CABARET

I know it’s hard to believe this of a child of theatre like myself, but I have never seen this very famous 1966 musical before! Nor even the movie version. I thought I was the only one in that situation, but it turned-out that my friend Laura never had seen Cabaret, either. So we were happy to go out to Thousand Oaks for the opening of 5-Star Theatricals’ rendition of it at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center last week, knowing it would be another quality production from them.

This time the show is in the venue’s lovely and intimate Scherr Forum Theatre. You can sit pretty close to the stage in there, which makes it feel like you’re watching a show in a real nightclub, one like Cabaret’s Kit Kat Klub. (But if you hate the smell of herbal cigarettes as much as I do, I suggest not sitting too close.)

I do feel the need to say that Cabaret is not 5-Star Theatricals’ usual family-friendly fare. So leave the kiddos at home until July when the company graces us with a production of Frozen! I can’t wait for that one. Disney shows are more up my alley than this one with Nazis in it!

The weird thing for me is that, in all these years, I have never heard one word of what the musical, nor the play it’s based on, (I Am a Camera,) is about! Not one word! And even in the middle of this production the other night, I still didn’t know! (I actually wrote a note saying, “I have no idea what this show is about.”) It would have helped immensely if the program had included the time and setting.

Because I want to assist my fellow nescients out there, I’m going to tell you a bit about the story of the show, which I rarely do. My reasoning is that, if you’re like me, and cannot bear to see anything about Nazis, (especially since we have to deal with the insanity of Orange Hitler these days,) you need the advance knowledge. Cabaret is a based-on-truth tale centering on a promiscuous showgirl, Sally Bowles, in Berlin circa 1930, when the Nazis started rising to power. There are about a half dozen other characters who factor into the story, one being a Jewish man. Guiding the audience, and leading the actual cabaret show in the club, is the Emcee. Those are the basics. (For you purists, productions of this show have often veered somewhat from the original Broadway musical, so by now, fifty-eight years later, there’s not really one definitive version.)

This current presentation actually serves as a reminder of that horrific time in history under an evil dictator. It’s especially scary now with this country’s wannabe-autocrat ruining so many lives in just this short period of a few months. I’m hoping that if any of his supporters attend this show, they will recognize the errors of their ways, and help the rest of us do something to get America right before it’s too late! (Sorry to get a bit political here, but the topic of this show has brought it out in me even more than usual.)

Getting back to the otherwise-entertaining musical, the only things I knew about Cabaret prior to seeing this version of it were that John Kander, (whom I had met the first time I reviewed my old favorite restaurant, Back on Broadway,) wrote the songs with Fred Ebb; Liza Minnelli had won an Oscar for the movie of it; Joel Grey is said to be wonderful in both the movie and the original Broadway production; my old semi-pal Adam Lambert is playing the Emcee on Broadway now, and I’m very happy for him to finally be the Broadway star he was meant to be from the get-go; and Mr. X had done the show to rave reviews when he was a Masters of Fine Arts student at UCLA, which was before my time, so, sadly, I never got to see it. But even he neglected to warn me about the Nazis in it!

So I hated that whole narrative, even though the script is based on a true 1939 autobiographical story by author Christopher Isherwood. But I still applaud 5-Star Theatricals for their efforts in this big undertaking of what has been a very popular show for almost sixty decades. (However, now that I’ve finally seen it, I do not get that longevity, at all.)

So I suggest you forget the not-fun story, and just go to hear the famous songs. I can’t stop singing the opener, Willkommen, in my head ever since I saw the show.

The iconic title number, Cabaret, in Act II, is sung powerfully and beautifully by Emily Goglia, (whom I also loved as Audrey in this company’s Little Shop of Horrors a few months ago.) That girl can really sing!

Also singing beautifully is Valerie Perri who, as the landlady of the rooming house where much of the action takes place, performs her Act II solo, What Would You Do, with much pathos.

But you especially need to witness the beauty of tall drink of water Sean Samuels, who plays the Emcee. Early on in the performance, rocking a vest with no shirt, (of course,) he was listing things that are beautiful, repeating, “Such-and-such is beautiful,” with a new item each time. So I leaned over to Laura and whispered, “His back is beautiful.” And she replied, “Not just his back—everything!” And we giggled like teenagers! So we were always happy when he showed-up in a scene.

Speaking of cute guys, (which I seem to always be doing, don’t I?,) Connor Bullock, as Sally’s sort-of boyfriend, and Jacob Wilson, as a secretive German national, are both in that category, as well.

I do have one suggestion, for everyone involved in musical theatre, actually, and that is that in real life, few people sing with foreign accents. (Think about the Beatles, for example.) And on a stage, it just makes it that much harder to make out the words. So this company might have time to correct that before the show continues this weekend.

As usual for 5-Star Theatricals, they threw a generous Opening Night reception at an area eatery, and this time was the classiest one ever! It was in the luxurious eight-month-old Selvin’s, named for Harry Selvin, a local nonagenarian philanthropist who opened this restaurant shortly before he passed away.  If I ever can find the time to do a full review of it, I’ll tell you more, but for now, let me just say that we really enjoyed everything we snacked on that night. They put out a spread of four gourmet pizza varieties, two salads, and an absolutely delicious pasta. It was all pretty delightful.

I was lucky enough to meet Sean Samuels there, at the buffet, actually, and he was as darling as I had imagined. And, in his sharp black suit, he was even more beautiful than he was half-naked on stage! You gotta love a man who can dress.

And you also have to love 5-Star Theatricals for always bringing classic musicals to SoCal! Despite Cabaret not being exactly my cup of tea, I’m honestly grateful to them for giving me this opportunity; they always make their presentations the easier theatre experience in town.

Cabaret running through March 30, 2025
Bank of America Performing Arts Center–Scherr Forum Theatre
2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Thousand Oaks
805-449-2787  www.5startheatricals.com