Reviewed 1/27/05
Fountain Hills Community Theater has a knack of shrinking spectacles to fit into their 130-seat Mainstage space. A lavish musical the likes of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret would seem impossible on their tiny stage, but somehow director Peter J. Hill has found a way to resize the cast and playing space to a bare minimum while still keeping the onstage band (behind a scrim) and offering a very good production of this now schizophrenic musical. Its dual-personality nature comes from the now two equally interesting versions of the script that exist based on the original 1966 hit and the darkly revisionist 1998 revival. Seeing a current production is always a gamble about which or how much of each will be mixed together. Hill’s version leans much more heavily on the side of the original, although it adds a few elements and images of the revival, some which aid the space requirements and others that just make the show a little more dramatically satisfying.
There are the minimum requirement of four Kit-Kat Girls (Gina Cocchiaro, Kerry McDonough, Tiana Torrilhon, and Angelina Ramirez) and two Kit-Kat Boys (Tom Holmberg and Jack Karlen). As in the revision, a lot more of the minor roles are left to the Emcee (Stefan Linder). “Sitting Pretty” and “Meeskite” remain from the original and the “Two Ladies” are still two ladies (Cocchiaro and McDonough), but the strong final image of the revision has been retained. Cliff (Michael Stewart) is not torn in his sexuality, but Max never makes an appearance, either. It winds up a good job of cutting and pasting. Hill’s blocking and Noël Irick’s flapper-inspired choreography are not overwhelming, but fit the confines. Some of the performances feel restrained, but the balance are quite earnest and in the end, the show is a positive sale.
Linder has been an actor without a right-fitting role, but here the Austrian-born performer uses his accent to excellent effect. His movements and singing can sometimes be tentatively performed, but this role may be to him what Tevye was to Zero or the King was to Yul. Debbie Brown does not at first seem a natural choice for Sally until she begins singing. She may run a little fast in the delivery of her character and look down once or twice at her feet during her limited movement, but her voice blows away an initial misgivings. Stewart’s Cliff, a character as thankless as Herbie in Gypsy, is quite full of life and he’s an excellent singer to boot. Irick and Gerry Loveland make a cute couple as Fraulein Schenider and Herr Schultz. Irick stops the show with her rendition of “What Would You Do?” and her duet of “It Couldn’t Please Me More” with Loveland would bring a smile to a mannequin. Loveland is a bit more subdued, but this is a workable choice for the role. The two disappointments, and they’re big ones, are Matt Mcdonald as Ernst, who doesn’t seem to be remotely interested in acting either German or with the others who share his scenes, and Judy Holmberg as Fraulein Kost, who is too “tart” as the prostitute.
The Kit-Kat Girls are good singers, but there’s a definite difference between the four’s dancing abilities; inevitably the two prone to missteps become the focus of many of their dance numbers. The Boys are unexceptional at most points, and awkward at others.
Hill’s set design is a modified thrust that brings the audience onstage and into the Klub. This sometimes requires Linder to interact with the audience, something with which he seems ill at ease. His lighting is uniformly designed and solid. Lisa Suico’s costumes fit the flapper theme of the show, one that makes perfect sense for the era, and is sufficiently revealing and fetching for the Girls. Christie McKibben’s orchestra is quite strong and well handled.
This is an overall pleasant and sometimes impressive presentation of this famed and fast-becoming-overproduced piece (this is the second time this season in town, and fourth in the last two). It’s proof that good things can come in small packages.
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