Cabaret - Willoughby Theatre Co.

i saw the show last night and wholeheartedly agree with the above few comments - i was really let down by this perfomance and am less than impressed that i spent so much to see it! i think a large problem with the show was the theatre itself. the zenith has a small enough stage as it is without having a band on there. and yes WTC, we get that you have a great budget and can afford all those marvellous sets, but on a stage that small all it did was overwhelm, not impress. plus it looked like the stage crew had a hell of a job getting all the sets on and off the stage. the engagement party scene was thoroughly confusing for anyone who wasn't sitting in the middle section of the theatre, because there were so many dancers crowded into the centre of the stage that there was no way you could see the scenes going on at the sides. the kit kat girls had some great dancers among them, and they looked nice, but they seemed to forget that they are supposed to be dirty, gritty, and tarty! they all had their nice wigs, and their pretty frilly knickers on, but there was absolutely no sex to it! i think a lot of the cast had some brilliant potential, but i put it down to poor direction that they did not come off well. the emcee seemed like a clown for the majority of the show, and then when he suddenly gets serious in the finale it made no sense. cliff and sally tried, and cliff had a real, likeable quality to him, but as a couple they bored me. ernst bugged me - in previous productions i've seen, what i loved about the character was that even at the end of the show, after he's revealed 'his true colours' he still has a likeable quality to him, he is still the same lovable joking friend he was in the beginning of the show. In this production, he started off as that lovable, slightly bumbling character, but by the act one finale he had turned into a bit of a cold hearted bastard... the thing that got to me most was the performance of the title song. Cabaret is not a light hearted flashy show tune (even though that's how Liza Minelli did it). it is a heart breaker. In the previous scene Sally has had a screaming fight with the man she loves in the middle of the club, is humiliated and upset, and this song repesents her decision to change things in her life, to leave him and go back to her old ways, and to give up her child! it is in NO WAY a razzle dazzle number!! but in this production, Sally had the big fight, walked off stage to get changed, then came strutting back out and sang away as if nothing had happened!! there was some great choreography and costuming in this show, and there was the occasional moment that worked very well, but there were not nearly enough to redeem this show. i normally enjoy WTC's productions, but i was thoroughly disappointed in this. here endeth the rant.