
Reviewed by Gina Lilley
I really didn’t know what to expect once settled into my seat in the very pleasant auditorium at Milton Keynes Theatre. Will Young AND Louise Redknapp in a show I had heard of but never seen. What appeared before my eyes was both feast and famine with an extremely talented and cohesive cast.
I had understood that the original show in 1966 had unspoken history running clearly through it but with little, if any, direct inferences. This by stark contrast was a show that brought mixed opinion from those around me, some happy, some less so, with the overall storyline and the very direct way in which it was expressed.
A clever set centred around a staircase that is moved by the cast and screens that again are pushed and pulled around within the dances, both delights and thrills as the cast cavort around it, displaying more than just an inch or two of flesh!
The cast were outstanding in their ability to leave the audience in absolutely no doubt as to what their sexual views and preferences were, no doubt, exactly as the free-thinking Berliners were, yet the audience was never placed in a visual situation that was too uncomfortable to palate.
The music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb are evocative, thought provoking, enchanting and menacingly beautiful. All of this very well brought together by the Musical Director Tim Whiting. The musicians are sat at the back of the stage and an integral part of the Kit Kat Club, seemingly drawn forwards from time to time and at others, distant and simply creating the atmosphere. Clever.
Will Young has, as many will know, played the part of Emcee before, to high accolade, and this was no exception. His performance was highly polished, and he was very comfortable as he portrayed a disturbing, often visually ugly and lonely figure. A few well-timed ad libs went down a treat and were not out of place, making the audience appreciate him even more.
Louise Redknapp makes her theatrical debut as Sally Bowles and she sings like a lark! What a terrific voice and a great performance. Louise held her own up against some great actors and I would most certainly want to see her spread her wings in the Theatre.
Charles Hagerty played Clifford Bradshaw with a fine voice and was unable to say no to an impetuous and beguiling Sally as she meddles in his life.
All the way through this liberated exploration of debauchery there is the gentle love story of Fraulein Schneider and Herr Shultz which is tenderly and thoughtfully played by Susan Penhaligon and Linal Haft. They make an enchanting duo, aware of life around them and so wishing it were different.
Very clever choreography by Javier de Frutos, throughout the show, means you are left in little doubt as to the full meaning of some of the scenes. I particularly liked Tomorrow Belongs to Me at the end of the first act and the last scene of the second act was stunningly clever.
This is a piece of theatre that is well worth seeing – it is not going to make you feel warm and fuzzy, neither is it going to be a belly full of laughs; but, what you will get is an in your face visual journey, watching a grouping of people who lived in a very changing time.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £17.90 to £77.40 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Cabaret is at Milton Keynes Theatre from 31 October to 4 November 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes or call the box office on 0844 8717652.
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK9 3NZ
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