Cabaret Reviews

[ljay889]

USA Today is a rave. Calls Williams "an unmissable star turn."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2014/04/24/broadway-review-cabaret/8043947/

[east side story]

Wow. That USA Today write up is certainly a love letter.

[MadsonMelo]

Williams is not that divisive

* I misspelled the word

[bjh2114]

Um, yah it is. There are several reviews saying she's bad, several reviews saying she's amazing, and very few in the middle. That's the definition of divisive.

[Zoot]

How were the reviews for John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff in '98? Tonight's NYT review gave one sentence to Bill Heck and his performance as Cliff and USA Today didn't even mention him.

[Kad]

Can Brantley focus on the show he's reviewing for more than a few sentences for once? That's the very low bar I'm setting for him.

[PianoMann]

How have Danny and Linda fared in all of these reviews?

[bjh2114]

Surprised that Brantley didn't have nicer things to say about Emond. He's usually a big fan of her work.

[adamgreer]

How have Danny and Linda fared in all of these reviews?

Burstein certainly won't provide much of a challenge to James Monroe Inglehart.

[bjh2114]

NY Daily News is positive (4 out of 5 stars) except for Williams:

"In the tricky role that won Liza Minnelli an Oscar and Natasha Richardson a Tony, a platinum-blond Williams assumes an English accent and an almost jolly and girlish demeanor flecked with desperation. She comes off so feathery that Sally could fly away — except for her full-tilt go at the title song. Besides that final scene, Williams comes off paler and wispier than desired.

Maybe next time."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/cabaret-theater-review-article-1.1767838

[PalJoey]

That's the definition of divisive.

No, it's not, actually.

[PalJoey]

That's the definition of divisive.

No, it's not, actually.

[KanderEbb]

Brantley usually falls for Linda Emond's acting, but this time he specially mentioned the brilliant performance by Gayle Rankin as Fraulein Kost instead. Seems that Linda Emond couldn't get a Tony this time...

[jkstheatrescene]

My two cents on CABARET: http://jkstheatrescene.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-cabaret.html

Count me on the positive list! LOVED MS. WILLIAMS, MS. EMOND (and, of course, MR. CUMMING). Only qualms with MR. BUSRTEIN...

[bjh2114]

No, it's not, actually.

Courtesy of Merriam Webster:

divisive (adj.): causing a lot of disagreement between people and causing them to separate into different groups.


Please tell me (an English teacher, by the way) how some critics calling her terrible and some critics calling her a revelation doesn't fit with that definition?

[ljay889]

NY Mag is a rave for Williams.

When we first get an eyeful of her, in a platinum bob and a pink babydoll negligee, she already looks, as she madly smiles, like she’s ready to break. You understand why Cliff (the solid Bill Heck) both adores and distrusts her. Not even Richardson, superb as she was, brought quite this sense of brimming irrepressibility to the role: irrepressible eagerness and irrepressible sorrow. And, somehow, both together.

http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/theater-review-cabaret.html

But his mistakenly writes that Rob Ashford is the co-director and choreographer.

[bjh2114]

Anyway, back to the reviews.

Jesse Green for Vulture/NY Mag is mixed (leaning negative), though as ljay mentioned above, a rave for Williams and positive for Emond. Usually I find him to be pretty insightful, so I'm a little surprised that HE is surprised that Linda Emond has a good singing voice. Did he not do his research? Did he not know she played Abigail Adams in the 1776 revival? Anyway:

"The other great discovery here is Linda Emond (such a fine Linda Loman two seasons ago) as the landlady, Fraulein Schneider. Since this character exists only within the traditional part of the narrative — her story concerns a doomed love affair with a Jewish fruiterer, played well by Danny Burstein — her songs are less abstract; they express character directly. Emond, who has, it turns out, a terrific singing voice, uses it as naturally as speech, and in that way manages to exemplify the show’s greatness without seeming to perform it. Indeed, it’s an irony of this production, which for all my quibbles is nevertheless excellent and needs to be seen, that it is most excellent in the old ways: the pre-Cabaret ways."

http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/theater-review-cabaret.html?mid=googlenews

[Jane2]

With the exception of a couple, negatives on Williams seem to be almost u unanimous. For once I don't have the dissenting opinion. Makes me feel almost normal!

[MadsonMelo]

I think that of the 17/18 reviews that are out, 10 says good things about her, 4 says bad things and 3 or 4 says 'middle'. She's received more positive comments than negative, no?

Divisive is much more of a love or hate situation, and even if she has her detractors, mostly are praising her.

[bjh2114]

Divisive has nothing to do with relative quantity. It has all to do with quality. 10 people loving her (I actually count fewer than 10) and 4 people saying she's unsuited still provides the dichotomy of "she's perfect" vs. "she's miscast". As soon as there is a plurality of both extremes, it's divisive.

Edit to add: Just to be clear, I LIKED Williams in the part, so I'm not criticizing her here. I'm just trying to be as objective as possible. That's something a lot of people on here are clearly incapable of being.

[A Director]

After reading the New York Times review, it's clear James Franco hit the nail on the head; Ben Brantley is an idiot.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

That has to be one of the worst reviews Brantley has written, right? He barely talks about the production, and the way he goes after Williams (not the fact he didn't like it, but the way he brings up the subject and his writing on her) rubs me the wrong way. Also surprised he didn't talk more about Emond since as I said earlier in the thread, I thought she was a major highlight.

[Wilmingtom]

Williams has been largely well-received. A few dissenting voices questioned her interpretation of Sally more than her performance. I'm not counting her out next week.

[Jane2]

"I think that of the 17/18 reviews that are out, 10 says good things about her, 4 says bad things and 3 or 4 says 'middle'. She's received more positive comments than negative, no? "

I didn't read 18 reviews. Only the major ones.

[Kad]

So of the few you read, it was mostly unanimous?

[Scott3]

This is one of Brantley's best reviews. He did the same thing here that he did with If/Then (particularly Idina Menzel's performance). Brantley is one of the few critics left who understands what the best critics are supposed to do, and he's delivering to his intended audience (which, it seems, is not the same as much of the BWW message board readership - surprisingly).