Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
In the first scene, the audience are introduced to the Emcee, played by Joe Williams, a role that fits him like a glove. The salacious, the bawdy, the disgusting – no holds are barred in Williams’ uninhibited performance. Something tells me Williams is most at his ease when doused in glitter, wearing very little, and being spanked with a wooden spatula by a sexy Chorus member in stockings who is also riding him around the stage. But maybe that’s just me being assumptive. The most assured performer on stage, Williams filled the space with his larger-than-life, expressive acting and characterful vocals with the opening song, ‘Wilkommen, Bienvenue’. I settled back in my seat. This, I thought, this was going to be good. And yet somehow, after that it fizzled slightly. The energy dropped and was not regained until the second half, which could easily be due to first night nerves.
The female chorus members (Gabriella Holcroft, Lottie Johnson, Hayley Thompson and Anna Thirkettle) were some of the more able performers on stage, but could easily – frustratingly – have been louder (although I appreciate how difficult it is to sing and do complicated dance routines simultaneously). The dance was the most consistently accomplished, intelligent and amusing facets of the whole piece. Humorous and flawlessly performed routines involving farcical heads darting around bits of set, lots of women lolling suggestively over chairs and Williams – again – doing a bit of trademark spanking, and I found myself constantly looking forward to the next dance number.
Emilie Smith as the heroine Sally Bowles was capricious and darling, lovable and infuriating, with a beautifully Brief Encounter-esque British accent. Her deliberate facetiousness and flippancy made her emotional disintegration in the title song in the second act all the more poignant. However, this powerful moment was a long time coming, and could have been there earlier in the desperate strains of ‘Maybe This Time’. Her leading man, a naïve American called Cliff (William Descrettes), has just moved to Berlin and is swept up in the glamour and sensuality of the Kit Kat Club, and also swept up by an infatuation with Sally. Descrettes unfortunately lacked the believability and intensity that was so necessary to match Smith’s onstage energy, and was at times wooden, but this was compensated for by his vocals (in the regrettably few songs his character had to sing), which were skillful and beautifully rendered.
The sinister subtext to this musical (the love story coinciding with the Nazis rise to power) was not given as much attention as I would have liked. The shock as Ernst Ludwig (Pascal Dubois) took off his coat to reveal the stark contrast of a red Nazi armband against his dark suit was one of the few chilling moments. The audience was not led into the dark, seedy underworld of Berlin nightclubs, tinged with the foreboding of anti-Semitism and violence (the disco ball in the centre of the ceiling was an irritating reminder of that), but were instead rather uncomfortably reminded of the restrictions of the space: having to crane around to see a song, having cast members gingerly push their way through the seating to get to the stage, having the orchestra squeezed against the wall of the Barn. Of course, the limitations of the Barn are not the fault of Jones or his cast, the latter of whom perform valiantly in the tight space, but it is just an extra factor that means that Cabaret just isn’t as seductive and dangerous as it ought to be.
Edit: Many apologies for the typos, I wrote this on an iPad with very clumsy fingers.
While I usually resist the urge to comment on the Yorker, even when people slam my own comment articles, in this particular case I am going to have to intervene with my own thoughts. Musicals are not something I would usually want to see in the barn, which I used to believe should be reserved for plays alone. However, Cabaret this week showcased exactly why musicals have a place in DramaSoc, and indeed in York's creative scene. The cast were great, the orchestra were lively, the show was pumped with energy. Cabaret, despite its genre not being to my taste, was one of the strongest shows I've seen in the Barn (and without sounding holier than thou, I've not missed one in over a year and a half now).
I would like to pay credit to Tom Jones, Janey and the production team for not only providing a great performance through song and choreography, but decorating the period with costumes and props sourced with keen eyes - they are clearly sticklers for detail, they captured Weimar Germany very well for such a stripped down version of the musical.
I must thank Emily Smith and Joe Williams also for turning in stella performances as Emcee and Sally - characterisation was great - such subtlety in moments, delivered with delicate pathos which contrasted nicely with the more farcical elements of the play. The supporting cast were also very strong.
Again, this is the first time I've felt compelled to make a defence of a show in the Barn. Cabaret for me was a sterling effort. For three hundred quid the team produced an edgy, entertaining show. A lecturer who came for free handed me thirty quid on doors muttering "keep the change" as he was still reeling from its brilliance.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report