Cabaret - Willoughby Theatre Co.

Has anyone seen this production yet? I've been looking for a review because my sister and I have tickets for Sunday evening - but we've heard nothing about it. Anyone here seen it? What's it like?

Yes, I have seen it and the lady that plays the lead role of Sally Bowles is fantastic - loved her performance and what a voice!!!

I just returned from seeing this show with my sister and we absolutely loved it!! The songs, the dancing, and the singing were all excellent. I loved the old couple - I'll admit I did shed a tear towards the end. Both were exceptional. I did like Sally Bowles and Cliff - both sang beautifully. And those dancers in the chorus were simply marvellous. But without doubt the fellow who played the Nazi role absolutely stole the show. His was without doubt the standout performance of the evening. We didn't realise his true colours until half way through the show. I can't speak more highly of his performance. Wow! Destined for stardom, I think. Highly recommend it!!

Well, the show is sold out - so too late to get tickets. We saw the opening night performance, and we were... disappointed to say the least. The production was far to 'safe' and sanitised. The lighting and colours were too bright, the Kit-Kat inhabitants were too clean and had no character, the directing uninspiring, the set flat and boring. And what was with that Star Trek logo? Cabaret needs to have real sleaze and seediness in the Kit Kat Club to have contrast between Clifford and Schneider/Schultz. It makes the moments when you see the real characers of Sally/Ernst all the more powerful. You get none of that from this production. While Sally was on the whole good, and sang well, her rendition of Cabaret was disappointing. It was a hollow performance totally disconnected with what that character was going through at that time. Yes, there are some great people in it (Clifford and Schneider were the standouts to me), and a few great moments (the act I finale was good, and Schneider's rendition of "What Would You Do" excellent), although sometimes the accents deteriorated into bad Russian. I thought the Kost was forgettable. Schultz and Ernst were merely sufficient (although Schultz wasn't convincingly Jewish, and I didn't dig Ernst's bleached hair). I felt that the Ernst overacted the Act I finale interaction with Schneider. But then again, I know the show too well, and so was not surprised by that character's plot turn, and so possibly why I was less impressed overall. Clunky scene changes and over-long dance sequences spoiled the pacing of the show. I will forgive the dance sequences since that's how the show is scored, and I can forgive the scene changes for the most part, since the group had a hard time transitioning from their old hall to the smaller Zenith. However, the scene change just before "I Don't Care Much" was especially terrible, with 'happy' scene change music marring one of the most emotional moments of the show, and probably the Emcee's best song - which he ruined by rushing anyway. The Emcee on the whole was a real letdown. No ad-libbing to introduce the ladies of the club. Not enough direction, and not enough opportunity given to ad-lib. "Two Ladies" was boring and nowhere near naughty enough. Enough said. Another note is that the current version of the show available for the stage performing rights doesn't include the standout "Mein Herr" and "Maybe This Time" from the film. 5/10.

I also saw the opening night performance and was disappointed in what I saw too. It was as "hz" said "safe" and "sanitized" -- a 1960's style bright & happy musical without any credence given to the history behind the story. There was no ambience in the lighting, and no pathos in the characterisations, and a boringly obvious set that left nothing to the audiences imagination. This was a tame and somewhat boring, at times clumsy, interpretation of a classic piece of theatre. Whilst the performances were adequate, the actors seemed detached from the characters, and the audience felt no empathy for any of them. Having said that, the actor playing Cliff had moments of belief and conviction, as did Fraulien Schnieder but the interactions of all the players lacked true subtly, and the accents were inconsistent.

I too was at opening and have to admit to not enjoying the show at all. I found it clunky and slow and was not convinced by many of the characters. I agree that Ernst was a standout, particularly with his accent and thought the two older characters were quite solid but was really disappointed in Sally - she was stiff and awkward and so obviously not a natural dancer. All in all I wasn't happy to have paid $38 for a fairly mediocre night.

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.

I was a member of this cast and agree with much of what is said in these comments. I would have loved to have "sleazed" it up more but WTC audiences are for the most part elderly and really, i'm not too sure that it would have really appealled to them. As well as this working on such a tiny stage was difficult and we had to use what we had, I agree that not all that scenery was neccesary, if any at all. I think all our leads did a particularly good job and performed their own interpretation of their characters. Thats what theatre is about, your own interpretation of the character you are playing not doing a luke-warm rendition of someone else's. Thankyou to those who gave us good reviews, they will always be appreciated but so will the critics. They will only make us better performers! showgirl

Showgirl, you have just about made my day. Every week on this website someone gives their honest opinion of a show and all they get is a bunch of bitchy replies and accusations about their identity. I once left a review on this site and was accused of being Jemma or someone from Adelaide who had a personal vendetta against one of the performers in A PERTH SHOW! Whilst it was entertaining, it was also saddening. It seems that the majority of performers who read reviews on this website cannot handle criticism from anybody, and would rather believe that the reviewer has a chip on their shoulder than accept that their performance might have been sub-par. I'm surprised and delighted to read of someone actualy being mature and taking a professional attitude to criticism, rather than stamping their foot on the ground and throwing a hissy fit. It's Perth amateur theatre, and I really feel that people take it far too seriously. I always aim to just have fun, and showgirl clearly does too. Hopefuly we'll work together some day: Perth needs more actors like you.

Smile, that would be lovely but i'm all the way over the other side of the country in a little city called Sydney. Want to do WAAPA one day so may travel over that way in the near future...hopefully!? Good luck with all your performances to come!! Showgirl