Cabaret

Alan Cumming has barely washed off his makeup after the recent Broadway revival of Cabaret, John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical about Berlin at the end of the Weimar Republic, so Signature Theatre‘s decision to stage the show right after the hit musical waved auf Wiedersehen to the Great White Way is a bold one. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, with a well-known book by Joe Masteroff, this version takes some interesting chances – and scores on the majority of them.

Set in 1930s Berlin, a time where anything can happen, the story follows the somewhat mismatched pair of American writer Clifford Bradshaw (Gregory Wooddell) and British cabaret singer Sally Bowles (Barrett Wilbert Weed). Sally is the star performer of the provocative Kit Kat Klub, where its host, the uninhibited Master of Ceremonies (Wesley Taylor), leads patrons through a sexual romp of a good time. The musical’s secondary relationship involves the older set: boarding-house owner Fraulein Schneider (Naomi Jacobson) and Jewish fruit vendor Herr Schultz (Rick Foucheux). But it’s the politics of the time that has the final say in the outcome of both relationships.

Although it’s clear Weed has a powerhouse of a voice, she goes very understated in songs such as "Maybe This Time" and "Cabaret," which add an extra complexity to both the character and the familiar tunes. She plays Sally as more innocent than the racy flirt that her character’s background might suggest, but this works well opposite Wooddell’s meek writer. The chemistry between the two isn’t what you would call palpable, but the relationship is a nice yin to the sex-charged yang happening elsewhere onstage.

As the sexually adventurous Emcee, Taylor is superb with perfectly timed knowing looks and a sort of devilish grin as he prances around stage and delights in the company of a chorus of both men and women. He sets the tone of the production with a bawdy "Willkommen" and is gleefully delightful in "Two Ladies" and "The Money Song."

Foucheux and Jacobson play it sweet as their characters slowly fall for each other over pineapples and oranges, and both have riveting transformations as they deal with the threat of what the Nazis mean to their impending union. Maria Rizzo, playing the tough-as-nails Fraulein Kost, also deserves praise, especially for her raw rendition of "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," which closes Act 1 on a powerful note.

Gardiner makes some bold, yet insightful choices for "Two Ladies," "Entr’acte/Kickline" and "If You Could See Her," and has the company of Kit Kat Klub girls and boys throbbing and spanking around Misha Kachman’s alluring stage design, which included cabaret-style tables throughout the floor and an in-theatre bar.

Frank Labovitz’s costumes are inspired, and capture all the eroticism that the Emcee and his band of Kit Kat Klub dancers ooze throughout the night. Musical director Jon Kalbfleisch leads a small jazzy orchestra and even the brass players get in on the act with the Emcee.

Signature’s Cabaret offers a delightfully fun time that lets you leave your troubles at the door, just as if you were a real-life patron inside the Kit Kat Klub.