WARNING - this theatre review contains cheeky bits, saucy sections and some very naughty goings on.
Set in Berlin in 1930-31, Cabaret opens with a very special welcome by Julian Clary as a German Border Control guard complete with tunic, cap, sparkling eye make-up, stockings and suspenders.
As expected the outfit was just one of a wardrobe full of smashing costumes worn by Julian who plays the Emcee.
American Clifford Bradshaw (Steven Cree) comes to Berlin to write a novel, he meets German Ernst Ludwig (Michael Beckley) who gives him the address of a cheap but very good' apartment run by Fraulein Schnieder (Angela Richards). Ernst suggests Clifford checks out the Kit Kat Klub, where even the orchestra are beautiful and there are female dancers dressed as men and male dancers in female costumes - most of which are so skimpy its a wonder they stay on.
Clary is the most marvellously sleazy Emcee and clearly revels in every second a performance which enabled him to show off his acting and singing skills (and his legs, plus a brief very cheeky glimpse of his bottom). Close your eyes during Three Ladies - there are lots of naughty bits on view.
Sally Bowles (Amy Nuttall) is the main attraction at the Lit Kat Klub and gyrates and sings her way through the number Mein Herr up, down and in and around large ladder, expertly picked out by the follow spot (spotlight).
Amy - probably best known as Chloe Atkinson from the ITV soap Emmerdale, is amazingly petite but has an amazingly strong voice and is marvellous as a good time cabaret singer who isn't having a very good time.
The number Maybe this Time sung with so much feeling by Sally when discovers she is pregnant - proving that even the hardest tart just wants to be loved. Clifford offers to marry her and runs errands' for Ernst for money.
And money, money, money is the theme for a great little number by Julian, when his pockets are so full of coins he can barley sit.
Cabaret isn't merely a story about cross-dressing and cross-sexual antics, there is a much more serious theme running through the show.
The German Youth are marching and friends turn on friends as the Nazi party becomes more powerful.
Ernst is a Nazi and when he learns Fraulein Schnieder and her jewish lodger Herr Schultz (Barry James), are engaged he turns on them. His prejudice is cleverly highlighted in the In the number If You Could see her Through my Eyes when Julian becomes both the bride and groom.
Bereft of make up and spangles Julian, wrapped in a nondescript dressing gown sings the haunting I Don't Care Much.
The show is a feast of fabulous music, truly decadent dancing, fine acting and terrific costumes. Julian and Amy are undoubtedly the stars of the show and each performance was a joy to watch as they became more and more immersed in their roles.
It really isn't fair not to mention all the cast, but Angela Richards, Barry James, Steven Cree, Michael Beckley, are just some of the actors who make Cabaret the best musical in town.
Cabaret ends with a moving, spine-tingling tableau that is so unexpected it shocks the audience to the core.
The show is decadent, dirty, sleazy and very naughty- but as Julian Clary said after the performance: "I love being it in Cabaret is it a brilliant show.!"
Cabaret is at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, until November 2008, Box Office 0870 890 1107.
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