Theatre Review
Production: Cabaret
By: Joe Masteroff, John Van Druten, Christopher Isherwood, John Kander, Fred Ebb
Director: Amanda Dehnert
Where: Stratford Shakespeare Festival Of Canada
Run: May 13^th to October 25^th 2008
Theatre: Avon Theatre 

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey (Ontario Correspondent - Canada) 

Heralded by the Stratford festival as ‘not your Grandmother's musical!' would be an apt description of Cabaret, one of two musicals held this season (the other being The Music Man). The raunchy undertones, and overtones for that matter, didn't stop grandma coming to Cabaret however; in fact, I'd say she liked it just a little too much! Similar to the team it took to make the musical Cabaret, it also took a team of well seasoned performers to make the bawdy Berlin nightlife at the Kit Kat Klub luring, delicious and decidedly cinematic in grandeur.

Cabaret is the story of American duck-out-of-water Clifford Bradshaw (Sean Arbuckle), in Berlin, Germany circa 1929. The nightlife of that time was electric and rife with ambiguous meaning. Not the clean shaven Cabaret of the US, but a burlesque meets political satire was more the agenda for the day back then. The enigma Marlene Dietrich made the Cabaret of Berlin famous to the outside world. Anyways, this musical version shows the sexual indiscretions, flamboyant camp attitude of the Cabaret community, and the impending German revolution that none of them wanted. Clifford Bradshaw, may be homespun, but he is gay in a time when it was unacceptable. Despite this fact, Cliff falls in love with Sally Bowles (Trish Lindstrom), a British woman performing at the Kit Kat Klub. The two bond because of the unknown territory they walk, both emotionally, and culturally. Many secondary stories occur around this oddly-matched love connection, but ultimately the musical is about being different and societal sanctions on what is, or is not, acceptable. What could be a more perfect forum for that then World War II Berlin? After all, it was the single greatest tragedy for ‘the other' in the history of the world.     

A fabulous subplot is the relationship between Fraulein Schneider (Nora McLellan), a German woman who lets out rooms of her house, and her love interest Jewish man Herr Schultz (Frank Moore); an older couple who find love blossoming in a time of change and upheaval. Both McLellan and Moore play these roles to the fullest; the flirtations, the shyness of an older-matched love, and subsequent heartache of tough decisions. McLellan is serene and likeable in whatever character she absorbs herself in, and her songs are full of charisma and delightful communication. Being an equivalent presence on stage beside McLellan is no small feat, but Moore does so with stoic command and heartfelt prose.

Sean Arbuckle as Cliff, and Trish Lindstrom as Sally Bowles were acceptable performances. I found Arbuckle's performance somewhat reticent and Lindstrom's overly gregarious Bowles didn't appeal to me. Of course Bowles is a train wreck waiting to happen, but I found her very trying in this version, and unsympathetic. Lindstrom does have an exceptional dancer's body, and when dancing and singing she is simply at her finest. For me though, it was the supporting performers that were the most delightful to watch and of course, the Emcee....how could we forget the Emcee? Bruce Dow, as the Emcee was so delightful. Sorry Joel Gray, I think this role was actually made for the likes of Dow. In his ninth season at Stratford, Dow has become to Stratford what Mickey is to Disneyland; why would you go to Disneyland and not see Mickey, conversely, who would dream of going to Stratford and not see Bruce Dow? Possibly, this is Dow's greatest performance to date, and well worth the cost of the ticket stub alone.

The stage was exceptional, as a dilapidated, seedy part of Berlin where all the colour had been drained from the very walls of the buildings. The costumes were where all the colour was, as lively as the people, the clothes showcased individualism at its finest.   

Don't expect this to be the Cabaret of Bob Fosse, Michael York and Liza Minnelli, for one thing censures aren't as harsh in a theatre house as they are in a movie house. Secondly, the plot twists and turns take differing paths from play to film and back again. The point of the musical, does however, resonate on both stage and celluloid.

Cabaret should bring in those much missed younger theatre goers, from twenty to about fifty who seem to think that theatre is ‘boring.' All that says to me is an uninformed palette, get thee to Cabaret and enjoy this bawdy, burlesque, band from Berlin!