I saw Cabaret again last night, as I haven't been able to get it out of my brain lately. I didn't really think about it much after originally seeing it back in November, but I've been grossly ill for most of 2025 so far and wasting a lot of time on TikTok as I was capable of little else. And if you're also on the musical theatre side of TikTok you've probably seen the Ukrainian production of Cabaret on your For You page and I am OBSESSED. I don't know what it is about this production that's captivated me so much, but it's made the whole entire musical click for me in a way seeing it in November didn't, and subsequently made me appreciate stuff from seeing it in November that I hadn't before! I also watched the 1972 movie which has a lot of changes from the stage version but I really enjoyed all the same, and despite not liking theatre recordings I forced myself to watch the 1993 pro-shot of the Sam Mendes production with Alan Cumming and Jane Horrocks. And obviously after going through all of that I felt like I needed to get back down to London to see it with my new understanding as soon as I was healthy enough.
I still have my original beef with interactive theatre, but now I knew what it involved and how the theatre was set up I was able to pick my seat accordingly which alone gave me a much better time. Although the audience around me were wasted, which spoilt it a lot and I do blame the 'immersion' aspect because if you set it up like a club then people are going to treat it like a club and act up. It's a shame, and it really spoilt the tone of the darker scenes, and I wish the theatre would deter and control this kind of thing as it's an expensive night to have ruined by drunks.
The cast has changed since I last saw it, and my opinion was mixed. I loved Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles, she was wonderful and utterly heartbreaking! Billy Porter was the Emcee which felt like stunt casting (which this show has a history of doing a lot of to be fair) and he was underwhelming. If you're unfamiliar with Cabaret, it's a show set in early 1930s Berlin and takes place around the Kit Kat Club during the Nazis rise to power. It tells the story of Cliff Bradshaw, a traveling American writer who moves to Berlin at the beginning of the musical, and his relationship with Sally Bowles, an English performer at the Kit Kat Club, and features a background plot with Cliff's landlady and her relationship with a Jewish man while antisemitism is rising. It's essentially a frog in a boiling pot story detailing how Nazism was able to rise, and the Emcee, aka the Master of Ceremonies, is the host, the narrator, and oversees the whole entire plot so he's kind of a big deal. My biggest issue was that Billy Porter never really dissolved into the role, I was very aware throughout the whole thing that I was watching Billy Porter rather than Billy Porter as the Emcee if that makes sense. The role is usually preformed with a German accent which Billy seemed to struggle with and only used occasionally, performing most of the role as an American which was quite jarring. And he didn't really have the physicality for the role either, he didn't command the stage with his presence whenever he was on it, he was just there. I was really spoilt last time seeing Adam Gillen who was phenomenal, but I had hoped for better considering Billy's reputation and accolades. I still really enjoyed the show though, and it was wonderful getting to experience it again now I had more context for everything!
It also felt really good to be in London again! Funnily enough I haven't been since I last saw Cabaret as I didn't want to have to deal with the Christmas crowds in December and then I got sick. I miss it when I'm not there though, and I want to make going to the theatre more of a priority again instead of wasting my money on other things. Especially as there's so much I want to see this year! I already have tickets for Aaron Tveit's solo concert in April (🥹) and a concert of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame in August (omgomgomg). I'm seeing Starlight Express next month too and have no idea what to expect. I have technically already seen it when I was a literal child and my school took me to see it on a school trip when I was about 7, but I remember nothing other than I got obsessed with my roller skates for a little while after. I couldn't even name a single song from the show, but I'm looking forward to going in blind with no expectations. It should be fun if nothing else!
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