• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 23.02 – 1/28/21

A BLEAK AND BRILLIANT CABARET AT MOONBOX

Written by CHRISTOPHER EHLERS Posted April 17, 2018 Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts

Kimberly Fife, Katrina Pavao, Phil Tayler, Joy Clark and Caroline Workman. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.
Kimberly Fife, Katrina Pavao, Phil Tayler, Joy Clark and Caroline Workman. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.

 

★★★★★

 

Taking on iconic material is always a risky thing, particularly something as well known and oft revived as Cabaret. But if there’s anything the 1966 masterwork has demonstrated over the years, it’s that it is not a musical resistant to reinvention. (Bob Fosse proved this with his 1972 film adaptation, as did Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall with their landmark 1998 revival). And while Moonbox Productions’ brand-new revival of Cabaret, running through April 28 at the Calderwood Pavilion, isn’t conceptually much different (they are using the 1998 version of the script, after all), it is full of such startlingly original moments that the whole experience feels brand new.

 

It is without an ounce of hyperbole that I say that this searing revival of Cabaret, directed and choreographed by the extraordinary Rachel Bertone, is the best theatrical production so far this year. What’s more, it’s the best Boston-born revival of a musical in recent memory.

 

There is hardly a scrap of this production that feels routine, which is part of the reason that it feels so fresh. Despite polite nods to the choreography of Fosse and Marshall (Those elbows! Those ankles!), the staging is new and inventive without being derivative.

 

The story is a cautionary one, if it can so easily be boiled down to anything at all, and what reverberates most deafeningly in this production is its characters’ political complacency in pre-Nazi Berlin during Hitler’s rise to power. This complacency comes in all different forms in Cabaret: Sally would rather stay out of politics; Fräulein Schneider calls off her engagement to Herr Schultz, a Jew; and Schultz considers himself a German first and therefore safe from whatever rumored evil is coming their way. A country cannot turn its back on its own, he thinks. Inconceivable.

 

Among the many reasons that are given for either avoiding politics or for picking a side, all carry a “but her emails…” resonance that strikes just a little too close to home. This is particularly potent in an unexpected addition that Bertone has inserted into the final scene of the show, one of her several brilliant creations for this production. And when Cliff first sees a swastika on a red armband at a party, I was reminded of my own reaction the first time that I saw a “Make America Great Again” hat in the flesh and how I said nothing.

 

What could I have said? I’m not sure. But my non-reaction could have been straight out of Cabaret.

Jared Troilo and Dan Prior. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.
Jared Troilo and Dan Prior. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.

When Cabaret is done right, the show hits you like an unexpected punch to the gut. And although I can no longer count on two hands the number of times I’ve seen the show, I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been rendered speechless by a musical.

 

This is one of those times.

 

With devastating might that has to be seen to be believed, Bertone has found new ways for Cabaret to unsettle, though I don’t dare spoil them here.

 

Matters are only helped by the fact that it’s perfectly cast.

 

Phil Tayler is a devilish, sinister tour de force as the Emcee, who in this production is both our wildest dreams and our worst nightmare. He is more Alan Cumming than Joel Grey, but I dare say that Tayler achieves a depth that neither of his predecessors managed. As Sally Bowles, Aimee Doherty seems to radiate from the inside out, giving a performance of uncommon vitality and unforgettable vulnerability. (Kudos to Doherty—a terrific singer—for not insisting that Sally share her well-trained voice.)

Aimee Doherty. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.
Aimee Doherty. Photo by Sharman Altshuler.

The supporting cast is similarly ideal, with Jared Troilo, Joy Clark, Maryann Zschau, Ray O’Hare, and Dan Prior shining brilliant new light on even the most obscured corners of their characters.

 

This is a world with a distorted axis, the grotesqueness of which threatens to alter the very path of the Earth’s orbit, and this is reflected in Janie E. Howland’s not quite realistic, angular set. With two chandeliers forever suspended in mid-swing, it’s almost as if this Cabaret seeks to capture (to borrow from another seven letter musical that starts with a C) that “one brief shining moment” before the world would be forever changed. A picture postcard from the hedonistic swan song of Weimar Germany, the swinging chandeliers also bring to mind a pendulum, suggesting that everything might one day swing back around.

 

I think that you know where I’m going with the rest of this: Everything about this Cabaret is sublime. David Wilson’s sound and Sam Biondolillo’s lighting are vital to the success of the show, as are Marian Bertone’s costumes, though some of the Kit Kat clothes should be a little less matchy-matchy. And the eight-member orchestra, led by Dan Rodriguez, sets a new standard for small, local pits.

 

If there are any qualms to be had with Cabaret, it is that aspects of this production could stand to be a bit seedier and that some of the Kit Kat girls and boys seem too young and pure.

 

Nevertheless, Cabaret takes no prisoners and is unflinching in the brutality of its devastation. The show’s final traumatizing moments are a reminder of the power of theater and of its deep necessity.

 

If all the world’s a stage, may we all be so lucky so as to see it through Rachel Bertone’s eyes.

 

CABARET. THROUGH 4.28 AT MOONBOX PRODUCTIONS, 527 TREMONT ST., BOSTON. MOONBOXPRODUCTIONS.ORG

Christopher Ehlers
CHRISTOPHER EHLERS

Theater critic for TheaterMania & WBUR’s TheArtery | Theater Editor for DigBoston | film and music critic for EDGE Media | Boston Theater Critics Association.

More from author
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    THE BEST THEATER IN GREATER BOSTON OF 2020
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    ALL IS CALM, ALL IS BRIGHT: THE YEAR'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN SKINCARE AND SELF-CARE GOODIES
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    BEAUTIFUL DISASTER: THE CHILDREN AT SPEAKEASY STAGE
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    LOVE SPENT: THE TREASURER AT THE LYRIC STAGE

Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts Tagged With: Aimee Doherty, Bob Fosse, Cabaret, Christopher Isherwood, Dan Prior, Dan Rodriguez, David Wilson, Fred Ebb, Janie Howland, Jared Troilo, Joe Masteroff, John Kander, Joy Clark, Marian Bertone, Maryann Zschau, Moonbox, Phil Tayler, Rachel Bertone, Ray O'Hare, review, Rob Marshall, Sam Biondolillo, Sam Mendes, theater

WHAT’S NEW

CAMPBELL ORDERS INFORMATION ON OFFICER’S INVOLVEMENT IN CAPITOL ATTACK

CAMPBELL ORDERS INFORMATION ON OFFICER’S INVOLVEMENT IN CAPITOL ATTACK

Miami protestors support the “Fight for 15,” a campaign for a higher minimum wage. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

AS LABOR SECRETARY, WILL MARTY WALSH REPRESENT ALL WORKERS?

STATE WIRE: FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE CREDIT COMPLAINTS A TOP ISSUE FOR MA CONSUMERS

STATE WIRE: FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE CREDIT COMPLAINTS A TOP ISSUE FOR MA CONSUMERS

ONE YEAR INTO COVID, COMMUNITY FRIDGES STILL NEEDED & RUNNING

ONE YEAR INTO COVID, COMMUNITY FRIDGES STILL NEEDED & RUNNING

SOMERVILLE MAYOR CURTATONE DROPS BOMBSHELL AHEAD OF MIDTERM ADDRESS

SOMERVILLE MAYOR CURTATONE DROPS BOMBSHELL AHEAD OF MIDTERM ADDRESS

CAMPBELL UNVEILS PLAN FOR POLICE TRANSPARENCY

CAMPBELL UNVEILS PLAN FOR POLICE TRANSPARENCY

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • SPECIAL FEATURE ON THE MASS STATE POLICE: TROOPER WILSON’S WAR by CHRIS FARAONE
  • [UPDATE: WE GOT IT!] WHERE IS THE CONTRACT FOR MASSACHUSETTS’ VACCINE APPOINTMENT SOFTWARE? by POLINA WHITEHOUSE
  • BOSTON LATIN ACADEMY GRADS FIGHT FOR REPRESENTATION IN ALUMNI GROUP by CHRIS FARAONE
  • DOES THE FORMER BPD COMMISSIONER EVEN LIVE IN BOSTON? by ZACK HUFFMAN
  • MASS KEEPS TRYING TO BUILD A NEW WOMEN’S PRISON OUTSIDE OF PUBLIC VIEW by DAN ATKINSON

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG 23.02 – 1/28/21

Footer

digbos

digbos
AS LABOR SECRETARY, WILL MARTY WALSH REPRESENT ALL AS LABOR SECRETARY, WILL MARTY WALSH REPRESENT ALL WORKERS? Or just unionized construction workers… and the corporations that fund the Democrats. The latest from DigBoston's @jasonpramas. https://digboston.com/as-labor-secretary-will-marty-walsh-represent-all-workers/ #politics #labor #union #work #national #analysis #Boston #Massachusetts
Includes Gang Green, The Freeze, SIEGE, TREE, and Includes Gang Green, The Freeze, SIEGE, TREE, and many more. https://digboston.com/iconic-lineup-comes-through-to-support-nantasket-venue-through-pandemic/ #music #digital #benefit #Hull #Massachusetts
Our interview with Avi Loeb, author of “Extrater Our interview with Avi Loeb, author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.” https://buff.ly/2O3nlUd #interview #book #alien #technology #astronomy #controversy #debate #science #Boston #Massachusetts
LGBTQ+ prisoners in Mass stand up to a violent sys LGBTQ+ prisoners in Mass stand up to a violent system that targets and dehumanizes vulnerable populations. https://digboston.com/special-feature-the-cruel-and-usual-violence-against-lgbtq-people-in-mass-prisons/ #prison #prisoner #humanrights #LGBT #politics #Massachusetts
Nominations now open! Vote for your favorite busin Nominations now open! Vote for your favorite businesses today. 

Are you a business? Are you the best at what you do? Encourage your fans to cast their votes! DM us to get our social media materials to promote your business and ensure your win. #bostontops #digboston
Bill sponsors, #Framingham mayor, and MA district Bill sponsors, #Framingham mayor, and MA district attorney will explain the Work & Family Mobility Act at a press conference. https://digboston.com/driving-families-forward-coalition-aims-to-help-undocumented-attain-drivers-licenses/ #politics #undocumented #immigration #driving #license #Massachusetts
Today at 4pm, cast your votes! #digboston Today at 4pm, cast your votes! #digboston
At a virtual summit, leaders sought to educate and At a virtual summit, leaders sought to educate and engage on the need for change. https://digboston.com/officials-advocates-speak-to-immigration-reform-and-economic-recovery/ #immigration #reform #economy #politics #Massachusetts
When it comes to special packaging and limited edi When it comes to special packaging and limited editions, Jack’s Abby and subsidiary Springdale out in Framingham are top players. https://digboston.com/video-unboxing-springdale-beers-limited-edition-neipa-music-box-set/ #beer #fun
Industrial Arts Brewing in NY’s Hudson Valley is Industrial Arts Brewing in NY’s Hudson Valley is well worth the look out of state ... https://digboston.com/video-pocket-wrench-by-industrial-arts-brewing-is-a-super-satisfying-session/ #beer #fun
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]