i saw cabaret today

today (1/15/25) i saw cabaret at the kit kat club in nyc. it was so good!!!

David Merino was in for Emcee, and they fucking killed it!!! my jaw was open for the entirety of Willkommen, and the ending scene as he spoke to Cliff gave me goosebumps. i had to miss out on "Two Ladies" to use the bathroom, and i'm so pissed off about it because my friends said it was such a crazy elaborate scene with toilet plungers and some other shit (pun not intended). i loved seeing his character turn from unsettling clown to unsettling Aryan businessman. it made me think of the possible meanings of the ending. one thought i had in particular was maybe it was similar to the endings of some other productions in the sense that they show that there's an ongoing issue in the country of the production, ours being our country being taken over by corporate greed.

Auli'i Cravalho's portrayal of Sally Bowles was so captivating, and the way she moved her body and slowed down and paused at certain points to show significance for the lyrics of Cabaret was breathtaking. some people in the crowd started laughing when she was singing "she was the happiest corpse i have ever seen" for some reason though, and it really was not that kind of moment. i felt like she was also really good at annunciating her words as she sang, which i admire. 

Calvin Leon Smith as Cliff also brought more emotion to Cliff's character, and i felt how genuinely passionate his character was about his neighbors, Sally, and his view of the world around him.

Bebe Neuwirth as Fraulein Schneider also had my full attention each time she made it on to the stage, and her singing and belting was remarkable. i'm really holding space for the distraught she displayed in "What Would You Do?". 

the colorful costumes the cabaret girls and boys wore were so aesthetically pleasing, and i was amazed by the actors' elegant dancing starting right from the pre-show. the way the actors danced and moved throughout the show made me think of early shakespearean actors. the theatre in the round made it feel so much realer than other shows i've seen.

overall, i love this show, and i'm so grateful i got to see this production with my friends!