CABARET: Searing and Sexy Tale for our Times Now Thru July 17

San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre plays host to the provocative and still darkly daring, Cabaret now through July 17. Set in 1931 Berlin, on the cusp of all that was to come with the rise of the Nazis, the Kander and Ebb musical revolves around the Kit Kat Club and its cast of characters who are determined to ignore the outside world. "We have no troubles here! Here, life is beautiful," shouts the garishly made-up emcee. He and the club's performers do their best to convince us that indeed, "life is a cabaret" and, for a moment in time, it seems to be true. Yet they set aside the warning signs at their own peril. Coming directly from Broadway and originally directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, SHNSF's Cabaret is a spectacular sleight of hand, giving us sinfully sexy performances even as the real depravity lies in wait like spider outside the doors of the Kit Kat Club.

Randy Harris (Broadway: Wicked; TV's Queer as Folk) is superb as the insouciant master of ceremonies who is determined to distract by keeping the entertainment hot, sexy and fun. Harris' strength lies in his commanding presence that never gives even a hint of desperation or concern even when the unraveling begins. With one beckoning finger he seductively pulls us in. Of course it doesn't hurt that he has the wickedly sublime Kander and Ebb "Wilkommen" as his intro. Soon enough we are captivated by the girls, the band and the boys - but will it be enough to make the Orpheum's audience forget the troubles that lie right outside the doors?

Equally captivated by the Kit Kat Club's entertainment is newly arrived American Clifford Bradshaw (Lee Arron Rosen). Bradshaw is likeable, bringing an all-American boy ease to the role of the bisexual Cliff. He's a writer in search of a story and, though initially intrigued by the shifting political sands in Berlin, he gets sidetracked by British Kit Kat singer Sally Bowles (Andrea Goss).

Goss, who looks like a cross between Edith Piaf and a young Twiggy-gone-Goth, sizzles on stage, absolutely embodying the role of the free-spirited, cocaine snorting Bowles. She's immediately attracted to Clifford and when she's fired from the club she shows up at his door like a stubborn child, insisting that he take her in. Clifford isn't sure how he feels about it, but nevertheless allows her to stay. Goss's Sally is impulsive and edgy, the perfect counterpoint to Cliff's more staid demeanor. They set up house, much to the chagrin of landlady Fräulein Schneider (the amazing and talented Shannon Cochran) the who's trying to run a respectable establishment. She isn't happy about their living arrangement. She's already got one female tenant (a brazen Alison Ewing) with frequent gentlemen callers, but ultimately she herself is too busy with a gentleman caller of her own, to worry too much about it.

Mark Nelson plays the affable, romantic fruit vendor Herr Schultz who plies Fräulein Schneider with delectable fruits in order to win her over. Cochran and Nelson are charming together as they tentatively begin to fall in love. Nelson's rich tenor resonates with passion and he imbues his part with a tender honesty that never becomes too sentimental. He's quite taken with his shy spinster lady friend and the two of them have scene-stealing moments that are touching and heartfelt. His joy at her acceptance of his proposal is palpable and you hope that they can rise above the times, but when reality finally sets in, choices must be made.

But for a moment in time, life is indeed a cabaret. The strong supporting cast is given ample room to strut their stuff with Rob Marshall's writhing choreography but though they seductively seek to distract, their dead stares and fixed faces tell a different story.

William Ivey Long's costumes succinctly capture the mood of debauchery with plenty of flesh showing along with the scanty bras and bloomers, silk stockings and heels. The gender bending garb of the emcee and the chiseled men in skin-tight costumes complete the look.

His work is complemented by Robert Brill's seedy boudoir-red set. Lighting design by Peggy Eisenhauer is simultaneously seductive, bright and bawdy. The stark white interrogation lighting in the closing scene is jaw-dropping.

Joe Masteroff's book brilliantly captures the slow fall into chaos that happens as Nazi ideology takes root outside the walls of the club. Affable German Ernst Ludwig (the spot on Ned Noyes), who at first befriends Cliff, eventually makes his Nazi agenda known, ending the stupor of many of the characters. Try as they might to hold the forces of change at bay, the rise of the Third Reich cannot be denied. Goss's show-stopping rendition of the song "Cabaret" is a last brave attempt to put on a brave face and deny the coming changes, but to no avail. Complacency and denial come with a heavy price; all of their lives will be changed. Indeed, in any age, in any time, complacency and denial come with a heavy price.

CABARET
San Francisco Orpheum Theatre
Now thru July 17
www.shnsf.com
Book by Joe Masterof
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Based on the Play
by John Van Druten
And Stories by
Christopher Isherwood
Directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall
Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus

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