CABARET @ SF PLAYHOUSE
CABARET, Book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander.
Directed by Bill English. SF Playhouse,
THE REALITY UNDERMINES EXPECTATIONS
The SF Playhouse founded in 2003, earning multiple awards for its productions, has been called “local theater’s best kept secret” by San Francisco Magazine. It is no secret they deserve the reputation as “an intimate theatre alternative to the traditional
Expectations were very high on seeing the fantastic transformation of the space into an actual cabaret setting with the first two rows outfitted with small round cocktail tables and a sexy waitress (bar-girl?) dressed in black, taking drink orders before the MC (Brian Yates Sharber) burst from the aisle onto the stage to lead the entire cast and band in the raunchy/suggestive “Willkommen.” We are at the Kit Kat Klub in
The book by Joe Masteroff is based on John van Druten’s play “I Am a Camera” that was a dramatization of Christopher Isherwood's “
“Cabaret”, set during Hitler’s rise to power revolves around cabaret performer Sally Bowles and a brief affair with Clifford, an American writer, who takes her in after she is kicked out of the Kit Kat Klub inhabited with sexual charged characters with androgynous personalities. The inhabitants shelter themselves from impending Nazi takeover and immanent WW II with its "No good in sitting alone in your room, come hear the music play!" A form of love develops between Sally and Clifford but external forces will drive them apart. Other tragic figures are Frauelin Schneider, a German property owner, and her Jewish admirer, Herr Schultz.
Artistic director English has assembled a large cast with an eight member on-stage Kit Kat Band, behind a scrim, under the fine direction of Martin Rojas-Dietrich, with special accolade to Tania Johnson (who ably doubles as prostitute F. Kost) on accordion. Lauren English’s performance as Sally Bowles overpowers ineffectual Daniel Kruger’s Clifford, and is a distraction as she slips in and out of an English accent. For inexplicable reasons, Sharber as the MC, is miked, never generates a believable lascivious attitude and is occasionally off-key. Always reliable Louis Parnell as Herr Schultz and Karen Grassle, of “Little House on the Prairie” fame, as Frauelin Schenider are a charming pair oozing charisma.
The slim trim Kit Kat boys, Bobby Bryce and Norman Munoz are perfect for their parts and the Kit Kat girls, Laurie Nellesen, Rana Kangas-Kent, Lilly Tung Crystal are great eye-candy. They dance up a storm under the choreography by Barbara Bernardo. There are many high lights to delight the audience including “Don’t Tell Momma”, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”, “Money”, “Kick Line”, “If You Could See Her (with my eyes)” and the second act ”Entr’Acte.”
Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes with intermission.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of TheatreWorld Internet Magazine