pineapple is also used as a major plot device.
I didn't see the recent production on the strength of comments from a friend who saw it in Melbourne. To quote: "Sally Bowles is supposed to be a talentless nobody who can't really sing trying desperately to make a name for herself, Lisa McCune was perfectly cast!" [saucer of milk, table two!] As far as he was concerned the best part of the show was the perv value of the guy from Human Nature playing the Emcee.
Call me old fashioned, call me a closet case, but sometimes I prefer my gay subtexts to BE subtexts, it makes me feel smarter than the average bear.
The X-Men movies, now THAT'S what I call a real gay subtext!!!!
Am looking forward to someone doing "I Am A Camera" in Perth again. I was in it last time up at Marloo, and it is a truly great play. And I wouldn't mind being given the chance to SEE it this time.
[warning to actors considering it - the part of Chris is almost NEVER offstage, even when he's got nothing to do!]
BTW I've also often felt that "Breakfast at Tiffany's was also just another version of "I Am A Camera", Holly Golightly and Sally Bowles the same character? think about it!
Paul Treasure
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