Cabaret - Playhouse Theatre

Bring back Amy Lennox

Saw this again tonight, and LOVED it as much as ever.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Eddie Redmayne's Emcee was like an angel came down from heaven to do stand-up comedy, he was so ethereally fragile, yet so versatile in his physical comedy.

John McCrea was equally ethereal, his singing voice even more angelic than Redmayne, but he was malign where Redmayne was benign, like Lucifer, an angel of light turned devil.

Callum Scott Howells was not ethereal, but he was not quite human either: he was like the T-1000 Terminator model Emcee, a frightening muscular machine unstoppably pummeling his way towards fascism.

By contrast, Mason Alexander Park's Emcee is all too human, earthy like Alan Cumming, with immense range. Park's singing is not in McCrea's league, but it's better for not being so perfect, it's more unpredictable, more real, sometimes falsetto, sometimes full-voiced baritone, sometimes a punkish rasp, sometimes a howl of angst.

Park is electric precisely because they can be anything at any moment. Their "Tomorrow belongs to me" was a good example of how Park can surprise, going from angelic falsetto to sudden full-voiced baritone, crashing the song suddenly and deliberately down to earth, where it hits human, where it's real.

Maude Apatow's Sally Bowles is like a set of unravelling Russian dolls, mannered layers peeling away to reveal vulnerability before being deliberately reconstructed at the end in a devastating rendition of the title song.

She's the poshest of the Sally Bowless that I've seen (I missed Amy Lennox), a reflection of the actor working hard at and succeeding at effectively enunciating received pronunciation.

You could conclude that Apatow's Sally is a mannered posh girl on a jolly were it not for the fact that she occasionally drops consonants in a way that a real posh girl (like Francesca Annis's iconic Tuppence from the period TV show, "Tommy and Tuppence") never would. The effect bolsters the idea that Apatow's Bowles is a wannabe posh girl, faking it to make it.

And these layers of affectation and manners are indeed dropped along the way, until, in one moment, Park's Emcee and Apatow's Sally share the tenderest and most real hug imaginable. When Apatow's Bowles confronts Clifford at the end, she is the most convincing of all the Bowless at suggesting that she really genuinely imagined a life together with him.

Which heightens the sense of tragedy, in what is easily Apatow's strongest number, "Cabaret," as she rebuilds and reconstructs all her layers of affected invulnerability. It's a really powerful arc, perfectly realised.

Personally, being someone in love with comedy and comics, I rate Eddie Redmayne and Aimee Lou-Wood my favourite Emcee and Sally, because they had the funniest bones, able to get a laugh out of almost anything.

Park and Apatow are much less comedy minded, more sincere beneath the exhilaration of their performances, never deliberately setting up punchlines, and the result is earthy, human and deeply affecting.

For me, this is still my favourite show in London, and tonight felt like 5 stars.

The sad news was released yesterday that Angus Cloud, the actor who played Maude Apatow's character's love interest in Euphoria, has passed away at the age of 25. He was a brilliantly natural actor with lots of potential. I wonder if Maude will see out her run in Cabaret or head home after this tragic news.

I was walking down to Embankment to get the tube out to Guys & Dolls when this was happening.  No one was getting near that theatre with the size of the area the police had cordoned off (I believe it was due to someone on the roof of a building).

Maude has done a nice tribute to Angus on her Insta. I assume she is still performing as scheduled as we've not heard anything to the contary. Our thoughts are with all his friends and family at this sad time.

West end covers have been posting daily. Emily has been Sally since she went on mid show Monday.

Yes I read that on All That Chat. i've never heard of her before now

Scheduled to do all shows, unless on holiday which I imagine can be checked on social media

New casting (potentially?) coming at 7am tomorrow - they’re teasing an announcement on their social media…

If it’s Jake Shears I suspect I’ll have to book!

Current cast's final show is September 23rd

Jake Shears and Self Esteem confirmed.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/aug/15/musicians-jake-shears-and-self-esteem-to-star-in-cabaret?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

“I’ve joked for years that there is no need for a Self Esteem musical because Sally’s story covers most of the points”