Mary Gordon Murray as Fräulein Schneider and Scott Robertson as Herr Schultz, Photo: Joan Marcus
Jon Peterson has some choice words for those who don’t return after intermission to the searing, sexualized touring production of Kander and Ebb’s classic Cabaret.
“I’d say to them, ‘Grow the fuck up,'” laughs the 55-year-old British actor who brings the show’s iconic emcee to vivid, lascivious life. “‘Don’t you think it’s time to be a little bit more honest with yourself? Sex exists. People do it. You do it. So come on, get real.'”
This is not your standard-issue Cabaret — not by a long shot. Based on the 1998 Broadway revival, directed by Sam Mendes and co-directed Rob Marshall, the narrative cleaves closer to that of the 1966 original Broadway production, rather than Bob Fosse’s overly-familiar 1972 film. The ill-fated romance between Herr Schultz, a Jewish fruit merchant, and his landlady, Fräulein Schneider, has been fully restored, bringing added moral depth and political resonance to the underlying story of the downfall of the Wiemar Republic in 1930s Germany.
“They sing four songs,” says Mary Gordon Murray, who as Schneider, hits it out of the park nightly with the intensely charged showstopper, “What Would You Do?” “And all those songs are cut in the movie…. It’s really kind of a revelation for people that there’s this whole other storyline that’s such a big part of the evening.”
“It’s such a beautiful, tragic story within the story,” adds Peterson. “It’s just perfectly set up. Cabaret is like a little Russian doll, isn’t it? There’s a doll within a doll within a doll. It’s just gorgeous.”
Murray isn’t put off by the production’s overtly erotic tones, though her choice of words are gentler than her co-star’s.
“I certainly don’t want people to walk out,” she says. “That’s not the point of doing theater. On the other hand, I’m not dismayed that something like this is risky enough, and political enough, and has a strong enough opinion, that maybe some people aren’t gonna go for it. That’s pretty ballsy for a musical to do. I don’t think it should be something gratuitous — you certainly don’t want to alienate people. That’s not the point, but on the other hand, this is a strong cup of tea. Perhaps some people won’t care for it. Well, so be it.”
Cabaret runs to August 6, at Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theatre, Tickets are $59 to $149. Call 202-467-4600, or visit kennedy-center.org.
The atmosphere is not the same at the Kennedy Center since we’ve entered the era when many who love the institution show their love and support by not going there. This might create a heavier lift for the artists and performers welcomed into the space, like the cast and company of the musical drama Parade.
A touring production of Michael Arden’s Tony-winning 2023 Broadway revival, which starred Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, this Parade trudges a bit through openers “The Old Red Hills of Home” and “The Dream of Atlanta” before the show really gets marching.
That’s when Max Chernin brings the spark of urgency to his vivid portrayal of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager from Brooklyn, New York making a go of it in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Lucille (Talia Suskauer), who was born and raised Jewish in the South.
Back in May, just after our 31st anniversary, I asked readers which of four classic cover interviews from our early years they'd like to see in print again: Greg Louganis (March 9, 1995), Sir Ian McKellen (Jan. 25, 1996), Camille Paglia (Feb. 1, 1996), or Eartha Kitt (Nov. 14, 1996). None of these conversations exist online, and they haven't been seen since their original print dates.
Out of more than 200 responses, 8% chose Paglia, 27% picked Louganis, 29% went for McKellen, and an impressive 36% cast their vote for Kitt.
Kitt, who passed away in December 2008, seemed a fitting choice to revisit. A pop culture icon for her turn as the second Catwoman (following Julie Newmar) on the late-1960s, camp-classic TV series Batman, she was slated to appear at Washington's legendary jazz nightclub Blues Alley when we spoke.
Metro Weekly magazine was barely a year and a half old when, in 1995, we were offered the chance to interview — and photograph — Broadway legend Carol Channing, then appearing at the Kennedy Center in Hello, Dolly! that fall. Two moments from that experience stand out, the first at the photo shoot with Annie Adjchavanich.
We'd set up a black velvet backdrop in the Hall of States and were waiting for Miss Channing to arrive. When she finally swept in, she looked radiant. Except… she refused to remove her enormous sunglasses. Indoors.
I begged her to take them off, but she firmly declined. "I don't have my eyelashes on," she said. "You are not seeing me without my eyelashes!" And that was that — sunglasses it would be. The result was a cover that was both thrilling (Carol Channing!) and oddly surreal (Carol Channing in giant sunglasses!).
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