By Dale King
If you’ve never seen the musical Cabaret, you still have time to catch the show at Lake Worth Playhouse before this well-tooled performance about sordid pre-war Berlin closes with a matinee Sunday.
And if you’re already seen Cabaret, you are strongly advised — no, make that urged — to return. The Lake Avenue venue wraps up its 2014-2015 season with a production that’s graphic, erotic and intense, but very entertaining. A commendable conclusion truly sells the show’s message.
Kudos are in order for the entire Cabaret cast, one that’s composed largely of newcomers to the downtown Lake Worth stage and other actors just finding their way back. Director Clayton Phillips brings plenty of expertise to his role, including lots of on-the-road, skills-honing as Harold Prince’s assistant for the national tour of Kiss of the Spider Woman and as director of that production in Tokyo and Buenos Aires, where it won the national award for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.
Of course, Cabaret has become a contemporary classic, first taking to the stage in 1966. The Joel Grey-Liza Minnelli film followed six years later. Based on the writings of Christopher Isherwood, who experienced life in sexually uninhibited, politically turbulent Berlin during the rise of Adolf Hitler, the show offers an unusual mix of songs by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb.
The randy array of characters is also varied, from the lewd and lascivious Emcee (Ricky Klimas) to the not-so-innocent American journalist Cliff (Aaron Lee), who falls for Sally Bowles (Mallory Newbrough), the British cabaret singer at the smarmy Kit Kat Club. Along the way are scattered some scantily clad ladies, a couple of scantily clad guys (one of whom apparently knows Cliff from a previous encounter) and a nasty Nazi named Ernst (Michael Cartwright).
This isn’t just a play about Cliff, Sally and their crash-and-burn passion. There is a more wholesome, truer, emotional attachment between Frau Schneider (Vicki Klein), the landlady of the building where Cliff has found a cheap flat, and Herr Schultz (Scott Segall), an innocent, lonely old Jewish fruit stand operator who feels he is safe from any governmental woes because, “after all, I’m a German.”
Another tenant is hooker with a heart of gold Fraulein Kost (Jackie Toth), whose sexual hijinks provide some edgy, comic relief.
The plot of Cabaret is fairly basic. Cliff visits Berlin to write a book and teach English. He meets Sally at the Kit Kat Club. She moves in with him, despite the landlady’s protestations. Little by little, Berlin and Hitler’s prominence begin to bother Cliff and he wants to take Sally to America. She objects – and things go badly awry.
Some of musical’s tunes are bawdy, others bouncy, others tender. Sitting spread-eagled on a chair, Sally vocalizes “Don’t Tell Mama” that she’s working in a jerkwater club. The Emcee is front and center with “Two Ladies,” though he’s accompanied by a girl and a guy.
“Maybe This Time” is a thoughtful piece and the title song – sung with gusto by Sally – precedes the powerful finale. And there’s that frightening look at the future, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.”
The live band, under the direction of musical director Roger Blankenship, adds to the depth of the songs.
Lake Worth’s Cabaret is strong stuff, and the ensemble takes it seriously. Newbrough, making her Playhouse debut, is an exceptional singer who deserves more musical roles. Lee is also a first-timer at Lake Worth, but has 15 years of stage experience. He is appealing as Sally’s unlikely lover, though he is cagey about his past and his desires.
Michael Cartwright, fresh from his lead role as Emile in South Pacific, is equally cagey as Ernst, a Nazi sympathizer from the get-go. He does double duty as Max, Sally’s insufferable boss.
Klein and Segall are forceful and touching as the practical landlady and her soft-hearted Jewish suitor. Toth is comically naïve about official goings-on in the country, but is adept at renting herself out by the hour.
Cabaret concludes its run today, Saturday and Sunday at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth. Call 561-586-6410 for tickets and information. The playhouse isn’t shutting down for long. The 2015-2016 opens July 9 with a performance of the “rock opera” Tommy.