Cabaret

Dennis J. Scott, as Ernst Ludwig/Max, is a study in a slick character with a terrible goal -- the forming of the Third Reich. Linda Libby gives us a Fraulein Schneider we could love, feel sorry for, and enjoy her travails with her tenants. Jim Chovick as her love, Herr Schultz, gives a new meaning to naivety, as Schultz insists that the Nazi will think of him as a German, not a Jew. We watch their love grow and be destroyed. We shudder when young Michael Cullen, as the Youth, sings the haunting "Tomorrow Belongs To Me." Hitler's youth movement has begun to take hold in Germany.

The Cabaret orchestra under the direction of Don Le Master (on the piano) includes Rik Ogden on woodwinds, banjo and guitar, Oliver Shirley on bass, and Dave Rumley on percussion. Incidentally, Le Master is ravishing, in his cross-dressing costume for the gig. The Kit Kat Girls (Athena Espinosa, Lizette Kent, Lee Lampard, Gretta Wassermann) perform with all the necessary flaws. Lee Lampard is devastating, in Lorenz's "If You Could See Her Now," in her ape attire.

Choreographer David Brannen brings strong movement to the cast. Lighting designer Mike Durst creates moods with an often under-lit stage. Sound designers Jeff Jones and Peter Hashagen manage an eeriness, especially in the use of sub-woofers vibrating the seating. This effect increases the dark emotions in the second act. Costume designer Shelly Williams contrasts the cabaret staff's shoddiness with the natty attire of Bradshaw, Max, and Schultz.

North Coast Rep offers their audience a very dark, pervasive Cabaret, and one with extremely strong acting, the best of the three I've seen. It gets to the heart of the era with power. For a look at real "Cabaret," this production is a must.