Powerful, Must-See CABARET Thrills At Ivoryton Playhouse CT

By Don Church and Tony Schillaci, Critics On The Aisle Photo of Sam Given (center) and cast of CABARET by Jonathan Steele

The stage is set at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut. It's been transformed into a seedy nightclub, the Kit Kat Klub in 1931 Berlin. Nazis and fascists are coming to power. A mad emcee entices us to come inside to a place where "life is beautiful" although outside the horrors that will be inflicted on the world are just beginning. This is the fascinating milieu of CABARET, a dark but brilliant musical with a book by Joe Masteroff– now playing in idyllic Ivoryton until September 1. When this John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) show opened on Broadway in 1966 it won 8 Tony Awards, with its revival in 1998 winning 4 more. (This current production is based on the 1998 update).

Actor Sam Given* was born to play the role of the Emcee. His character is mad, loveable, evil, outrageous, over-the-top and totally deranged as he introduces the whirlwind life into which we are about to be taken on an emotionally thrilling and chilling ride. As he grins insanely welcoming us to the Cabaret ("Willkommen"), the Emcee is joined by the scantily clad Kit Kat Girls and Boys. The opening number is sensational. As directed and choreographed by Associate Artistic Director Todd Underwood, the club scene in decadent Berlin comes to life with fluid sexuality and electric energy. Led by Sam Given's Emcee throughout, the club's mood sinks deeper and deeper into depravity with every rapid dazzling costume change. Given is not only a dynamic song and dance headliner but is also an accomplished actor with a range from A to Z plus. Todd Underwood again delivers another top Broadway-quality production for the Ivoryton Playhouse. The story unfolds as mild-mannered American writer Cliff Bradshaw (Andy Tighe*), newly arrived in Berlin, meets English cabaret performer Sally Bowles (Katie Mack*) in a rooming house run by Fraulein Schneider (Carolyn Popp*). Their tempestuous relationship is played out with Cliff being entranced by the fiery, hard-drinking, drug-taking Bowles. Ms. Mack creates Sally as an emotional firecracker with either defiance or heartbreak in every song that she sings. She brings a new longing to her interpretation of the torch song "Maybe This Time," and in the second act is realistically distraught as she entices us with her powerful voice to come to the "Cabaret." She personifies the true meaning of star quality.

Fraulein Schneider runs her establishment with a firm hand, even though many of her tenants have shady enterprises going on right under her nose. Ms. Popp's lovely voice is given a spotlight when she sings "So What" – the resignation that for a woman of a certain age, life goes on no matter what discomfort comes her way. Later, with delightful John Little* as Herr Schultz, a December-December budding romance is unfolding as they duet lovingly in "It Couldn't Please Me More" and "Married."

Carlyn Connolly* as Fraulein Kost, a prostitute who rents a room in Schneider's house, gives a wonderfully bold performance – especially when she sings "Married" in German as counterpoint to the old couple's melodic song. Will Clark is charming smuggler Ernst, who befriends Cliff and later turns that charm into sinister horror as he leads the entire cast in the monstrous Nazi anthem "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" which frighteningly closes the first act.

The brilliant cast of singer/dancer/actors light up the stage as Kit Kat Klub performers. This ensemble – Corrie Farbstein, Taavon Gamble* (who doubles as dance captain), Jade Genga, Aliah James, Amanda Luppachino, Amani Pope, Renee Sutherland, Emerson Valentina, Max Weinstein and Jayke Workman- are a superb example of a group of professionals who appear as if they've been working together for years, even though they've only had 2.5 weeks of rehearsal! Every movement is executed beautifully, every note clear and to perfection. Costume Designer Katie Bunce dresses each Kit Kat dancer in a tawdry sensual way that illustrates the openness and abandon that was the scene in Berlin in the early '30's. Sam Given's Emcee costumes become more and more fabulous in each scene- from male clown to outrageous drag and every mad style the decadent Emcee would be expected to wear.