Cabaret
Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Directed by Justin Been
Chorographed by Zachary Stefaniak
Stray Dog Theatre
April 3, 2014
Paul Cereghino, Paula Stoff Dean
Photo by Dan Donovan
Stray Dog Theatre
Surely nobody in the audience at Stray Dog Theatre’s production of Cabaret on opening night had visited a cabaret in 1930’s Berlin. That era is so far removed from the present time and place that it’s easy to gloss it all over as stories in a dusty history book. What Stray Dog has done, however, is take its audience on a journey and immerse us in the very atmosphere of a dark and seedy nightclub in the waning years of Germany’s Weimar Republic. It’s gritty, it’s raunchy, and the issues get increasingly uncomfortable as the plot unfolds. It’s a bold take on an oft-performed musical, and what we are left with is a truly unforgettable experience.
This production is a lot more atmospheric and downright gritty than the excellent but overly polished production I saw at the Rep last Fall. Here, Stray Dog Theatre has transformed their performance space at Tower Grove Abbey into the dark, sultry Kit Kat Club, with the ensemble members even roaming around before the show in character as music from the era plays over the sound system, and also serving drinks and desserts at tables in the front row during the show. This production uses the whole performance space to full advantage, presided over by Lavonne Byers as the ever-present Emcee, who serves as a commentator on the action as well as the presenter of the various club performances that are interspersed with the story of American writer Cliff Bradshaw (Paul Cereghino) and Kit Kat Club singer Sally Bowles (Paul Stoff Dean) and their lives and relationships amid the growing political turmoil and the rise of the Nazi party and its effects on German culture. Throughout the story, it’s clear that the world is changing and the club serves as one way to escape that reality, and although Sally is perhaps the most self-deluded, she’s not the only one faced with the dilemma of what to do when life doesn’t turn out as wished, and the over-the-top bawdy acts at the club increasingly evolve into more and more stark echoes of the increasingly frightening reality of what Germany is becoming.
Byers, the first female Emcee I’ve seen, is the driving force behind this production and she brings a boldness and ferocity to the role as well as a strong wit and clear, richly-toned singing voice. From the rousing “Wilkommen” to the raunchy and ironic “Two Ladies” (with Byers as the “only man” and one of the “ladies played by a male dancer (Mike Hodges) in drag), to the cutting “If You Could See Her” and the melancholy “I Don’t Care Much”, Byers commands the stage and serves as an ideal host for the show’s increasingly chaotic proceedings. Having a female in this role brings a different meaning to some of the songs, although Byers plays up the androgyny in several of the numbers as well. She also achieves the commendable feat of emphasizing the character’s humanity in the midst of the increasing absurdity. Dean’s Sally is at once dynamic and tragic, and she manages to find sympathy in a character who can be difficult to understand at times. Cereghino’s Cliff is charmingly infatuated with both the Berlin society and with Sally, although I’m less convinced by his attitude later in the play where he occasionally comes across as more callous and bossy than concerned. Still, Dean and Cereghino complement each other well in most of their scenes together, and particularly in their initial duet “Perfectly Marvelous”. Ken Haller also puts in an excellent performance as the Jewish fruit merchant Herr Schultz, whose relationship with the conflicted Freulein Schneider (Jan Niehoff who is especially fine in her scenes with Haller) provides some poignant and sweet moments as well as some heartbreaking drama. With great work by Michael Brightman as scheming Nazi Ernst Ludwig and Deborah Sharn as the lascivious and calculating Freulein Kost, as well as a top-notch ensemble of Kit Kat Boys and Girls, this production boasts a cast that ideally showcases the classic and oft-produced material.
The raw edginess and contrasting absurdity and realism of this production is also very well served in its technical aspects. Rebert J. Lippert’s striking two-level set and Aleandra Scibetta Quigley’s colorful and detailed costumes help set and maintain just the right mood, as does Zachary Stefaniak’s outstanding choreography and director Justin Been’s excellent staging. This is a production that brings the audience along on a ride, from its promising opening to its startling conclusion with many daring twists and turns along the way. Although this production has obviously taken inspiration from the 1998 Broadway revival, it’s not a carbon copy. It’s very clearly and boldly realized in its concept. It’s difficult to single out particular songs and scenes because everything is so well done, from the outrageously challenging (“Don’t Tell Mama”, “Mein Herr”, “Two Ladies”) to the sharply satirical (“The Money Song”, “If You Could See Her”) to the hopeful (“Maybe This Time”) to the devastatingly tragic (“Cabaret”). With songs from the film integrated with those from the original production, expertly performed by the cast and the very high caliber band led by Chris Petersen, this show is musically as well as visually stunning. It’s not an easy show to do, and this team does it as well as I’ve ever seen, tackling the lighthearted scenes as well as the increasingly brutal subjects with remarkable skill. I also would like to commend the company for their great professionalism in the midst of the very strange weather on opening night, in being able to start, stop, and re-start the show with remarkable efficiency as the result of a tornado warning.
Short of inventing time travel, I can’t think of many ways to communicate the atmosphere of 1930’s Berlin as vividly as this production. It’s a tour-de-force all around, from the director to the creative team to the leads and the extremely strong ensemble. Stray Dog’s Cabaret gives us a good look at life in this very specific time and place in a production that’s at turns wildly entertaining, grippingly suspenseful, intensely tragic and even downright frightening. Although this is a show that is often produced and re-imagined, this production succeeds in being truly and profoundly memorable. It’s an outstanding example of live theatre at its challenging, thought-provoking best.
Lavonne Byers (center) and the Kit Kat Boys (Mike Hodges, Michael Baird, Zach Wachter, Brendan Ochs)
Photo by Dan Donovan
Stray Dog Theatre
