Everyone should see Cabaret – well, everyone who doesn’t mind a bit of nudity.
There are magnificent songs and marvellous performances in this inventive production of the famous Kander and Ebb musical, which found huge fame with Bob Fosse’s 1972 movie. But beyond that, it has real heart and is more relevant today than ever.
Former EastEnders star John Partridge is the knockout star of the show as Emcee, running the Kit Kat Club and setting new levels of decadence, humour and ultimately pathos.
He delivers some of the most memorable moments in nightclub numbers like The Money Song and Tomorrow Belongs to me and his confrontational character brings the show to its shocking conclusion.
Kara Lily Hayworth makes a brilliant Sally Bowles, (played by Liza Minelli in the movie) - the showgirl with a passion for partying.
And actress and singer Anita Harris – who found fame in the Carry On movies among many other things - is wonderful as her landlady, Fraulein Schneider. Anita, 77, sings beautifully and her tender romance with Herr Schulz leads to incredibly moving scenes. He is played by James Paterson, who the audience can’t fail to adore.
Charles Hegarty is great as the not-so-innocent American, Cliff, who gets caught up with Sally and her world.
Director Rufus Norris – director of the National Theatre - and choreographer Javier de Frutos have created a truly magical show.
The talented dancers perform daring leaps from a mobile platform in one of the show’s early numbers and their energy is maintained throughout. Not only are their bodies put to the test but they also control the moving parts of the set.
Designer Katrina Lindsay frames the live band, led by Phil Cornwell, in lightbulbs, high above the stage and clothes the characters in often scanty but stunning costumes. And there is wonderful staging in, for example, the hilarious Two Ladies, where three in a bed becomes six, then eight, and all kinds of other props appear and disappear from view.
But as the partying goes on, so does the rise of Nazism and its effects, large and small, are felt by all. And nudity means so much more.
In the week of Holocaust Memorial Day – and, dare I mention, Brexit – the show is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Stealing lyrics from the show: “Come to the Cabaret, old chum, come to the Cabaret!”
Cabaret is at Sunderland Empire until Saturday, February 1. Tickets available here.
