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Theatre on Main’s ‘Cabaret’ is big and bold

Group gives gritty look at Nazi-era club culture

By mjozwik@jcpgroup.com

Posted: July 21, 2011

If one were giving a grade for Theatre on Main’s “Cabaret” it would be a “B” - B for “Bold.”

This community theater version makes others look like “Mary Poppins.”

The Kit Kat Klub, where most of “Cabaret” takes place, is depicted as the ultimate den of decadence as Germany teetered on the edge of Nazi domination in 1931. An air of evil hung like the thick, heavy haze that covered the stage.

The contrast between the dark, shadowy club and the simple, quiet room that Fraulein Schneider (Roberta Prospeck) lets to Clifford Bradshaw (Joshua Krause), an American hoping to write his first great novel in Berlin, is startling. She’s grown to accept her lot as a spinster, renting her rooms for whatever she can get and enjoying the company of Herr Schultz (John Hrobar), a Jewish fruit vendor.

Bradshaw visits the Kit Kat Klub to get to know the city better and finds the underbelly of Berlin as well as the show’s beautiful star, Sally Bowles (Jacqueline Boelkow).

While Sally and Cliff become a pair, so do Fraulein Schneider’s and Herr Schultz.

But the beat of boots becomes more prevalent and tone more ominous at the Kit Kat Klub, where the emcee (Zachary Woods) intones “every-sing eas bea-uuuu-ti-fool” even while performers mimic the Nazi presence that surrounds them.

Woods as the emcee prowls catlike, engaging the audience at the cabaret tables in front of the stage as he slinks and hisses, frolics and flits with the other performers. Woods and all the performers at the Kit Kat Klub truly engage the audience giving a sense of actually being at a show, rather than watching a show within in a show.

And that might make some people uncomfortable because this Kit Kat Klub doesn’t hold anything back. Male and female performers don’t miss an opportunity to grab, grope and gyrate while assuming all sorts of lewd postures. With a fine cross-dressed orchestra in the back of the stage, that never overpowers the singers, the performers convey this gritty world as the Germany they once knew begins to crumble.

Fraulein Schneider also sees the small comfortable world she’s created crumbling as her friend Ernst Ludwig (Joseph Tufte), who has joined the Nazi movement, warns her of the dire consequences if she should marry Herr Schultz, a Jew.

Krause and Boelkow make a lovely couple as Cliff and Sally. Boelkow’s Sally is cool and detached, which works well in most scenes, while others required a wider range of emotion. Her version of the title song is delivered nicely, but needed a greater sense of urgency to make it pop. Her flapper outfits are stunning, however, and she wears them well.

Krause as Cliff drifts dreamlike from party to party with Sally until the gravity of the Nazi occupation pulls them down to earth. It is at this point that Sally’s mercurial nature should have manifest to make Cliff’s anger more meaningful.

A real treat was the sweet relationship between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz. Prospeck delivers some fine renditions of “So What?” and pairs beautifully with Hrobar on “It Couldn’t Please Me More.”

Woods’ emcee and Nicholas Hurtgen as the Gorilla have a good time cavorting in the eerily ominous “If You Could See Her” in which the emcee concludes “If you could see her through my eyes, she doesn’t look Jewish at all.”

Jaime Nyland, as Fraulein Schneider’s slutty tenant Fraulein Kost, convincingly marches her parade of sailor “relatives” through the boarding house. One even left her room with his bare bottom exposed to the audience.

Dance moves in “Cabaret” were big and bold, with lots of stomping, and stone-faced dancers - except for Woods’ emcee who seems to spring out of nowhere with an ever-present smirk. Scenes changed smoothly and sound was clean and crisp. The smoke-enveloped stage helped evoke an earlier time and create club atmosphere.

Director Thomas Weissgerberr has assembled a fine cast and created a hazy, hedonistic hangout in the Kit Kat Klub, which gives the audience a stark glimpse at this important sliver of history.

There is a most dramatic ending to this show before the stage goes completely dark - without a curtain call.

While this seemed to confuse some audience members who may have wanted to reward their favorite performers with applause, it would have been difficult to bring this cast out of character after this carefully crafted show.

 

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Review of Christmas in New York 2010                December 3, 2010
By Julie McHale

A dozen festooned doors, a bedecked long staircase and glowing lights serve as visual backdrop for a lovely evening of music at the Theatre on Main in Oconomowoc. The show opens with a stunning number called “The New World.” Robin Leatherberry, Steve Uselman and Jamie Zimdars provide the solo work, but the whole company joins in with gusto and rich harmonies.  We are ready for what¹s to come.

The musical roster is varied and, though a little uneven in execution, there are enough strong numbers to make the event memorable. About half the songs are Christmas favorites and the other half tunes from Broadway musicals, such as “Rent”, “Company”, “Bye, Bye, Birdie” and “Cabaret.” About twenty singers comprise the group of performers, including one young gentleman by the name of Tyler Manfrin, who blows us away with his rendition of “Mary, Did You Know?”

Other numbers which are especially well performed are “A Christmas Song” by Barney Peters, “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Robin Leatherberry, “Falling Slowly” by Steve Uselman, “A Baby Changes Everything” by Jamie Zimdars, and “I Know Him So Well” by the luscious trio of Emily Gaulke, Jamie Vrba and Jamie Zimdars.

The medley that closes the show is almost as impressive as the opener. It consists of “Silent Night”, “Peace, Peace”, “God Bless Us Everyone” and “Seasons of Love.” We left feeling uplifted and ready for Christmas.

Special credits to director Cathy Pfeiler, set designer Joe Rayman, set builders Joe Rayman, Elmo Wendorf and Kimm Mann,  pianist Cathy Paquette and the designer of the beautiful door wreaths, Mark Trinklein. These wreaths can be bid on in a silent auction and will be distributed to the winners when the show has completed its run.

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Psych

By Julie McHale

The Waukesha Freeman 

Excitement reigns when a local playwright generates enough interest in her work to have it performed at two local community theaters in two years.  Having its premiere showing at Lake Country Players in 2008, “Psych” is now amusing patrons at Theatre on Main in Oconomowoc.

It is a play based on the consequences of deception. Set in a psychiatrist’s office the story spans a day in the life of Dr. Robert Smith and his brother Sam; Edward and Lydia, clients of Dr. Smith; an actor playing detective; a hit man looking for money; Edward’s wife Suzanne and a pizza delivery man. Paranoia and pretense dominate the atmosphere. A nervous Dr. Smith answers his locked door with gun in hand, an escaped convict enters his office looking for help, a psychic stops by, a neurotic janitor drops in with an uncanny resemblance to the psychiatrist, and a trench-coated sleuth bursts onto the scene.  Enter a pregnant, snack-obsessed wife, followed by an armed man seeking a briefcase, and you have met the list of unusual characters. Add phobias to the paranoia, and matters often evolve into mania.

This is one of those stories that could be ruined if I revealed too much, so I’ll let you enjoy the surprising outcomes, relishing the journey as well as the destination.Standouts in the cast include, first and foremost, Shaun Kempf as the beleaguered ex-con, who literally sweats his way through the maze of his life; Sandra Renick, the mesmerizing psychic, who can figure out everybody else’s life but her own; and Jerry Haerle who affords us a picture of a psychiatrist who may be in need of counseling himself as his juicy past comes back to haunt him.

The remaining actors - Evan Marriott, Wesley Yoshino, Angela Rydstrom, and Dave Lang - all make their bit parts memorable.  Kimm Mann created a very functional set, and the costumes, especially the one worn by the psychic, were effective. Kate Danner directed a well-paced show, which held our interest throughout.

Kudos to all involved, especially to Lisa Rowe, who created this comic mystery. It’s fun.

September 20, 2010 Edition

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The Waukesha Freeman

By Julie McHale

On a lighter side, the Theatre on Main in Oconomowoc has launched an ambitious production of the “Wizard of Oz,” gathering a cast of over fifty, an orchestra of seven, and an army of backstage helpers to re-create the classic tale. With clever staging, creative costuming, some wonderful voices, and credible acting, the show keeps us intrigued for several hours. Considering all the scene changes, the transitions are accomplished smoothly by using the apron and floor space in front of the stage as sets are changed behind the curtain. A large television screen is also used to depict the tornado and the fearsome OZ.

All the costumes are well designed, but the Munchkins’ colorful array deserves special mention as do the outfits of the Winkies and the Poppies (a small army worked on costumes). The dances in Emerald City and the jitterbug scene are also well executed, thanks to the talented choreographer Shawn Dauer.

We all know the story, probably from the beloved movie version with Judy Garland, but the play contains some scenes and some songs that the movie omits.  It’s fun to note the differences and also to appreciate how much work is involved in bringing an amateur cast to this level of performance. Director James Skiba deserves many gold stars for this achievement.

Standouts in the remarkable ensemble include Emily Gaulke as Dorothy (we just marveled at her in her role as Queen Guinevere in “Camelot”), Tom Koth as the Cowardly Lion, Trevor Rees as the Scarecrow (extremely adept at falling and staying in character every second), and Rebecca Richards as the very wicked Wicked Witch of the West (great cackle).

Thursday, July 22, 2010 Edition

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