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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nicholas de Jongh's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Rufus Norris, Javier De Frutos (choreographer).
Cast: Amy Nuttall, Angela Richards, Barry James, Alistair McGowan
Description: A dark, decadent and sexy musical set in the Weimar era of early 1930s Berlin, directed by Rufus Norris and choreographed by Javier De Frutos.
Trains: Tube: Piccadilly Circus 
Phone: 0870890 1107
Website: www.nimaxtheatres.com
Cabaret revels in Berlin's hedonistic nightlife
James Dreyfus as the sinister Emcee
No one interested in that rarest of things, a serious-minded, politically motivated musical which scorns a happy ending, will resist the emotional punch and pull of Kander and Ebb's glorious Cabaret.
In Rufus Norris's inventive, musically vigorous production, the songs, from Willkommen to the ominous Tomorrow Belongs To Me, reveal their imperishable allure.
Joe Masteroff 's book, based on Christopher Isherwood's novel, revels in Berlin's hedonistic nightlife and those dancing to pleasure's tunes in 1930. It then draws back to attack devastatingly Germans who believe the Nazis are no concern of theirs.
Admittedly the revival proves no match for the famous film version in which Liza Minnelli incarnated Sally Bowles, the vulnerable good-time girl, ready for a bit of bad.
Norris's stylised scenes of would-be sexual decadence in the Kit Kat Club, where almost anything goes and comes, offer no more shocking signs of immorality than the flaunting of halfnaked girls and boys alike in black tights, flinging themselves up ladders and landing in the odd bed.
Anna Maxwell Martin's miscast Sally exudes a waif-like innocence, quite at odds with the bohemian girl's manswapping-frivolous character. When she appears, mockingly dressed as a nun, the garb seems natural for her.
Yet my reservations about Norris's production and his Sally did not overwhelmingly detract from the pleasure of Cabaret.
In the opening scene the word Willkommen is emblazoned across the shuttered stage. Suddenly the grossly made up eyes of James Dreyfus's spectacularly sinister Emcee peer out at us, after the letter O flaps down.
The moment is stylistically typical of Norris's fresh approach. Katrina Lindsay's abstract design may not summon up Fraulein Schneider's lodging house into which the young bisexual Clifford Bradshaw arrives to stay - and where he is importuned by a Nazi businessman - or even the Kit Kat Club.
Instead sliding panels, whose asymmetrical shapes suggest a world where values are twisted, with small apertures bursting open to disclose border control officials, hustle the action briskly along.
Two love affairs are sparked. Maxwell Martin's Sally begins by squatting in the room of Michael Hayden's fine, intense Clifford, disturbed by his attraction to men.
She ends up in his arms and life while Sheila Hancock's charming, cynical Fr‰ulein Schneider falls for the discreet wooing of Geoffrey Hutchings's sweet, widowed, Jewish Mr Schultz.
No winsome romancing lasts, though Maxwell Martin uncomfortably sings with far too little passion or longing the wistful, optimistic Maybe This Time.
Both relationships decline and fall - because the women refuse to face up to an imminent Nazi threat glimpsed in flashes of SS brutality that leave Bradshaw and his would-be boyfriend bloodied.
In a magnificent, metaphorical flourish, Norris conveys how the old liberal order collapses. As the letters of Willkommen are struck down by SS officers, Kit Kat dancers shed their clothes and huddle nudely together as Tomorrow Belongs To Me sounds its refrain.
A light snow falls. We hear the whispering gas-chamber hiss. Cabaret, showing itself at the last a great musical, timelessly appeals for humanity in the sight of political and sexual fascism. I find it overwhelming.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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Having rediscovered my love of West End musicals I have seen five this year (Evita, Wicked, Chicago, Mary Poppins and Cabaret) and enjoyed Cabaret the most by far. It is more of a grown-up musical than some and while it is great fun (paticularly the first act) it is not afraid of an unhappy ending. James Dreyfuss and Kim Medcalf couldn't be faulted. Highly recommended.
- Dave, Worcester
I really enjoyed this, not knowing what to expect as havent seen the film!
I thought Kim Medcalf was brilliant - didn't recognise it was her until I asked the usher! James Dreyfuss was also good. I liked Honor Blackman's performance - she captured the vulnerability of the character well - I particularly liked the "pineapple".
- Rebecca, Southampton
Seems many different opinions here. My Husband and I found it the best musical we have seen for a while. James Dreyfus was brilliant with the right amount of comedic timing and sad loneliness - he stole the show for us and should be counted as the lead in our opinion. Kim Medcalf held her own well with a great voice and the rest of the cast made us empathise with them all and the difficult decisions they had to make. The ending was not true Musical but subtly done and thought provoking.
- Heather Pike, Morton, Derbyshire
Saw the show last night, 16 August 2007. Strange one. The overriding impression was of a very uneven production, with some notable miscasting, specifically Honor Blackman as Fraulein Schneider, who was dreadful. Underpowered vocally, she also seemed unsure of the scale of performance needed to fit the stage. I was convinced she thought she was on the tiny stage of the King's Head in Islington. Her nervy first song "Who Cares" gave most evidence of this, a very muted characterisation, self-conscious, small gestures, small voice. This continued throughout the show, until an extended scene with Kim Medcalf and Francis Matthews where the longeurs were all too painfully obvious. SH was playing it so straight, it ceased being a musical and turned into a small-cast play with the other actors rigidly waiting while the scene inched forward. My embarrassment grew. I've never seen such weak work in a West End musical. Perhaps I've been lucky thus far. I can imagine how wonderful Sheila Hancock would have been in the role. First, she's a singer, second she's a strong stage character actress. In contrast, Honor Blackman is a film and TV actress way out of her depth in this.
As for Kim Medcalf as Sally Bowles - interesting. A gorgeous voice which I could have listened to all night. A promising start, with a quirky, volatile character which I really enjoyed. But again, a sense with her that she was unsure of the medium: she too was subtly uncharacterised at times.
- Clare , London
Saw the show earlier this week (new cast - Kim Medcalf, Honor Blackman etc). Absolutely fantastic. Very thought provoking. Notables were Dreyfus as the EmCee and Medcalf as Sally.
- John Wright, Exeter, Devon
Richard Dreyfuss, Sheila Hancock and Geoffrey Hutchings deserve a big bonus for their performances, not to mention the embarrassment of being on stage with the inconsistent and unconvincing Michael Hayden and the simply dreadful Anna Maxwell Martin. The latter was completely miscast and her singing and acting would seem more appropriate in an amateur production than on a West End stage. A shame, for the show could have been memorable. Instead, it was simply disappointing.
- Jon, Niagara Canada
Having seen a couple of productions of Cabaret I had high hopes for this show and they certainly weren't dashed! Sheila Hancock was simply superb as Fraulein Schneider and really impressed me, similarly James Dreyfuss was fantastic too. It was a fantastic evening.
- Helen, North London
I've been reading various reviews online, and wonder if I went to the same show. James Dreyfus had as much menace, charisma and stage presence as a ball of belly-button fluff, I agree that Anna Maxwell Martin was far too prim and proper and though Sheila Hancock sang very well, her spoken lines were unconvincing. By the way, isn't Fräulein Schneider meant to be obese? Although everyone goes on about the nudity in the choreography blah-blah, it was all too perfectly performed and ultimately sterile and not very sexy. As for the largely dreadful German accents (especially Dreyfus and the station announcer - or was that him too?): get yourselves a proper voice coach and try harder!
By the way, surely it's the contents of a canister of Zyklon B, and not snow, that falls at the end?
- David Miller, Gateshead, UK
