Auckland Theatre Company’s Cabaret Review
It’s rainy and still a little chilly in springtime Auckland, but at the Kit Kat Klub, it’s hot. Sizzling hot.
In reality, we’re at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, but you forget this the moment the lights cut to black and Auckland Theatre Company’s latest show, Cabaret, begins.
It’s been 60 years since the eight-time Emmy Award-winning musical premiered in New York, and 10 years since it hit the ATC stage. Set in 1929 Berlin, Cabaret explores the unnerving time between the end of the boisterous Jazz Age and the start of the Nazi regime.
At the Kit Kat Klub, men and women indulge in booze, sex and everything in between. It’s here that American writer Clifford Bradshaw (performed by Justin Rogers) is introduced to English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Nomi Cohen), overseen by the omnipresent Emcee (Matu Ngaropo, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou).
Ngaropo is reason enough to book tickets this very second. “The Emcee was, in my opinion, better than the one I saw on West End,” an entertainment journalist later tells me. I’m not surprised. Devilishly cheeky, Ngaropo commands the stage and delights the audience with confident physicality, strong vocals and a convincing German accent.
Speaking of accents, the first thing I do at intermission is look up Justin Rogers, convinced the actor hails from Pennsylvania. Alas, he’s local talent with an absolutely flawless accent and the theatre chops to match. He’s not the only one. Nomi Cohen is the perfect Sally, constantly toeing the line between devastatingly chaotic and captivating, a beautiful train wreck you can’t help but watch.
Meanwhile, the ensemble collectively dazzles in comedic bits, crisp dance numbers and pitch-perfect songs that aren’t just technically strong but performed with an obvious sense of play. This is a cast that seems to love performing together and the energy is contagious, turning a sensible Auckland crowd into one that whoops, hollers, and eventually gives a standing ovation. This atmosphere is no doubt helped by the live band permanently set on a platform at the back of the stage, who add yet another layer to the production.
Amid the belted solos and high-octane theatrics, the tender love story between Fräulein Schneider (Susan Brady) and Herr Schultz (Steven Ray) can feel comparatively slow and saccharine, but it’s a necessary contrast. Between these two characters, one feels the heartbreak of Berlin’s changing politics most keenly.
Is it an Auckland Theatre Company show without a fantastic set? This one is the work of Dan Williams and is mainly set at the Kit Kat Klub, complete with a large hanging CABARET sign, yet quickly transforms into a handful of other spaces with the tactful use of a few key props and brilliant lighting (courtesy of Filament Eleven 11).
And a moment for the makeup and costuming, which can only be described as decadent. There are voluminous hoop skirts and silky corsets, fishnets and tassels and eyeshadow dramatic enough to be considered a main character.
All this is to say, a night at Cabaret feels like everything a great night of theatre should be. It’s raucous and flirty, sincere and heartbreaking and sends you off into the night with a brain full of thoughts and a song stuck in your head.
- Cabaret runs until October 25 at the ASB Waterfront Theatre (atc.co.nz)