Corinne Procter steals the show at Independent Cabaret Productions’ Cabaret at Fort Mason center in San Francisco. As Sally Bowles, she is caught between that shrinking, angst-ridden space between stardom, love, war, and peace and decides to make the best of her shrinking world.
Jeremy Vik plays the master of ceremonies with the wickedness that underlies the superficial gayety of the script. Vik plays Mephistopheles, offering us the pleasures of entertainment that coyly promise sexual pleasure in exchange for our soul. Enjoy yourself before the apocalypse of World War 2! Maybe it will go away!
Under Cera Byer’s choreography, the chorus is lively and their Money Money Money song-and-dance is excellent. Live band! Costumes by Tammy Berlin!
The script has a long history having begun as a play by John Van Druten, converted into a novel by Christopher Isherwood, then adapted for musical theatre by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and finally re-adapted as a movie with Liza Mineeli, Joel Grey and Michael York, directed by Bob Fosse.
The dark-cabaret tradition goes back to Brecht's 3 Penny Opera, von Sternberg's Blue Angel flick with Marlene Dietrich and the incredible and tragic career of Kurt Gerron and millions of other European and Asian victims of WW2.
Cabaret plays at YPT at Fort mason Center until February 19th and will move to Marin thereafter.
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