Cabaret A Tough Pill To Swallow
Toronto Youth Theatre's Production Has It's Moments, But Doesn't Deliver
The idea of having a theatre company devoted to working with young people is fantastic - truly. But what happens when you do a show that is over the heads of it's cast?
The answer: a great show that goes wrong.
Cabaret was first produced in 1966, starring a young Joel Grey. It has been since revived numerous times on Broadway and in London, most recently opening in the West End just a short time ago. It's a show riddled in political and social commentary, and has caused a stir amongst it's audience members for 40 years.
Toronto Youth Theatre is the producing company behind this new production of Cabaret that opened Friday night at the Young Centre For The Performing Arts. Their mandate is to allow young people the opportunity to work with professional theatre workers, and it is the only youth theatre company in Toronto devoted to the production of musicals. They have previously produced Urinetown, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show and A Midsummer Nights Dream since they began operations in early 2005. It's great that this group of theatre professionals want to invest so much into the young people who have a keen and passionate interest in musical theatre, but one has to question their decision to produce such a controversial work like Cabaret.
The positives in the show include a stellar performance by Andrew Moyes as the diabolical Emcee. He has the audience eating out of his hand from the moment he steps on stage, and he brings the perfect amount of charm to the role. His version of "If You Could See Her" is both funny and menacing, and when he delivers his final line in that song, you could feel the audience take a collective gasp. Lauren Kerbel as Fraulein Schneider stands out for her subtle and understated performance, and Adam Thompson is charming as Herr Shultz.
The other lead roles are played with so little passion and conviction that at times you want to run up on stage and check for a pulse. Paolo Santalucia is plain and rather boring as Clifford Bradshaw, and Shaina Silver-Baird never grabs our attention like she should as the sultry Sally Bowles. She sings the role nicely, but with Bowles, we need her to captivate and enthrall us, and Silver-Baird never does. Kristen Zaza is miscast as Fraulein Kost, and her one song, "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" fails on every level, leading us into a boring finale of act one.
Mark Wilson, who directed the production, has done an admirable job with what he has been given. The pacing of the show seems to have been quicker than in past productions, but that could have been the two lengthy songs that were cut this time around, "So What?" and "Perfectly Marvelous", which made act one significantly shorter than usual. His direction is smart and works effectively in the smaller confines of the Michael Young Theatre.
Stephanie Ramphos has done a wonderful job with the complicated choreography needed for the show, and each of her dancers executes her movement with the right amount of energy.
The frustrating part of sitting through this production is that there was ample talent on stage, and a lot of potential. It's quite possible that some of these young people will become theatre stars in the future, and that in itself is exciting, but they are given an almost insurmountable task - they are asked to relate to characters from one of the most difficult times in modern history. We have books that tell us a lot about that time period, but for an actor or performer, there has to be a connection between the characters and the people playing them, and in the case of this production of Cabaret, we rarely, if ever, see that.
What we end up with is a group of young people trying their very hardest and giving everything they have, but they end up failing an important part of our musical history, and that is the most disappointing thing about it.
Cabaret
By John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff
Directed by Mark Wilson
Presented by Toronto Youth Theatre
Now playing at the Young Centre For The Performing Arts until November 11th.
For show information click on the Toronto Youth Theatre Website.
**1/2 (out of five)
