"This production is everything a cabaret should be: seductive, cheeky and memorable and the fabulous costumes and set design add to the allure. While I know I regularly gush about theatrical productions, I do believe this one is a must-see!" Fazielah Williams – www.capetown.travel/blog
"Al die elemente in die produksie loop naatloos saam vir ’n spesiale teaterondervinding. Die orkes (onder leiding van Stefan Lombard) is ’n heerlike bonus; dan was daar lanklaas só ’n luukse, dekadente stel te sien. Die karakter wat al die skoonheid, broosheid en gebrokenheid verbeeld, is Sally (Peo). Sy is fassinerend, terwyl Emcee (Halbhuber) se sang en oë sê alles wat moontlik oor die tydperk te sê is." Mariana Malan – Die Burger
"My verdict? It's the best show I've seen all year. Three days after the show and I'm still walking around my apartment, singing songs I never knew. In the end, Cabaret is an absolute winner; a raucous reverie that's both deliciously scandalous and surprisingly sweet." Eugene Yiga - bizcommunity.com
"In this award-winning production, every second is designed to entertain, shock and enthral the audience. In a cast seething with talent, it is Sacha Halbhuber as Emcee who is the star of the show. Immensely sad. Incredibly beautiful. Impossible to miss." Jana van Heerden – www.whatsonincapetown.com
“Cabaret is nothing less than breathtaking.” Shelley Seid - Sunday Times
This production is age restricted: PG 13
"Cabaret - shout it loud and clear - is the most divinely decadent production I've seen in yonks! World-class standard." Billy Suter - The Mercury
"A luminous, electrifying version of Cabaret, the likes of which we have seldom seen before. It is magnetic and brilliant. The show touches you in unexpected places. Visually brilliant, red-blooded and revelatory, Cabaret may be the best production you will see this year." Leon van Nierop - artslimk. co.za
"So good it'll Bowles you over. The performances turn this into something extraordinary." Diane de Beer - Star Tonight!
"Tegelyk klassiek en tydloos modern. 'n Gatskop-weergawe. Ná sowat ’n halfeeu bly Cabaret ’n musiekspel wat jou gemoed omwoel terwyl dit jou laat skater." Schalk Schoombie - Beeld
"It’s powerful stuff and, in this production, it’s magnificently realised." Bruce Dennill - The Citizen
"Director Steven Stead and the KickstArt Theatre Company deserve kudos for once again bringing a world-class production to the stage. By far the best production I’ve seen in a long time." Latoya Newman - Daily News Tonight
"A musical gem. Peo's energy and talent ignites the stage from beginning to end. From the lights to the staging to the music, it's worth seeing this classi come alviein 2012." Carly Rtiz - The New Age
Johannesburg 2012 Season
Leon van Nierop - artslimk. co.za
"The previous version of Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret that I saw was in New York with an unknown young director called Sam Mendes at the helm in an intimate venue with the audience sitting around petite tables. Steven Spielberg saw that production and, according to legend, re-commended Mendes for American Beauty.
The South African production holds its own against that career-altering Mendes-interpretation. Steven Stead has brought a luminous, electrifying version of Cabaret to Johannesburg, the likes of which we have seldom seen before. It is magnetic and brilliant.
What immediately resonates with the audience is the economic use of the stage that also serves as a character. There are tables around the edges where dancers and shadowy figures in the Kit Kat Club provocatively lurk in rousing poses. They form a human edge to the cunning, devious action on centre stage. They are cynical observers, indirectly participating and commenting on the unsettling events before them. They resemble hangmen waiting in the wings to tie the noose around their victims’ necks as the Second World War approaches and Nazism seeps through Germany.
Stead also frequently places the Emcee above the proceedings, observing the final days before the war with conniving glee, especially in Tina le Roux’s effective lighting which provides a devilish glow to his face. Here is a devil in disguise studying the doomed characters moving towards their destiny.
An extreme sense of pre-war decadence reverberates in each scene and musical number as the events outside as well as the fear and neurosis of Berlin seep through the cracks. But in Stead’s directing, it is unforced and spontaneous, drifting over the stage like a whiff of poisonous Nazi-gas, infecting each character. Greg King’s highly effective set-design (especially the window looking out over a dark Berlin), Neil Stuart-Harris’s inspiring costumes and Janine Bennewith’s eye-catching choreography blend flawlessly to support a brilliant production. They are ably supported by the band, also in costumes reflecting the decadence of the period.
The performances reach boiling point with each musical number. The androgynous Emcee in the form of Sascha Halbhuber’s sly, fiendish collaborator / observer is genial. From the moment his eyes glare at the audience through a slit in a door to his absorbing sweeping Dr. Faustus-movements across the stage, the audience is mesmerised by his performance.
Charon Williams-Ross’s breathtaking and at times tragic-comical characterisation lends irony to her performance. Her voice soars over the audience with breathtaking beauty and force.
Kate Normington ‘s luscious Fraulein Kost and Peter Court’s happy-go-lucky Herr Schultz also dominated the stage in less showy roles.
But of course the evening belongs to Samantha Peo’s tragic, illustrious and provocative Sally Bowles. Audience members may compare her performance to those of her illustrious predecessors (among them, of course, Liza Minnelli). But Miss Peo shines with explosive brilliance in a vivid, heart-rending performance. Her unique and raw rendition of Cabaret will stay with me for many moons. Her performance is deeply human, exceptional and soul-filled.
If you need a dash of decadent warmth in your winter’s evening, leave your troubles outside and participate in Cabaret where “everything is beautiful”. It is the kind of show that one emotionally participates in with a sly sense of cynicism. You are never an indifferent observer yet always a cynical, nervy participant in your own mind. The show therefore touches you in unexpected places.
Visually brilliant, red-blooded and revelatory, Cabaret may be the best production you will see this year."
