22 NORTHLAND NEWS May 7,1997 ENTERTAINMENT Otterbein’s ‘Cabaret’ is an impressive production, but misses emotional mark touching. By DENNIS THOMPSON Although a more sinister edge might have added an As Em.st Ludwig, Damon Suburban News Theater Critic interesting depth to hi.s per­ Decker is chillingly ominous. Otterbein College Theatre formance, he is mischievous Marianne Timmons is un­ celebrates a milestone with an wi^h a fluid physicality. abashedly sexy as Fraulein elaborate production of The most fun part of the Kost, the rooming house Cabaret marking their 500th evening is Dysart, Amy boarder who entertains a bevy production. McAlexander and Katie Pees’ of sailors. This is a production that lively and naughty rendition of Romer’s direction is most stunning in the moments that impresses more than it en­ Two Ladies. gages. As Sally Bowles, Emily end each act. Cabaret, set in pre-World Cotton give a vivacious per­ The tableau that ends the first War 11 Berlin, illustrates the REVIEW formance, the most consistent act has the company innocently decadence of Germany in the injection of pure energy in a starting Tomorrow Belonits To days before the Nazis came to production filled with energy. Me and gradually leading it into an unmistakable Nazi mani- ptower. ioned an elegant production. Oddly, by the time she gets festo with Bradshaw and In many ways a sad musi­ to her big number she seems Schneider isolated on one side, cal, Cabaret sets the tone of The attention to detail in the staging of the large cast in the just about spent. Thus, the Bowles and Scultz on the other. a fun, carefree city, then slow­ .song we’ve all been waiting Kit Kat Club scenes is most The final hauntingly dis­ ly shows us the growing threat for, Cabaret, comes off flat. impressive. cordant tableau of the Nazi of the Nazi regime and its But, that should not detract takeover is breathtaking in its , effect on the characters. Stella Kan’s choreography from an otherwise vivid ! There are two intertwining along with Craig Johnson’s power. perfonnance. Both finale’s are theatri­ stories. musical direction, a strong orchestra, and Stephen Mon­ Clifford Bradshaw is the cality at its best, visually strik­ One concerns Cliff Brad­ straight role and Aaron Ramey shaw, a struggling American roe’s vocal direction have cre­ ing and deeply moving. ated robust musical numbers. looks the part with handsome Which highlights a nagging writer, and his relationship young hero type looks. with Sally Bowles, a flam­ From the snazzy, tiered club thought about this production. He has a great singing voice boyant singer with the Kit Kat to a circular staircase, a train These two moments are quite and plays the role earnestly, Club. compartment that folds into gripping, but stand out as the but comes off as stiff. The other involves an old­ the stage to a muted brown exception. er couple, Fraulein Schenider, earthtone apartment, Rob Brent Tomer is sweet and This is a strong, well-paced a boarding house proprietor, Johnson’s multi-leveled set sheepish as Herr Schultz, con­ extravagant production, well- and Herr Schultz, a Jewish design is remarkable. necting well with Heidi Letz- cast and performed. It is pol­ grocer. As the master of ceremo­ mann’s solid performance as ished and professional, lovely Director Dennis Romer, nies, Eric Dysart initially Fraulein Schneider. to listen to and to watch. with extensive creative and appears too youthful in his Their courtship scene when Yet it rarely draws us in emo­ technical support, has fash- manner. he brings her a pineapple is tionally. We watch more with a sense of detached admiration than personal involvement. Otterbein College Theatre's Cabaret continues Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through May 10 at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., in West­ erville. Tickets are $14 Friday and Saturday and $12 Thurs­ day. For more information call 823- 1109. / (HiftfehinbiisDispiadi Page 7 F ‘Cabaret’ puts young cast to the test ■ Theater Revi^K By Scott PhHIps an element of sophistication and a the Kit Kat Club’s Master cf Cere­ Cabaret, Otterbein College Theatre For The Dispatch Weltanschauung ttet is beyond the monies with an intensity more than and Department of Music’s student Otterbein College Theatre’s reach of most undergraduate actors. equaled by his considerable talents production of the Kander and Ebb production of Cabaret is more than Even so, the ensemble does a as a singer and dancer. Dysart musical. Directed by Dennis Romer, fine job with Kander’s score, and just another spring musical. shines in numbers such as Tivo La­ Master of Ceremonies......Eric Dysart some performances are memorable. The show, which opened at dies and the mammon-worshiping Clifford Bradshaw........ Aaron Ramey At Wednesday’s final dress preview. Cowan Hall last night, marks the Money. Sally Bowles...................................Emily Cotton Cotton had some difficulty hitting nationally known theater program’s Stella Kane’s choreography cap­ Fraulein Schneider... Heidi Letzmann 500th pi^uction. the high notes, but she is fetching tures all the sleazy sexuality of the and ofon poignant in her portrayal. Herr Schultz................................... Brent Tomer Cabaret is certainly no cakewalk Berlin nightclub scene, and Ruth Ernst Ludwig................ Damon Decker for a college cast Adapted in 1966 by Ramey’s strength is his singing Boyd’s costumes are a tribute to her voice, admirably showcased in Per­ Goose steps and garters author Joe Masteroff, lyricist Fred talents as an artist and designer. Ebb and composer John lender fectly Marvelous and Why Should I Rob Johnson’s set is surprisingly Being presented at 8 tonight and Wo/ce Up? (from John van Druten’s play I Am a flexible, given its use of large pieces. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday — Heidi Letzmann and Brent Camera), the show proves a formid­ ■ The whole of Otterbein’s Ca­ through May 10 — in Cowan Hall, Tomer give competent character able challenge for director Dennis baret may be less than the sum of its 30 S. Grove St., Westerville. tu^ as Clifford’s landlady; Frau- Romer’s ensemble. parts, but the parts that work make Tickets cost $12 and $14. Call 823- lein Schneider, and her Jewish gen- Presented in conjunction with it worth seeing. 1109. tleman-fiiend, Herr Schultz. Otterbein’s Department of Music, Happy 500th, Otterbein. Eric Dysart taddes the role of Cabaret centers on an affair between British chanteuse Sally Bowles (Emily Cotton) and American writer Clifford Bradshaw (Aaron Ramey), two expatriates living amid the socid turmoO of pre-Nazi Berlin. Alternating between scenes at Clifford’s boardinghouse and the no­ torious Kit Kat Club, a popular nightspot. Cabaret darkly contrasts the gloomy realities of late Weimar Germany with the Kit Kat’s frenetic decadence. As the country’s consciousness becomes ever more infected with Nazi ideolo^, Clifford finds it in­ creasingly difficult to remain apoliti­ cal. As the social situation in Berlin disintegrates, so does his relation­ ship with the now-pregnant Sally. Romer does his b^t to convey the sense of impending doom, which must hang in the ether of any suc­ cessful production of Cabaret. In this instance, however, success requires Life missing from this ‘Cabaret’ 1 By Scott Phillips For The Disputch characters is almost nil. ^ ^ I As the enigmatic Emcee, Ashley V The Sound of Music notwith­ Theater review D. Sergent has some good moments, , particularly in Two Ladies, a gleeful standing, Cabaret is almost certainly ■ Gallery Players will present tribute to the delights of a menage a the best musical ever written that Cabaret at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, trois, and If You Could See Her, dur­ has Nazis in it 8 p.m. Saturday. 2:30 p.m. Sunday— ing which he dances with a gorilla in Columbus audiences, however, and 8 p.m. Nov. 6,7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 a burlesque of miscegenation be­ might soon have reason to feel they and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 17—at the Leo tween an Aryan and a Jew. are being Cabaret-eA to death — Ot- Yassenoff Jewish Community But Sergent never goes over the College Theatre performed Center's Roth/Resler Theatre, 1125 top in the way that the role demands, the Tony award-winning show a cou­ College Ave. Tickets cost $18, or $12 ple of years ago. Gallery Players is and he often seems overwhelmed by for members. Call614-231-2731 Musical Director Jeffrey D. Hamm’s staging it now and a Broadway tour­ Ext. 248. ing revival will arrive in 2000. seven-piece band. But a good restaging of this dis­ Overall, the cast is at its best ’ when they perform as an ensemble, ’ concerting musical — with its deca­ the sexy unmentionables of the Kit dent mise en scene (based on John such as the numbers featuring the Kat chorus to the period street cloth­ Kit Kat Girls or the Emcee and the Van Druten’s I Am a Camera), Fred ing of the club% patrons and Brad­ Ebb’s acerbic lyrics and John waiters’ romantically fascist Tomor­ shaw’s roomii g house acquain­ Kander’s discordant music-hall score row Belongs to Me. tances, are color ully spectacular. In fairness, it should be men­ — is always worth seeing. Unfortunatel r, the performances Set during the death throes of the tioned that the opening-night crowd are disappoint ng. As Bradshaw’s Weimar Republic in-the early 1930s, at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Commu- i lover, the Britsh chanteuse Sally nity Center rewarded the Cabaret Cabaret offers a metaphor for the Bowles, Steph; aie Raye Lancaster social sickness that left Germany cast with a standing ovation, al­ does not posse: s the required vocal though that particular honorific is so vulnerable to the insidious seduction range, and pote itially show-stopping of National Socialism.