![]() But shouldn’t the character be support for the main plot, not the main event? Yes, the increasingly nasty turn in his songs was always allegorical for Berlin’s fall into darkness. It’s an intensely busy performance, that surely scratches whatever acting itch Redmayne had, as he dances and sings and twists and hisses and puts his eerily boyish good looks to great use, like a sinister doll. But does it help the production? Do we need to see the biggest name push himself the furthest? Redmayne’s Emcee goes on a journey that physically parallels Germany’s post-WW1, eventually emerging as a disconcertingly suave Aryan matinee idol (aka his ‘Let’s Dance’ phase). He’s hunched over, his limbs twisted and awkward, with a strange tremor to his voice… frankly it kind of feels like he’s ‘cripping up’ again (perhaps as a polio victim?).īecause we never learn anything about the Emcee as a person it is perfectly possible to embellish him with these details. When the Emcee first appears, he’s a sort of gawky outsider, clumping about the stage with a dunce’s hat on. ![]() At the heart of this, I’m sure, is his desire to throw himself into transformative, taxing roles, which is clearly what he’s gone for here. In the past, he’s attracted flak for playing trans and disabled characters. Wearing a series of beautiful, subtly sinister outfits that kind of feel like they’re trying to process every single one of David Bowie’s sartorial choices from ’73 to ’83 (more on designer Tom Scutt later), Oscar-winning star Redmayne really goes for it as the Emcee. Putting by far the most famous actor in the show in the role would be enormously distracting even if they didn’t do… this. But it’s in no way the lead role – in fact, the character barely interacts with the actual story. But the presence of any hugely famous, Oscar-winning star is bound to distort the role of the Emcee of the Kit Kat Club: the Weimar-era Berlin bar in which ‘Cabaret’s tragic heroine Sally Bowles plies her trade. The Emcee is a vital supporting role: his sardonic songs set the mood of the show, and map Germany’s descent into darkness. Now, I have absolutely nothing against the guy. Until October 1 2022, Fra Fee and Amy Lennox will lead the cast as the Emcee and Sally, plus Omar Baroud as Cliff Bradshaw and Vivien Parry as Fraulein Schneider, with Stewart Clarke and Anna-Jane Casey staying on from the original cast.įrom OctoCallum Scott Howells and Madeline Brewer will take over the roles of the Emcee and Sally.Ĭome to the cabaret, old chums, and see the stage performance of the year from Jessie Buckley! Gasp at the terrific supporting cast in Rebecca Frecknall’s luxury revival of Kander & Ebb’s musical masterpiece, foremost Omari Douglas’s passionate, tender, little boy lost Clifford! Be wowed by Tom Scutt’s literally transformative design! Wonder at the free schnapps you’re offered on the way in, and nod in polite appreciation at the pre-show entertainment! This review is of the original 2021 cast.
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