Review: ‘Cabaret’ is decadent, dangerous and worthy of praise

Get yourself to the Kit Kat Club. The strong ensemble of performers in the Actor’s Express production of Cabaret, running through September 1, are putting on a hell of a show.

In addition to terrific work from Callie Johnson and Hayden Rowe — who play singer Sally Bowles and the enigmatic master of ceremonies in Kander & Ebb’s classic musical — the entire bench of actors in Cabaret deserves praise for bringing so much life to the show.

Honestly, it was surprising how much the Kit Kat Club dancers, specifically — played by Tatyana Mack, Caroline Gammage, Wynne Kelly, Chloe “Cece” Campbell, Joel Harlan-Ledbetter, Jacob Craig, Cole Ferguson, Roberto Mendez and Tyshawn Gooden — had to physically do during the performance.

They were singing. They were dancing to the fun, sensual choreography of Kari Twyman. They were involved in intimacy and fighting elements, designed by Kristin Storla. Many of them played multiple roles, requiring quick costume changes and entries from all over the arena staging in the venue.

Often, these roles go unheralded, treated as part of the background chorus, but director Freddie Ashley used the hardworking ensemble, along with Rowe’s chameleon of an emcee, to enrich the setting of 1920s Berlin, making the place feel seedy, decadent and dangerous. These folks merit special praise.

The story of Cabaret, based upon the stories of queer writer Christopher Isherwood’s time in a jazzy Berlin before the Nazis rose to power, centers around an American writer named Cliff (Terrence Smith), who moves into a Berlin boarding house run by Fraulein Schneider (Mary Lynn Owen) and quickly becomes entangled with the free-spirited singer Sally. They love the nightlife, but the community around them is quickly changing. It isn’t long until politics and real life encroach on the fun.

Truman Griffin brings considerable pep to the role of Ernst, a cheerful smuggler Cliff meets. Owen and Steve Hudson have excellent, emotionally heavy scenes regarding a clandestine romance, and their songs are poignant and lovely. Megan K. Hill is also very good as a neighbor who feuds with Fraulein Schneider.

The music of Cabaret is well-presented, directed by Ashley Prince with sound design by Matt Reynolds. Johnson and Rowe have beautiful voices, singing many of the most-known songs, like “Willkommen” and “Maybe This Time.”

The Nazi threat, as presented in this version, uses very few images of swastikas or imagery associated with concentration camps. The threat of evil and building dread seems less pervasive in this staging, compared to productions like the Sam Mendes-directed version at Donmar Warehouse, but Cabaret still offers powerful, urgent messages.

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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.