At Milton
Keynes Theatre until Saturday 4th November.
Will Young is
outstanding as Emcee! He has reprised his role - which earned him an Olivier
award nomination for his critically acclaimed performance as the show’s master
of ceremonies at London’s Savoy Theatre. Starring alongside Will is newcomer to
theatre, Louise Redknapp as Sally Bowles, who did brilliantly in her stage
debut.
The show captures
the heady atmosphere of the Cabaret lifestyle and the characters that star in
or attend the Kit Kat Klub and local residents of Frauline Schneider’s house. Its
quirky story follows the hedonistic lifestyles in 1930’s Berlin within the
world of glitzy showbiz, dancing, singing, drugs, prostitutes and bisexuality in
what was once described by Christopher Isherwood as ‘smokey sexuality’. As the
show develops, so does the power of the Nazi Party and we see hints of this
throughout until the very haunting end.
An exceptional
performance from Will Young, who has been remarkably versatile throughout his
career so far with a beautiful singing voice and he added a great touch of ‘weird’
to Emcee who was very funny and endearing. The entire ensemble acted, danced
and sang effortlessly with some killer routines and looked as though they were
having a smashing time on stage, which always makes a performance more exciting.
I didn’t warm too well to Sally Bowles as a character (maybe I’m not supposed
to?) and having never seen Cabaret before I feel the story should focus more on
Emcee however, Louise Redknapp was a fantastic Sally and with her musical
background she smashed it.
As usual at
MK theatre the set design, lighting, sound, costumes and atmosphere were
perfect – they cleverly switched between just three scenes from the sombre
boarding house to the lively Klub and the audience loved it from start to finish.
I particularly loved the inclusion of the orchestra raised at the back of the
stage, what would a musical be without its musicians!!
The theatre
was packed out on a Tuesday night, so get your tickets quick before they sell
out!! www.atgtickets.com
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