Review Roundup: Serenbe Playhouse's CABARET
By: Alan Henry Aug. 10, 2017
Serenbe Playhouse, recipient of the prestigious American Theatre Wing grant, and recently honored with the most Suzi Bass Awards for a musical in Atlanta (Miss Saigon), is pleased to present CABARET, by Joe Masteroff and John Kander and Fred Ebb. Directed by Brian Clowdus, the show opens on August 3rd and runs to August 27th. CABARET will be produced at The Open Air Room in Serenbe. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!
Inspired by Christopher Isherwood's triumphant novel The Berlin Stories, Cabaret takes place in 1931 Berlin, as the Nazis begin their ominous ascent to power. The musical revolves around the vibrant and sensuous nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, where a young American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, pursues an English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles (played by Broadway's Molly Tynes). In one of the most iconic roles of the genre, Serenbe Playhouse's founder and Artistic Director Brian Clowdus will play the Kit Kat Klub's devious Emcee. This racy rendition will take place in our own underground Kit Kat Klub - but not just anyone can come, you're going to need the password!
Taking to the Serenbe stage for the first time in four years, Playhouse Founder - Brian Clowdus - will be your host - The Emcee. Opposite Clowdus will be Molly Tynes (Broadway's Pippin) making her Playhouse debut as the famous Sally Bowles. Playhouse favorites Deborah Bowman (A Streetcar Named Desire) and Lee Osorio (Macbeth) take on Fräulein Kost and Clifford Bradshaw, respecativly.
Rounding out the leading players are Heidi Cline McKerley as Fräulein Schneider, Robert Wayne as Herr Shultz, and Edward McCrearry as Ernst Ludwig. The Kit Kat Klub will be brought to life by the vibrant dancers: Lily Dickinson, Brian Jordan, Imani Joseph, Taryn McFarthing, Shannon Murphy, Hayley Platt, Terrence Smith.
Ticket prices start at $35 - senior/student, and group discounts are available. Visit www.serenbeplayhouse.com any time or call the Box Office, open Tuesday through Saturday, 12pm until 5pm, 770-463- 1110, for tickets.
Let's see what the critics have to say!
BroadwayWorld (Amy Zipperer): Clowdus's turn as The Emcee has certainly created buzz around this Serenbe Playhouse outing. And Clowdus is quite good in his role. He cavorts around the stage with a sleazy confidence, selling the disreputable wares of the Kit Kat Club. But this isn't where Clowdus makes his most valuable contribution to the play. He is at his best when he is standing on the dim edges of the narrative scenes, a voyeur in shadows who covers each scene with a blanket of awful knowingness.
My AJC (Wendell Brock): Off in the margins, and rather the opposite of sweetness: The wonderfully dreadful Fraulein Kost (Deborah Bowman) has a bottomless supply of sailors in pursuit of her services. The strapping Ernst Ludwig (Edward McCreary) may be tall, blond and pretty, but beware: What really seduces him is the Fuhrer's call for Aryan supremacy.
Atlanta in Town (Manning Haris) : Perhaps the loveliest relationship of the evening is the one between Fraülein Schneider and her Jewish suitor Herr Schultz (Robert Wayne), as they enjoy a September romance. Mr. Wayne has long been a fine singer; but when it becomes apparent that the Nazi influence forbids their marriage and he must move, his faith that everything will still work out is heartbreaking.
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