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, 12:12 pmPaul Treasure wrote:
> When talking about definitve Sally Bowles, apparently Liza
> was nothing as compared to Judi Dench in the original English
> Production.
I have heard this too, and would give my right arm (well...maybe my left...and then have it quickly re-attached) to be able to time warp and see this. Bitchy comments aside, I think this:
> "Sally Bowles is supposed to be a talentless nobody who can't
> really sing trying desperately to make a name for herself..."
...is what defines the casting of Sally for me. As soon as you put someone who is primarily a singer (Tina Arena, and, to a point, Rachel Beck) into this first and foremost, actors' role, you've already killed the production. If Sally can sing well, what the fark is she doing in the Kit-Kat Club and why would she have been fired?! This is why I love the Natasha Richardson recording - she can't sing (which for me adds to the tragedy of the story), but she gets the absolute guts of the text, and I'm sure the rest of it would have well and truly measured up.
> 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.
Here, here! (Hear, hear?) All, not just the gay thing, of what was originally subtext in Cabaret was brought well and truly to the fore in this production which I thought was a great shame (see my comment on the choreography in an earlier rant on this subject) - I think a general rule in theatre is that the power of suggestion is so much greater (and creepier and more depraved) than shoving it in our faces.
And crg, 'Two Ladies' was done with a boy and a girl (recent WAAPA music theatre grad, Sharni Page), not two boys, unless they did a one-off casting switch the night you were there!
[%sig%]
> When talking about definitve Sally Bowles, apparently Liza
> was nothing as compared to Judi Dench in the original English
> Production.
I have heard this too, and would give my right arm (well...maybe my left...and then have it quickly re-attached) to be able to time warp and see this. Bitchy comments aside, I think this:
> "Sally Bowles is supposed to be a talentless nobody who can't
> really sing trying desperately to make a name for herself..."
...is what defines the casting of Sally for me. As soon as you put someone who is primarily a singer (Tina Arena, and, to a point, Rachel Beck) into this first and foremost, actors' role, you've already killed the production. If Sally can sing well, what the fark is she doing in the Kit-Kat Club and why would she have been fired?! This is why I love the Natasha Richardson recording - she can't sing (which for me adds to the tragedy of the story), but she gets the absolute guts of the text, and I'm sure the rest of it would have well and truly measured up.
> 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.
Here, here! (Hear, hear?) All, not just the gay thing, of what was originally subtext in Cabaret was brought well and truly to the fore in this production which I thought was a great shame (see my comment on the choreography in an earlier rant on this subject) - I think a general rule in theatre is that the power of suggestion is so much greater (and creepier and more depraved) than shoving it in our faces.
And crg, 'Two Ladies' was done with a boy and a girl (recent WAAPA music theatre grad, Sharni Page), not two boys, unless they did a one-off casting switch the night you were there!
[%sig%]
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