Don't Tell Mama What You Saw! Cabaret at The KitKat Club, London.

Performance Date: 5th of November 2022, 7.30PM.

Venue: The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse.

One of the hottest shows of the season, this reimagined production (and venue) of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret was sexy, raunchy and .... confusing? Here's my opinion in my SPOLIER FREE review...

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Okay, before everyone jumps on me for writing this review, I just want to say that this is my own opinion and I hope that I will be able to explain why I felt this way about this production. As I always say, art is subjective. It is created to cause a conversation. So, if you loved Cabaret, please get in touch. I would love to hear your views.

I had been looking forward to this production for the longest time. Ever since Amy Lennox's performance at the 2022 Olivier Awards, I knew I needed to see this production. From the acting choices, to the costuming and sound, I made it a mission to book. So much so, we flew to London to mainly see this production, and placed it at the end of our trip to make sure our adventure ended with a bang! Unfortunately, I was left a little disappointed, and rather confused.

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A BIT ABOUT THE SHOW

As always, let's look at the history behind the show.

Cabaret was first performed in 1966, with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff. It is originally based off of a play by John Van Druten called I am a Camera. The show is set in 1929 Germany during the Nazi ascension to power. We are guided by Emcee, a cabaret host who narrates a tale of love, loss and war. An American writer Clifford Bradshaw falls in love with cabaret singer Sally Bowles, while a German Boarding House Owner Fräulein Schneider becomes enamoured by a Jewish fruit vendor, Herr Schultz. With Nazi views spreading across the country, how will love survive this turmoil?

Cabaret was first performed in the West End in 2006, and had a revival in 2012 with a touring production around the UK and Ireland. However, this production has clearly taken the concept of interoperated it in their own way, creating an extremely immersive experience.

Right, let's get down to the review!

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MY HONEST THOUGHTS

*Braces for hate* Although I enjoyed this production of Cabaret, I wasn't completely blown away by it.

I totally understand that theatre is supposed to leave the audience guessing and does not have to be completely transparent in its delievery of the plot. Cabaret in general is quite complicated. It takes some time for the audience to realise that the numbers in the club reflect what is happening in the outside world. However, in this production, as someone who has seen this show a couple of times, I was very confused. And my partner, who is not a musical fan, was even worse. There is a saying in theatre called "Show, Don't Tell", its important that the "Show" element is shown. One example I can give (without spoilers) to this is perhaps some context to where we are and what is happening. A simple way to do this would be to have a radio playing some nazi propaganda or a newspaper. It was only towards the end of Act 1 when my partner realised that Nazi Germany was our setting. Although many fans of the show would know this, it is important to think of other members of the audience, who may be experiencing the show for the first time.

Another smaller issue I had was with the Prologue Cast, who are incredible. I was watching them as we waited for the show to start and was curious to why they were there? What was the reasoning behind these incredible performers only being used for the first thirty minutes of the performance, and never getting a curtain call or another scene? I wished that the immersive concept continued throughout the performance, not just at the start. Some of our favourite moments were with the Prologue Cast.

And finally, with the venue itself. The Playhouse is amazing, and they have done a great job with the stage door entrance and the surprises as you are walking in, but it is extremely tight as a venue, and can be very difficult to navigate, especially after a schnapps or two. Just be aware if you have someone in your party with mobility issues, perhaps ring ahead and ask about how easy it will be to move around the space.

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WHAT I ENJOYED...

Okay so moving away from the above section, I wanted to talk about what I enjoyed.

Callum Scott Howells is a force to be reckoned with. From the moment he appeared at the start of the show, you get the sense of comfort as he knows exactly what he is doing. Its a great characteristic to have as the Emcee. His physicality, vocals and performance was incredible. He has great comedic timing, and Two Ladies was a show stealing number!

Madeline Brewer had the difficult task of portraying Sally Bowles, who is an iconic character in musical theatre. She delivered a harsh, ballsy performance, with a clear path in her acting. Cabaret is a very hard number, and in this production it is even more demanding. Brewer performed this was gusto and power.

I was extremely excited to see Vivian Parry play Fräulein Schneider. This is a role which could be overplayed, but I really felt that she played Schneider in a way that we could connect with as an audience. She balanced the sweetness with the cold characterisation of a woman in an extremely difficult situation. I really enjoyed the scenes she was in.

The cast is phenomenal. They are fully in on the performance from the beginning and perform both the high energy and dramatic scenes perfectly. I also loved the costuming by Tom Scutt. Lovely use of colour rather than going for the traditional Cabaret style.

I did enjoy the choices made by Rebecca Frecklenall as director. The Glass Smashing scene was done beautifully. I enjoyed the ending (not spoiling it!) and I felt that she did a great job in relation to making the show immersive.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Although I wasn't blown away, I still cannot give this production below a four stars out of five. The main reasoning is because of the immersive nature of the show, and the cast. Although I feel direction could be more explicit for a unaware audience, the production will impact you in some way.

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Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse runs until December 2023 (This could extend)

Tickets can be purchased here: www.atgtickets.com

Photos by Marc Brenner