Theatre Review: Cabaret

Pre-Theatre Meal: Rosie O'Gradys
Accompanied by: Nana & Donna

Shockingly, I have never seen a production of Cabaret. Not a high school production, not the movie, nothing. That's because I was unintentionally saving myself for Alan Cumming to be my first. Soooo worth it. There is something just absolutely mesmerizing about him. You just can't keep your eyes off of him, which is especially problematic in his role as the Emcee because he tends to always be off to the side and a little distracting, but in the best possible way.

Speaking of brilliant performers, Linda Emond was fantastic as Fraulein Schneider. As for Michelle Williams' Sally Boyle though, I just wasn't getting the choice. She's a great actress, so she really committed to it, but I found it to be whiney and infantile. I got the feeling that Sally is meant to a vivacious, larger than life character which explains why Cliff can't help but be drawn in to her world. However, Williams played her with a quivering voice which made her always seem on the edge of a breakdown.

Curious to see the contrast, when I got home I immediate rented the Joel Grey & Liza Minneli film version. While I wasn't drawn in by that Sally Boyles personally, it was definitely more what I expected of the role. And now I've seen Cabaret two times!

Theatre Review: Bullets Over Broadway

Pre-Theatre Meal: Blue Fin
Accompanied by: Tracey

Bullets Over Broadway wasn't too high up on my list although I was curious to see Zach Braff's Broadway debut as he had won over my heart as JD on Scrubs. However, these positive feelings were pretty equally balanced against my dislike of Woody Allen (and yes, I mean his work, not his personal life drama). BUT when my friend needed a last quintessential NYC Broadway Musical before moving out of town, this definitely fit the bill so we picked up some TKTS.

In terms of setting the scene with a believable mobster, Vincent Pastore as Nick Valenti was pretty perfect. He's most recognizable as Pussy on The Sopranos which I just finished watching for the first time last month. From there everything continued to be pretty perfect- an amazingly talented group of showgirls - and show guys - all of whom busted out some amazing classic Bway tap dancing. The sets, the costumes, the songs were all Grade A musical entertainment. Everyone in the cast was also amazingly talented. Special shout outs to

• Brooks Ashmanskas (Warner Purcell) the foppish famous actor with an expansive love of food.
• Betsy Wolfe (Ellen) who plays the sweet ingeniue for the most part, but then belted it out like nobodies business.
• Marin Mazzie (Helen) who played the larger than life famous Broadway star to a T. She was stupendous and very familiar, I'm pretty sure I saw her when she played the role of Lady of the Lake. I've definitely seen her when she originated the role of Mother in Ragtime, but that's a very different role.