I’m steadily working my way through the musicals on the West End with Cabaret the next one on my list.

Against the background of decadent 1930s Berlin, Cabaret revolves mainly around a young seemingly bisexual American aspiring author and his subsequent romance with the leading lady at a local cabaret club (the Kit Kat Club.) Secondary to their story are the stories of the owner of his boarding house in Berlin (Fraulein Schneider), her Jewish suitor (Herr Schultz) and one of her other boarders, a lady of leasure. Tainting all these ongoings is the threat of the rise of the Nazis. Emcee, providing a narration of sorts, is the very camp Julian Clary.

The musical is dark, gritty and ultimately quite sad. The musical pieces individually were okay but overall I didn’t find this show to my taste or enjoyment. As our seats were third row from the front it also felt quite confrontational to me as we were within the sights of the actors/actresses and it was very hard hiding our grimaces. There were some positives – the band were excellent, especially the three who actually became part of the show itself and the actress and actor who played Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz respectively were very good.

Oh, there also seemed to be quite a bit of nudity – personally I though it was gratuitous but I’m assuming not everyone would agree to me. I’m sure there will be those out there who say the nudity demonstrated some sort of deeper vulnerability blah blah blah. To each his own I guess!

Not the worst musical I’ve ever seen but certainly not one of my favourites.