'Cabaret' gives audience a show from the risqué to the fabulous

Rhonelle Runner
Special to The Record
Published Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006

From the opening curtain, Stockton Theatre Project's production of "Cabaret" teeters purposefully between concealment and revelation. The costumes are often revealing, but the story line, like a strip-tease artist, leaves certain elements concealed for dramatic effect.

Derek Isetti stars as the show's wonderfully wicked Emcee (master of ceremonies) who invites audience members to forget their troubles at the cabaret. His long-sleeved shirt glimmers and sparkles, and yet the near-transparent fabric conceals nothing.

As the narrator of this dreamlike tale, the Emcee lets the audience in on some of his secrets, but leaves the show's other characters to grope their own way through the gathering darkness as the Nazis rise to power.

Cliff Bradshaw (Matt Voyer) is a poor American writer traveling to Berlin seeking inspiration for a novel. He interacts with Ernst Ludwig (Parker Cushing), a German businessman who recommends a rooming house and a nightclub where he might find the inspiration he seeks.

Cliff finds himself at the Kit Kat Klub, where the black-gartered Kit Kat Girls (and the androgynous Kit Kat Boys) entertain crowds eager to indulge in the decadent side of the Weimar Republic. There he meets Sally Bowles (Catherine Frye), an English transplant determined to blossom in the decadent lifestyle.

The two begin a relationship of convenience. As Berlin (and German society) begins to implode, so does their relationship. Cliff wants to take Sally home, but she wants to return to the life she knows in the cabaret.

Director Jim Coleman has assembled a great cast, and with this production, strikes a balance between decadence, indifference and fear.

Matt Voyer was convincing as the naive, goodhearted author. His warm baritone was strong but not overpowering. He and Catherine Frye worked well together, and by the end of the show, they really had the audience on their side.

Much of the show's nuance came from the supporting characters. The romance between Fraulein Schneider (Dorothy Mulvihill) and Herr Schultz (Ray Rustigian) was one of the high points of the production, while Cushing and Joanna Bernazzini realized the layers of personality of their characters, along with their political leanings.

Another revelation was Frye's vocal performance. She grabbed the opportunity to shine, first with "Don't Tell Mama," and then with the show-stopping "Cabaret," which suited her voice perfectly.

Musical director Paul Kimball and vocal director Timothy Swaim have produced fine overall performances, especially from the pit orchestra. Vocally there was only one noticeable exception - the Act I quintet "Tomorrow Belongs to Me."

Beverly Norcross' costumes, in keeping with the show's spirited tension, run from risqué to fabulous. Valerie Gnassounou-Bynoe's choreography was wonderfully varied, from raunchy burlesque to proper social dances.

In all, "Cabaret" succeeds because of its talented cast and its confident exploration of human relationships.