*Cabaret,* July 26, 2025

Robert and I saw Cabaret on Broadway on July 26, 2025. I had seen the previous Broadway production in the late 90s and was curious to see this new revival. It had Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee when it was new - - this is the end of the run and they've flown over Billy Porter from the London West End production. They also brought over Marisha Wallace and Calvin Leon Smith from London, playing the other two leading roles, Sally and Cliff. This was the first time those three roles had been played by Black actors, either on Broadway or in the West End.

The show started before the show started. We were led through a labyrinthine route to the theater, past a row of dumpsters (thankfully empty) behind strips of plastic. Once we were in the building we went downstairs where a separate show was going on, singing, dancing, writhing, playing of the accordion, that sort of thing. The performers were separate from the cast of the show, this was their gig, doing the pre-show performance. The violinist, accordion player, and clarinet player were amazing, they really delivered the klezmer. The singers and dancers were less impressive, they seemed to be happy just shaking their parts.

The show was at the August Wilson Theater, a typical Broadway house. It had been completely redone for this show: the main level had the stage placed in the middle with cocktail tables surrounding it, about four or five deep, and normal seats behind them. We were in the balcony on the left (another balcony was on the right). I love seeing a show in the round, it feels so much more engaging than your typical proscenium show with everyone facing forward.

The 1990s Broadway production was revelatory, it amped up the darkness that had always been lurking in the show. This production was even darker and more menacing. I'll give you a specific example: Sally sings "Cabaret" very close the end of the show. Liza sang it in the movie as a rousing show-stopping number. The previous production had Sally revealing her wounded core but still delivering the goods. This production turned it onto a full tilt boogie mad scene - - Sally was totally unhinged, this was her expression of denial and rage against the forces surrounding her, forces she was working real hard to shut out. It was chilling. Marisha Wallace was out of this world, totally committed to the production and with a powerhouse set of pipes. Here she is singing "Maybe This Time." Gives you a good sense of her ferocity.

I liked that this production made more of the point-of-view character, Cliff, than the previous production. We had an understudy in the role, Pedro Garza. He was very good. I've always had good experiences with understudies.

The older couple was to have been played by Ellen Harvey and Steven Skybell. I had seen Skybell in an off-Broadway production of The Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and was excited to see him again. Alas, neither of them were doing the performance I saw but Michelle Aravena and Colin Cunliffe was very strong.

Billy Porter played the central character of the Emcee. My friend Karen asked me the next day, "Was he good?" I took a moment to ponder and my answer was, "He was good for what he was." This was my second time seeing him in a musical - - I saw him in Shuffle Along a few years ago. In both cases it appeared that his only setting was 158%. It's mighty impressive but a little tiring after a while, and does it really serve the character or serve the show? It feels a little desperate.