Cabaret

UK National Tour – Reviewed at Darlington Civic Theatre

Berlin 1930: The Kit Kat club is a place of decadent and flirtatious celebration, presided over by a sinister Emcee (Wayne Sleep). Sally Bowles (Samantha Barks) is a young British singer who performs there. Cliff Bradshaw (Henry Luxemburg) is an American writer who arrives in Berlin with the hope of finding inspiration to complete his latest novel.

Cabaret is, arguably, one of the most successful musicals of all time. It premiered on the Broadway stage in 1966, in the West End of London in 1968, and was immortalised for the silver screen in 1972. Between them, the movie and the stage productions have garnered an incredible number of awards including 8 Oscars, 7 BAFTA’s, 13 Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards.

This latest touring production looks set to build on that success. Samantha Barks, from I’d Do Anything, dispelled any doubts that were in my mind with regard to her association with ‘reality’ television and proved to be a sensational Sally Bowles. Undaunted by following in the footsteps of the diva that is Liza Minnelli, she gives an interpretation of the nightclub singer that is nothing less than magnificent.

Wayne Sleep also delivers a fantastic performance as the creepy Emcee and proves that he is still as light on those twinkle-toes as he ever was. He also displays a fine singing voice in his renditions of Willkommen, Two Ladies and The Money Song.

Henry Luxemburg is cast well in the role of the earnest author who falls for the charms of chanteuse Sally Bowles. However, it is clear from the offset that their romance is doomed as Sally and Cliff have radically different expectations of life.

The other, less passionate and somewhat older, romantic couple of the piece are Fraulein Schneider, who runs a boarding house, and Herr Schultz, a fruit-seller. Jenny Logan, as Fraulein Schneider, stumbled over one of the lines in her musical number, So What?, but recovered well and gave a convincing performance. Matt Zimmerman presents a gentle, avuncular Herr Schultz.

As the threat of Nazism looms in the near future, Schneider and Schultz reconsider their brief engagement after the heinous Ernst Ludwig (menacingly played by Karl Moffatt) advises Fraulein Schneider that marrying a Jew may not be in her best interests. Cliff Bradshaw, unwittingly, becomes employed by the Nazis and soon pays the penalty for his principles.

This production is of the highest quality - it boasts excellent performances, dazzling costumes, breath-taking choreography and show-stopping songs. But, despite all that, it is the terrifying knowledge of what came next in Germany’s history that haunts your mind as you leave the theatre. And it certainly wasn’t happy ever after.

Steve Burbridge.

 Cabaret runs at Darlington Civic Theatre until Saturday 21 February.