Don't tell mama what you saw...
ASU's Lyric Opera Theatre's Cabaret at the Music Theater
** (out of *****)
Mark S.P. Turvin
(w) 965-1021  (h) 894-5443
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@asu.edu

	Educational theatre is a hit-and-miss proposition. What 
may dazzle you one season my depress you the next. ASU's 
Lyric Opera Theatre has done both, and will continue to do 
so, although even their misses are better than some company's 
hits. 
	Everyone knows Cabaret. Nearly everyone will enter a 
theatre with the simple equations of "the Emcee = Joel Grey" 
and "Sally Bowles = Liza Minelli." Many will expect a 
recreation of the choreography of the late, great Bob Fosse. 
It is for this reason that a revival of this difficult 
production needs to take one of two paths: it must be an 
exact recreation, or it must be revisionistic and offer 
something completely different to justify its remounting. 
Last season's road company of Carousel was an example of a 
successful revisionistic remounting, and this season's road 
company of West Side Story was a successful restaging of the 
original production. Unfortunately, the Lyric Opera Theatre's 
current mounting of Cabaret is both and neither all at once, 
and flounders in the process. 
	Director Graham Whitehead has included some elements of 
the original staging, and has added some of his own bits, 
including a final tableau that threatened to tip the scales 
toward the pretentious. The result seems indecisive and 
unsure of itself. 
	The performances also reflected this hesitancy. The 
Wednesday night show lacked energy in many scenes. 
Unforgivable from a Lyric Opera company, some of the chorus 
occasionally sang flat. Some of the dancers seemed like they 
couldn't handle JoAnn Yeoman's choreography, and all of them 
were rarely in sync. Finally, with two notable exceptions, 
the leads tended to underplay what is often a very 
presentational show. 
	Key to the problems of the leads were Bradford York as 
the Emcee, and Shannon Fink as Sally Bowles. Mr. York never 
became quite as menacing as his part requires, and his 
playfulness seemed superficial.  His performance in such 
great songs as "Two Ladies" and "If You Could See Her" was 
uninspiring, and a letdown. Ms. Fink had the look and voice 
for Sally (though her voice did crack at inopportune 
moments), but she lacked the frenetic and disarming qualities 
that make the role such a plum. Her British accent was 
inconsistent, and worst of all, her performance of the key 
titled song was pretty much a washout. As Cliff, Sally's 
love-interest-of-the-week, Bryan Stewart was a milquetoast, 
although, in his defense, the role is less of a plum and more 
of a prune, giving the actor little to work with. What there 
was to work with, though, was generally lost by Mr. Stewart. 
	The best and most touching performances of the show came 
from Amy Rogers and Dale Dreyfoos as the old world Fraulein 
Schneider and Herr Schultz respectively. Ms. Rogers 
believably performs the aging boarding house owner, and sings 
two solid solos and two cute ballads with Mr. Dreyfoos. These 
two wonderful performances threw the balance of the show 
completely out of whack, and overshadowed the more dominant 
through-lines of the show with their cute antics and 
heartbreaking resolutions. 
	William Reber's music direction was solid, and the 
orchestra sounded well without drowning out the cast. John 
Hood's set was mylar-ridden but functional, with interesting 
touches of the German architectural Bauhaus theme for the 
shots not associated with the Kit Kat Klub. Paul Black's 
lighting was very good, with gaudy moments and somber well-
balanced.
	The Lyric Opera Theatre has produced some of the best 
theatre in their past few seasons, and will undoubtedly 
return to form next season. This production seems nothing 
more than a hiccup, an anomaly that will certainly be 
corrected when they present more of the type of theatre with 
which they are exceptional.

Production Details:
Cabaret by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff
ASU's Lyric Opera Theatre
Music Theatre, Tempe
Phone Number
April 25-May 4

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