Cabaret Tour

[ChrisTyler12882]

Has anybody seen the tour of Cabaret yet? How's Randy Harrison?

[rebeccmam31]

ChrisTyler12882 said: "Has anybody seen the tour of Cabaret yet? How's Randy Harrison?"

I'm going Saturday. I can report back if no one answers you in the meantime.

 

[Wee Thomas2]

I posted this in the National Tour Casting thread:

 

Saw this on Saturday at the matinee in Providence at the PPAC.  Randy Harrison is the Emcee, Andrea Goss plays Sally.

 

We had seen the show at Studio 54 but figured for under $60 we could have Orchestra seats at the PPAC (damn, is that one huge theater!), get a nice meal in Providence, and enjoy the show again.

 

It appears they brought the entire set from NYC for the tour (I know, not saying much, but they didn't cut any corners).  I don't recall if any of the sets were motorized but everything here did have to be carried on and off stage.  

 

Show was well done.  Of course Harrison doesn't have nearly the impact that Cummings does, and Goss is no Michelle Williams, but she wasn't bad, and Harrison was ok.  I think the problem is the size of the facility it took the show awhile to get going (we were in Row M, so could see and hear quite well).

They have tamed the costumes a bit, no bare anything (other than the Emcee's untouched nipples) at all, but they kept all the dry humping which amused the audience quite a bit.

The audience loved the show, big standing ovation at the end.  I'd say the orchestra was 75-80% full, couldn't really see upstairs, but when we bought tix Saturday AM, at least the front half of the balcony was sold out.

[sbflyfan]

I'm going Saturday, as well, and will report back.

[Call_me_jorge]

I'm hoping I can see this in Chicago

[Mr. Nowack]

I'll be there tomorrow night, I'm so excited for my first time seeing CABARET onstage!!

[Petralicious]

Wee Thomas2 said: "

 

Show was well done.  Of course Harrison doesn't have nearly the impact that Cummings does, and Goss is no Michelle Williams, but she wasn't bad, and Harrison was ok.  I think the problem is the size of the facility it took the show awhile to get going (we were in Row M, so could see and hear quite well).

They have tamed the costumes a bit, no bare anything (other than the Emcee's untouched nipples) at all, but they kept all the dry humping which amused the audience quite a bit.

 

 

" No tattooed bottom of Emcee? I think thats a big part of the show yes? No one can touch Cumming but Goss has an amazing voice.

 

[jimmycurry01]

I'll be seeing it next week. I am quite excited to finally be seeing this on stage. I will report back after I see it.

[Markecib]

I saw it last night. I thought it was fine, everyone did great especially for Being so early in the tour. The ending leaves you gutted as usual. Goss sang the crap out of "Cabaret,"  Harrison will never equal Alan Cumming so I won't compare, he was entertaining and I liked his, "I don't care much."

I don't think they tamed down anything from the revival costume wise. I think they get a little more graphic in "two ladies" behind the sheet compared to the NY production everyone laughed and I saw no walk outs.

And act 1 does end with the nazi tattoo being exposed.

[Wee Thomas2]

The tattoo appeared to me to be on fabric not on skin.  I could be wrong.

[rebeccmam31]

Mr. Nowack said: "I'll be there tomorrow night, I'm so excited for my first time seeing CABARET onstage!!"

How was it?  I've never seen Cabaret before, either!

[Mr. Nowack]

IT WAS AMAZING! So glad I finally got to see it after so many years of listening to the score over and over.

[rebeccmam31]

Mr. Nowack said: "IT WAS AMAZING! So glad I finally got to see it after so many years of listening to the score over and over."

So glad to read this! It's my "birthday show" with my girlfriends, and I've been so very excited.  And now I'm even moreso. I'm also seeing Guys and Dolls at the Public tomorrow (which is my actual birthday), so all in all a great weekend of theater!

[sbflyfan]

Saw the tour yesterday.  Less than 2 weeks on the road and it's in fantastic shape. 

 

Randy Harrison embodies the Emcee so well. Funny, playful and dark.  Totally comfortable in the role already. I wasn't familiar with his singing voice before, and I was very pleasantly surprised. As mentioned by another poster, his "I Don't Care Much" is fantastic.  His facial expression at the very end as he turned around was absolutely haunting.

 

Andrea Goss is physically tiny with an incredibly powerful stage presence. Her "Maybe This Time" was stunning, and she was absolutely heartbreaking in the final scenes.  Some of the press reviewers from the first two cities mentioned her 'yelling' the title song instead of singing it, but that's absolutely not true. Very strong belt.

Shannon Cochran I remember as Barbara in the "August: Osage County" tour.  She has an excellent voice, as does Alison Ewing as Fritzie and Fraulein Kost. Her solo during "Married" was great.

 

Lee Aaron Rosen played up Cliff's uncertainty and naivety very well.

 

I was also amused by the fact that I saw Aisling Halpin (Frenchie) as Molly Aster on the non-Equity "Peter & The Starcatcher" tour less than a year ago, and now she's playing a Kit Kat Girl.  Total opposite roles!

 

As far as the set/staging, contrary to a previous post, the entire Studio 54 set is NOT on tour.  Very close to it, though.  Understandably, the side platforms which extended into the auditorium in New York aren't present, and the only other missing elements are the two upper spiral staircases on the second level as well as the thrust portion of the stage. It's unfortunate that the production design depends on flying lights and a few set pieces up and down, because it limits how close to the audience the set can be installed.  This creates sort of a distance between the performers and audience.  In Pittsburgh, there was a lot of "dead space" between the actual edge of the venue stage and the edge of the touring deck because the Benedum Center has a large apron.

 

I know it would be a lighting design and blocking/choreography nightmare, but I wish they had a small adjustable thrust portion of the stage deck they could install to allow the performers to come right up to the edge of the stage, depending on the venue. (I'm not saying over the venue's seats or orchestra pit, I just mean outside of the proscenium on the apron).  It just made the staging feel rather 2 dimensional instead of the more immersive Studio 54 experience. The performers felt far away, even from the front of the orchestra.

 

One other change: The actual rear wall of the set flies up at the end, but the lower wall with the doors splits apart in two pieces and slides off in either direction towards the wings. 

This production is definitely worth seeing! I really enjoyed it.

[Cupid Boy2]

I just got in from this evening's performance, and I enjoyed it very much. Randy Harrison was the standout in the cast for me. Having also seen Cumming in the part of the Emcee, I was pleased to see Harrison's characterization was very much his own.

 

 As for Andrea Goss, she played Sally as calculating and opportunistic. I never once felt she was out of control of her life  in the same way Michelle Williams' Sally was. Where Williams relied upon looking pitiful, Goss turned to sheer strength and persistence. Also being a strong vocalist in the traditional sense, Goss' Sally left me wondering why she couldn't rise above the Kit Kat Club. She wasn't just a mediocre talent like past actresses with weaker voices have played her. 

 

Goss peaked during her rendition of the title song when she really let her emotions flow freely, and she played that beautifully throughout her final scenes. All in all, I preferred Williams' more tragic characterization. Because she seemed so helpless, you knew she couldn't rise above her situation. Goss' Sally seemed to be there by her own free will, which wasn't necessarily a poor choice. It just made her more enigmatic. As a random side note regarding casting, I also missed Danny Burstein. The warmth and the joy he brought to Herr Schultz was still very much ingrained in my mind. 

 

As for the physical production, the thrust was sorely missed. Despite being in the tenth row, I felt slightly removed. sbflyfan makes a lot of good points about that. Overall, though, I'd still recommend seeing this if it's coming to your town. The shortcomings I thought this staging possessed were easy to put aside, and my expectations were surely a bit too high as well after my experience at Studio 54. This tour still really packs an emotional wallop. 

[asmith0307]

So, I just got home from catching the tour in Chicago. I have never seen the show before (interest never lined up with timing) and I went in totally blind. That being said, I missed what was projected on the rear screen in the final scene as I was in the balcony and blocked by the orchestra stand. What was on it?

[Call_me_jorge]

Has anybody rushed for it in Chicago? How many tickets have been sold. Where are the seats and how many people have been trying to get tickets?

[mpd4165]

Call_me_jorge said: "Has anybody rushed for it in Chicago? How many tickets have been sold. Where are the seats and how many people have been trying to get tickets?

 

"

I rushed for the afternoon performance today. Was able to get three no problem and I was in the mezz center. Really excellent view. 

I think it's a very solid tour, even with the shadow of Alan Cumming still looming in my mind. Randy Harrison is a worthy successor of Emcees and I saw Andrea Goss when she was in for Michelle Williams, but her performance her came off stronger now. I also feel spoiled with the Frauline Schneider's I've seen in productions: First Hollis Resnick, then Linda Emond, and now Shannon Cochran. Her What Would You Do landed with such a punch.  

[Call_me_jorge]

mpd4165 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Has anybody rushed for it in Chicago? How many tickets have been sold. Where are the seats and how many people have been trying to get tickets?"

 

I rushed for the afternoon performance today. Was able to get three no problem and I was in the mezz center. Really excellent view. 

 

I think it's a very solid tour, even with the shadow of Alan Cumming still looming in my mind. Randy Harrison is a worthy successor of Emcees and I saw Andrea Goss when she was in for Michelle Williams, but her performance her came off stronger now. I also feel spoiled with the Frauline Schneider's I've seen in productions: First Hollis Resnick, then Linda Emond, and now Shannon Cochran. Her What Would You Do landed with such a punch. "

Can I ask what time you got there? Did you get there right when the box office opened or more toward the start of the show?

[Wilmingtom]

I don't think the reason Sally hasn't moved beyond the Kit Kat Klub is because she's not talented.  It's because she's a hot mess without the discipline or ambition it would take to move on to something bigger.  Casting a weak singer in the role is a trap for a character who has to deliver five major songs that the audience doesn't want to hear sung badly.  Singing in a musical is a theatrical device.  If the actor playing Cliff is a great singer, does the audience think, "Gosh, I wonder why he isn't singing in an upscale club in Berlin?"  It's the same dynamic as those who question why the gang members in West Side Story are dancing ballet in the streets.  You don't cast mediocre dancers because, in reality, the boys wouldn't have taken dance lessons.  It's part of the theatricality of the piece.

[bwayphreak234]

asmith0307 said: "So, I just got home from catching the tour in Chicago. I have never seen the show before (interest never lined up with timing) and I went in totally blind. That being said, I missed what was projected on the rear screen in the final scene as I was in the balcony and blocked by the orchestra stand. What was on it?"

 

Hm on Broadway there was no projections at all (including no projections for the final scene), so I don't think you missed anything!

 

[The Other One]

"I don't think the reason Sally hasn't moved beyond the Kit Kat Klub is because she's not talented.  It's because she's a hot mess without the discipline or ambition it would take to move on to something bigger.  Casting a weak singer in the role is a trap for a character who has to deliver five major songs that the audience doesn't want to hear sung badly.  Singing in a musical is a theatrical device."

 

So true!  I saw Sienna Miller as Sally and, in spite of the fact that she was fine in her book scenes, the role disappeared into the background.  She had no presence at all in her numbers, which left you wondering why you would be watching her to begin with.  I had seen Molly Ringwald in the earlier incarnation of the revival, and she was both good enough for you to get why she was headlining and weak enough for you to get why she wasn't going to go any further.

[Cupid Boy2]

The thing is we SEE Sally's act. Yes, she has traditional numbers in the context of the show, but we get to see her performing at the Kit Kat Club. In my opinion, that's a glimpse into how her singing sounds to the characters within the show. While the characters not performing in the club are unaware they are singing, they know she is because of how her numbers are structured within the show. 

 

I'm perfectly aware that singing in a musical is a theatrical device. Your comparisons to Cliff and West Side Story's gang members do not take into account the framing device that is utilized for Sally. 

[Broadway kid 2]

[Thparkaly]

I got a chance to see the tour on it's opening night in Chicago. I found it to be a really wonderful production, especially given how early in the run they are. I was only familiar with Randy Harrison from Queer as Folk, but I found his voice to be really gorgeous. Andrea Goss was more than serviceable as Sally, but nothing incredible. Lee Aaron Rosen was wonderful as Cliff.

Having seen this revival before, I still found a lot to enjoy in these performers' approaches and the staging of the piece. Everyone I went with had not seen the show previously and were all hit very hard emotionally. No complaints from me or anyone else.

[jimmycurry01]

I saw this production on Saturday. I thought it was perfectly wonderful. The cast was really very good. I do have to say that Andrea Goss'  voice was a bit to good for the role, but she really did shine as Sally. Randy Harrison turned in a very solid performance as well. The audience really seemed to enjoy him. The production really is in great shape. 

To answer an earlier question, there is nothing projected on the back wall, it is just lit in a very harsh white light as the show comes to an end.