Weathervane Playhouse’s production of ‘Cabaret’ tells the dark truth

I will admit it. I am probably the last person in the three county area to attend a performance at Weathervane Playhouse in Akron. I had heard of them and other members of Cleveland Theater Reviews had raved about their productions but there always seemed to be a conflict (to many theaters too little time).

It was last week when I received an e-mail from Fred Gloor Associate Artistic Director and Director of Marketing who personally inviting me to attend their production of “Cabaret”. I decided to make the 45 minute journey to their beautiful and modern theater. I was not to be disappointed.

“Cabaret The Musical” features music by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and book by Joe Masteroff and is based on the 1951 play “I Am a Camera” by John Van Druten (based on the 1939 novel “Goodbye to Berlin” by Christopher Isherwood). The production first saw Broadway stage light on November 20, 1966 closing on September 6, 1969 after 1,166 performances and 21 previews. The movie of the same name was released in 1977. It starred Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Marisa Berenson and Joel Grey (who starred as the Emcee in the Broadway production).

The show begins with a prolonged snare drum roll and cymbal crash as The Emcee (Matt McCombs) of The Kit Kat Klub welcomes the audience “Willcommen” to a place where everything is beautiful. The girls are...beautiful, the band is...beautiful, the boys are...beautiful. He invites the audience to leave all of their worries OUTSIDE!

A young American writer, Clifford Bradshaw (Keon Dalziel) is on a train to Berlin, Germany when he meets Ernst Ludwig (Adam C. Alderson) who is secretly smuggling French goods. Ludwig recommends a boarding house, offers Clifford a job smuggling, promises to send English students his way and invites the young man to meet him at The Kit Kat Klub. At the boarding house he meets Fräulein Schneider (Bernadette Hisey) who offers a room for 100 reichsmarks but Clifford can only afford 50. Schneider relents observing she has learned to take what life offers “So What?”.

Cliff pays a visit to the Kit Kat Club where an English chanteuse, Sally Bowles (Julia Mullin) headlines and sings a racy number “Don’t Tell Mama” as scantily clad dancers perform around her. Sally calls Clifford on the table phone and finding that he is a writer asks for him to recite some poetry as he recites “Casey at the Bat”. They meet in her dressing room as Clifford asks Sally out on a date but she is the club’s owner, Max (Ben Neiberlein) girlfriend. Sally is called away to perform another number with the chorus “Mein Herr”.

The next day as Cliff ends an English lesson with Ernst Sally waltzes in saying that Max has fired her and thrown her out (and could she move in here?). Cliff refuses but is soon persuaded “Perfectly Marvelous”. Back at the club/klub The Emcee performs with two of the chorus girls “Two Ladies” about a cohabitant threesome. Back at the boarding house we meet Herr Schultz (Steve Brown) who is a Jewish fruit shop owner who resides in the boarding house. He brings a pineapple to Fräulein Schneider as a romantic gesture “It Couldn’t Please Me More” as he attempts to woo her.

Back at the club/klub a young boy in a NAZI youth uniform sings “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” as back in the boarding house Cliff asks Sally to marry him (even though he is gay) after she tells him that she is pregnant but not sure who the father is. Sally sings “Maybe this Time” while at the club/klub The Emcee performs “Money” with the ensemble. Ernst offers Cliff a chance to earn some easy money by picking up a suitcase in Paris and delivering it to him in Berlin.

At the boarding house Fräulein Schneider has caught one of her boarders Frälein Kost (McKenna Hassel) prostituting herself with a variety of sailors. Kost has observed Herr Schultz leaving Schneider’s room and the two women come to terms. Schultz steps in to save face by announcing his and Schneider’s engagement “Married”. At the engagement party Cliff arrives to deliver the contraband to Ernst who now sports a NAZI armband and on finding out that Schultz is Jewish goes on a rampage and tells Schneider not to marry “the jew”. During the party everyone breaks into song with “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” but with darker NAZI overtones.

Cabaret The Musical is one of the most challenging productions to pull off. You have very familiar songs and music that must be matched perfectly to the audience’s perception of these many tunes. There is a lot of dancing and performing of nightclubish numbers that requires countless hours of rehearsal. So how does this production stack up?

It is easy to see why everyone raves about Weathervane Playhouse. This is a top notch performance in every aspect. Matt McCombs as the buff Emcee pulls out all the stops in his portrayal. Keon Dalziel as the shy writer coming of age in early and decedent NAZI Germany is also equal to the task. Bernadette Hisey as the time worn Fräulein Schneider tears at your heart strings with her songs of longing and loss as we cry with her during “What Would You Do”. Lastly, Julia Mullin as Sally Bowles travels the road between “flightygolightly to abused and toss aside” with her version of “Cabaret” a masterpiece of musical theater as it has seldom been performed before.

Do not (like I did) put off making the short trip to Akron to visit Weathervane Playhouse. This show features a superb cast, great orchestra, ingenious stage set and superb lighting and sound. Forget the movie and see how the original darker story plays out. Buy a ticket!

The Weathervane Playhouse production of “Cabaret” will be on stage at 1301 Weathervane Lane in Akron through October 20, 2024. For more information and tickets go to www.weathervaneplayhouse.com or call (330) 836-2626.