An entertaining and deeply profound production, Syracuse University’s Department of Drama’s ‘Cabaret’ blends good old-fashioned vaudeville with dark commentary on the condition of humanity, delivering a full-fledged theatrical experience.

 

‘Cabaret’ delves into Berlin, Germany in 1931. The show primarily revolves around the sleazy Kit Kat Klub’s performers and patrons. The emcee of the gentleman’s club narrates the show, which focuses on singer Sally Bowles and her rendezvous with the traveling American author Cliff Bradshaw. Bowles and Bradshaw, along with a slew of other alluring characters, enjoy the seedy lifestyle with sexually charged oblivion. That is until the Nazi Party’s emergence seems too large to ignore, and the ongoing party must come to a dramatic end.

 

‘Cabaret’ first hit the Broadway stage in 1966 under Harold Prince’s direction. The critics loved it, awarding the show eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. In 1972, the show spawned an Academy Award-winning film adaptation, directed by Bob Fosse, with a cast led by Liza Minnelli. ‘Cabaret’ has seen two major Broadway revivals, as well as a visit to West End and three more United Kingdom revivals since.

 

With its timeless message and energetic characters, ‘Cabaret’ fits perfectly on SU Drama’s smaller stage.

Syracuse Stage typically houses SU Drama shows in its smaller Storch Theatre. But that just didn’t feel right for ‘Cabaret’ director David Wanstreet and producing artistic director Timothy Bond. Bond allowed ‘Cabaret’ to perform in the significantly larger John D. Archbold Theatre, marking the first time an entirely SU Drama-cast production performed on the stage.

 

And it’s a good thing he did. SU Drama’s ‘Cabaret’ is larger than life — a gloriously energetic cast manipulating its bodies and voices to create something extraordinary.

 

Chris Dwan, a senior musical theater major, takes a turn as the emcee and invokes something truly disturbing. He lurks, he struts and he groans — all in the name of driving the show along. Dwan delivers a performance far more varied than the film version’s notorious emcee, creating a character less Pee-wee Herman and more tantalizingly obscure. It probably doesn’t hurt that he gets most of the show’s laughs: He prances in lederhosen one minute and moans in a ball gown the next.

 

As Sally Bowles, senior musical theater major Hannah Corneau has a lot to live up to — it’s hard to out-Liza Liza. Which is why going in another direction works for her. She plays Bowles a little harsher than the usual doe-eyed party animal, but she makes it work, putting her own spin on classics like ‘Maybe This Time.’

 

But where Corneau really shines is in conjunction with her handsomely innocent love interest, Cliff Bradshaw, played by senior musical theater major Kenny Metzger. Metzger plays Bradshaw as the sympathetic but poised American symbol, drawing out his best performances in powerful scenes dealing with still relevant issues of racism, homophobia and abortion. Metzger’s character seems to take all the hits in this arena, and it’s to his credit that each is a believable — and thus moving — encounter. It’s a shame Bradshaw rarely sings, for when he does, Metzger pours out a beautifully powerful voice that’s perfect for the stage.

 

Overall, the cast’s vocal efforts stand strong on its own. The three leads know what they’re doing, of course, but the supporting principals prove just as strong. In fact, senior musical theater major Mary Kate Morrissey, as prostitute Fraulein Kost, pumps out one of the show’s strongest vocal moments. Senior acting major Alanna Rogers’s role as Fraulein Schneider provides some memorable moments, though she is strongest when paired opposite the lovable Herr Shultz (played by senior musical theatre major Ross Baum).

 

But as a cabaret would suggest, one of the most enjoyable parts of the production is the ensemble: a beautiful mix of men and women of all different shapes and sizes playing the Kit Kat Girls and Boys, reminiscent of an actual club where, unsurprisingly, not everyone is 5-foot-10 and 100 pounds.

 

Overall, the cast’s unity is what makes the musical so successful, something Metzger believed wasn’t purely coincidental. Metzger said when the cast found out that the grandfather of senior musical theater major Luke Wygodny (who plays the customs official) had survived the Holocaust, the production became more meaningful.

And it shows. The performers in SU Drama’s ‘Cabaret’ are nothing like the empty souls of stripping cabaret dancers — they’re a group of affected youth with a message to share. That message of cultural acceptance was relevant in 1931 Berlin, it was relevant in 1966 on the Great White Way, and it is relevant today.

gmillerj@syr.edu

Published on October 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm