Sarah on theater

Feeling very saturated on “Cabaret,” but one more go for the last cast change, and it’s a doozy. The other leads I’ve seen in this production were either crossover theater newbies trying not to screw this up (Adam, Auli’i, Orville) or have polished-nearly-to-a-fault energy (Eva), and all felt like they hewed very closely to Emcee and Sally as written. Comparatively speaking, theater vets Billy Porter and Marisha Wallace tear these roles up—with mixed, but mostly good results.

Billy, in particular, is taking a ton of liberties. As a singer he really stunts on this thing, raising the key from Adam/Orville and adding a bunch of opt-ups to boot, with interesting syncopations, soulful vocal runs, and new harmonies with the ensemble. What he’s doing musically thrilled me as a returning viewer! I was more ambivalent about his interpretation as an actor—embracing Black American queerness, only intermittently in German accent, confidently mangling some pronunciations, and breaking the fourth wall a couple of times with explicit political ad-libs. (“America first. Too soon?”)

The Emcee character is certainly compatible with a range of interpretations, but infusing it with this much personality and explicit modernity 1.) comes at the expense of the traditional metaphorical-soul-of-Germany angle and 2.) can feel somewhat distrustful of the audience to understand and feel the modern parallels of the show. There is a case that Billy is the ultimate Emcee for the quasi-immersive “at the Kit Kat Club” production’s indictment of its 2025 audience. There is also a case that he isn’t a very good Emcee for the text of the show, “Cabaret,” because you’re busy seeing “The Billy Porter Show” instead. It’s a big swing for sure, and I feel like I understand better than ever why this production got such a lukewarm critical reception in the States.

Billy Porter withdrew from the production with sepsis and the Emcee understudies are covering through the end of the run; David Merino steps up here. I didn’t plan to go again, but my visiting friend asked me, “If I never went to another Broadway production again, which one should I see?” And he’s a film geek who loves seeing the all-timer stuff, and, well, here we are. David is good! Really good. This was a rush seat with a voucher and cost me $0.

This should (actually) be my last time seeing this production. (Wouldn’t rule out seeing an interesting recast in London.) Price Waldman, understudy for Herr Schultz, had an apparent medical emergency in his first scene, and the show was stopped for 30 minutes to call an ambulance. Media reports say he’s recovering. ❤️

The show went on with the other understudy for Herr Schultz, Colin Cunliffe, which was fascinating to see because they were already short-staffed and had to swap around several roles to make it work. Cunliffe got a deservedly big cheer at curtain call—he was great in a big part on short notice—but the quiet hero of the night was swing Pedro Garza, who stepped into a grab bag of not-typically-doubled roles including an ensemble track to make the show work seamlessly. (“Cabaret” nut that I am, I’ve also seen Garza play Cliff Bradshaw twice, and he’s excellent at that, too. Give him his flowers.)

In general, this was a very good performance across the board. 2-for-1 Broadway Week tickets on a Friday night and a sizable contingent of “Drag Race” fans made for a very full and engaged house, especially for this late in the run, and the whole cast responded in kind with a lot of energy. (Maybe too engaged of a crowd; there were some noisy drunks.)

Emcee understudy Marty Lauter, familiar to many fans as “Marcia Marcia Marcia,” got about as big of an entrance cheer as any of the more-established stars I’ve seen. They were solid; a stronger dancer than singer, I think. This is not something I have super well-developed vocabulary for, but Marty has pretty astonishing limberness and control of their body, and I sort of think it’s not well-served in this role because the Emcee’s movements (swastika positions, etc.) are so tightly, symbolically choreographed in this production. (I suspect it’s intentionally not very demanding so they can stunt-cast non-dancers.) It’s like putting a speed limiter on a Ferrari; Lauter’s usual role of Victor/ensemble allows for a lot more expressiveness. (And a handspring.)

Understudies and swings rule. 🤟