‘Willkommen’ A Review of Cabaret on Broadway

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, where you are invited to leave your troubles at the door and let loose. I had the pleasure of seeing this show at the August Wilson theater on Sept. 2nd, 2024, and I was blown away by the utter mastery this talented troupe of people showed over their craft, and beyond that, I was moved by the heart wrenching, thought-provoking story. A seat in this theater will run you anywhere from $70 to almost $700 depending on your seats. My tickets were around $200 a piece for a mezzanine seat about 15 rows back.

Cabaret follows Clifford Bradshaw (Ato Blankson-Wood), an American writer. As he begins a stay in Berlin in search of inspiration for his novel, he’s invited to the Kit Kat Club, a small club in the underbelly of the city, to visit the Cabaret hosted by The Emcee (Eddie Redmayne). There, he meets the star of the show, Sally Bowles (Gabi Campo). In Berlin, he meets a host of interesting people and attends a myriad of thrilling parties, but is soon forced to make a choice as the second World War looms on the horizon. Will he stay in Berlin and continue his care-free life at the Cabaret, or will he escape Germany before it’s too late? If this story interests you, and you plan on seeing the show or movie, beware, as major spoilers lie ahead. 

Having visited the August Wilson theater before, I can say with certainty that the building was unrecognizable, and truly transported you to a dingy Berlin club in the 1930s. The building wrapped around itself as you entered through a refurbished alleyway, where you were given a sticker to cover your phone camera. Before the show even began, all attendees over the age of 21 were given a complimentary shot of cherry schnapps, and led to the pre-show room, which was absolutely redesigned, with a small stage and a huge eye-shaped disco ball at the center. In this room, a group of singers and musicians were putting on a cabaret of their own. Five dancers and three musicians (one clarinet, an accordion, and a violin) performed as the room got more and more crowded with excited patrons.

In the back of the room was a small cabinet full of Cabaret-themed merchandise, and a small menu to view not only the available merchandise but also a list of cocktails from the open bar. We tasted the “Toast of Mayfair,” as it was named after my favorite character in the show, Sally Bowles, and it was delicious. It was made with primarily champagne but also had edible glitter and a slightly fruity undertone to it. All drinks were served in mismatched glassware, which lent itself further to the underground club feel. 

After the pre-show performance, we were ushered into the theater which was completely renovated like the rest of the building. Where the stage used to be, there were rows and rows of seats; where the sides of the mezzanine used to be was the orchestra, and in the middle of the room was a small round stage. We were excited as our showing had Eddie Redmayne playing The Emcee,. Although we knew many people had given him mixed reviews, we had seen his performance at the Tony Awards and were fairly certain we’d be impressed. We had no idea what we were in for.

Impressed does not begin to describe the way I felt as Redmayne took to the stage alongside Blankson-Wood and Campo. By the end of the opening number, “Willkommen,” I was already sure that I had to hold onto my bag lest it be ripped away in the wave of talent and stage presence this cast brought to the show. This version is utterly different from any previous adaptation. The costume and makeup design is bold and bright, with overwhelming loud makeup that can be seen from the farthest seats. The makeup almost brought forth imagery of drag shows with its caricature of femininity, and the costumes were clearly inspired by the outfits worn in wartime Germany, but had a flow to them that modernized the feel of the costuming, relating the story to new audiences and our club experiences.

Eddie Redmayne perfectly caught the elusive Emcee, taking on the role with grace, and truly breaking away from the mold that Joel Grey and Alan Cumming had set on the character, making it brand new in a move that could not have been championed without the beautiful direction of Rebecca Frecknall. The Emcee moves like a puppet, luring the audience in with promise of fun and alcohol and scandal, but throughout the show, becomes more and more of the puppet master, often taking to the center of the stage and rising above other characters on its beautiful rising platforms. During the Act I finale, he even holds a baton, conducting the other characters in a haunting scene that truly turns the tide of the entire show as the characters realize the situation they’re in, and take their first steps at their final decision: to leave Berlin or stay. Redmayne’s distinct vocals lend themselves brilliantly to the character. His voice is wobbly and throaty until his character takes that turn into willing ignorance, then his voice becomes much more stable, along with his clothing. For the second half of the show, The Emcee is in a brown suit with slicked back blonde hair, a far departure from the bright orange hair and clown suits he had been wearing in the first act.

Ato Blankson-Wood and Gabi Campo juxtapose each other so well. In the first act, their chemistry is amazing. Sally Bowles is a famously hard character to play. The character was originally written for Liza Minnelli, and even she ended up getting booted from the original production under the belief that she couldn’t handle it (although she did go on to star in the show’s movie adaptation in 1972). Sally starts the show as a naive cabaret girl, and throughout the show matures in a romantic and intimate relationship with the show’s main character, eventually reaching her character climax when she decides to end the relationship so as to remain in blissful ignorance in the way of the show’s titular song, Cabaret. 

Gabi let the spirit of Sally Bowles completely fill her from the soul up, and you could tell. Her voice soared through the room and grabbed every single heart there, not letting go until Sally was ready to. You could feel the tension building inside of her, and you could empathize with the way she saw the world, and the war. As she sang, on the side of the stage sat Blankson-Wood as Clifford Bradshaw, bloodied and beaten by Nazis for the crime of disagreeing with them, his presence carried its own weight, forcing Sally and the audience to understand the gravity of her decision to stay in Berlin.

Every character in the show has their own understanding of the world around them, and thus their own moment of realization that the party is over, and that war is coming. It is heart wrenching to watch Clifford try to convince his new friends to escape Berlin with him, but it is just as hard to watch them explain to him that this is their home, that for him he is going back to America, and for them, they would have to leave their entire world behind. It’s hard not to relate this show back to our modern political divide, which is what has kept this show relevant for so many years. 

This show is worth the trip, and worth every dollar a seat costs. The show is poignant and topical, as well as moving and evocative. It will certainly go down in musical theater history as a daring risk and a bold retelling of a Broadway classic that truly paid off.