Review: CABARET Fits Theater West End's Vintage Vibe Like a Fishnet Stocking

CABARET is a wolf in sheep's clothing... if sheep wore nylon stockings and not much else. It's one of my favorites to watch with a newcomer, as I did Saturday night at Theater West End's stellar premiere, not only for its early shock value but especially for the way it slowly, subtly, powerfully reveals what it's really about.

Aspiring American novelist Clifford Bradshaw arrives to Berlin in the late 1920s and finds residence near a seedy late-night dive, The Kit Kat Club, where he meets English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. Mutually entranced by the hedonism of Kit Kat culture and blithefully unattuned to the world around them, Cliff and Sally soon become lovers (one another's and plenty of others' too). But the real world is never so far removed from their reality as Cliff and Sally might like - a fact made hauntingly apparent by the ever-present, all-too-knowing specter of Kit Kat's lascivious Master of Ceremonies.

Fredy Ruiz revels in that role of Emcee, eating up the audience while we eat his every bawdy wink, grab, and innuendo in turn. A lesser actor might flirt only with the others in the room. Ruiz somehow flirts even with the tension in the air. That same air holds his hearty notes, ever on pitch with a lovely timbre and ending with just the right vibrato. A set of coy, toying songs across two acts presage the Emcee's signature ballad, "I Don't Care Much," where Ruiz's voice is on especially strong display. His Emcee is critical to creating CABARET's Kit Kat-mosphere so that its dark underbelly can steadily, gradually expand. It is a demanding role and undoubtedly exhausting, but Ruiz is clearly having a blast.

Tymisha Harris returns to Theater West End after closing her acclaimed one-woman cabaret run there this summer. That makes her an ideal Sally Bowles, but even those who don't already know her from JOSEPHINE will find an actress who understands that cabaret (with or without a capital C) comes with substance inside its salaciousness. Harris lives in Bowles's nuance, capturing the electric thrill of Sally's youth while also bringing to the character a sense of world weariness beyond her years.

Harris's line readings are thoughtful (see her unforgettable take on the famous line, "from too much pills and liquor"). Her approach to "Maybe This Time" - an iconic song with a complex, CABARET-adjacent history that took a few decades to find its way into the show (Theater West End's production generally follows the post-1998 libretto) - is fragile and intimate while still beautifully sung.

Brett D. Waldon's Cliff is truly a surrogate for the American audience - all buttoned-up and wholesome on the outside but with desire and repression aplenty lurking within. It's strong acting in a role that requires relatively little singing, so it is forgivable that Waldon's passable vocals aren't on par with his fellow leads. Adam DelMedico doesn't do any solo singing as Cliff's friend Ernst, but his performance is just as strong - equal parts amiable, fierce, and unpredictable. Delmedico does join the chorus in "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" and raises his voice high above all the others to stark dramatic effect.

Three character actors round out the principal cast with endearing charm. Wendy Starkand and Brian Chambers exude warmth in supporting roles as Fräulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, an older couple whose casual romance comes to mean much. Audiences will long remember the way Schultz hits his "pineapple" in "It Couldn't Please Me More." Meanwhile, Jennica McCleary (renowned elsewhere for her Bette Midler cover act), finds all the fun in randy tenant Fräulein Kost but makes a powerful turn at just the right time.

Theater West End had a headache to handle this weekend. Downtown Sanford hosted a hardcore rock fest right outside its rear walls. Fortunately, CABARET's live band, strong singers, and able sound design saved the day. Only once or twice were the goings-on audible enough to approach distraction, a relief to director Mayme Paul and all the show's technical talent, no doubt.

A three-piece band under Julian Bond's direction gives Kit Kat all the slinking, seedy verve that a proper cabaret deserves. Though small in number, they serve the show's iconic score well. And Sam Finken's atmospheric lighting design moodily creates a CABARET state of mind.

Theater West End has done good work in this small space for over three years now, but CABARET may be the best match yet for this venue and its stylings, particularly in light of the pandemic-inspired cabaret-table seating that has been the norm here since last year's reopening. The plexiglass partitions even hint at the giant mirror that faced this show's earliest audiences on Broadway - I caught reflections from performers and patrons on several occasions (including my own) and smiled in appreciation of the unintended nod.

Adding to the atmosphere, Derek Critzer's set design sees olden telephones (referenced in the script) set atop front-row patrons' tables - a fun touch that complements the venue's overall retro vibe.

Speaking of Covid, all Theater West End audience members are required to wear face coverings pursuant to a strict mask-sip-mask policy. Cast members and on-stage musicians are unmasked but fully vaccinated.

CABARET at Theater West End is a match made in the heavens of art direction, so much so that it's nearly a wonder they hadn't staged it here til now. The show runs through December 5th, and more than 80% of the tickets have already sold. I'm told an extended run won't be possible. In other words: act now.

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What did you think of CABARET at Theater West End? Let me know on Twitter @AaronWallace.

Photos copyright Mike Kitaif, 2021, courtesy of Theater West End

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