Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company in association with Bill Kenwright presents

Cabaret

Last night saw another “House Full” sign outside Birmingham Rep and as the audience awaited the overture the excitement and anticipation built until it all started and Wayne Sleep as the emcee popped his head through the ‘O’ of Willkommen and off we went on a journey to between the wars Germany, 1931. Often dark and haunting this was a most memorable production.
Kander and Ebb wrote the music and lyrics for Cabaret and it originally opened on Broadway in 1966 clocking up 1165 performances and have since returned twice. Such is the popularity of the musical that after Birmingham it embarks upon a UK tour lasing at least until March 2009.
Samantha Barks who many will remember as being a finalist from the BBC series “I’d Do Anything” gives a strong performance as Sally Bowles and it is hard to believe that this is her professional theatrical debut. She handled both acting and vocals confidently and received great applause from an impressed audience.
Henry Luxemburg was well cast as American writer Clifford Bradshaw, had a good accent throughout and handled his vocals well. There was good rapport between him and Sally and his characters frustration at the situation they found themselves in came over well.
Matt Zimmerman was perfectly cast as Herr Shultz the Jewish fruit merchant, always bringing a gift of fruit, and Jenny Logan was ideal as the grasping landlady Fraulein Schneider and the scenes between them were touching particularly their vocals.
Wayne Sleep was a masterful Emcee looking rather sinister at times and clearly enjoying every minute particularly when made to look very grotesque for the Money Song. This part could have been written for him.
Along with an excellent and very attractive supporting cast the Kit Kat Club was brought to life by well choreographed routines and a sparkling set which will travel easily and make this a consistently good production.
Director Rufus Norris gets from his cast just the right mix of decadence and at times despair which make this show thought provoking but musically memorable. There was some nudity but it seemed perfectly in context with the subject and was handled well.
The stand out numbers are “Willkommen” where Wayne Sleep is brilliantly sleazy; “It Couldn’t Please Me More” (the pineapple song); “Maybe this Time” a triumph for Samantha Barks; “The Money Song” and “Cabaret”. It was wonderful to hear the score played by a good sized orchestra and Musical Director Tom De Keyser and his musicians gave it 100%+.
The production can be seen here until Saturday 13 September. Don’t miss it!
Review by Clive Fuller 2 September 2008
To book tickets or see news of forthcoming plays at the Birmingham Rep, visit http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk