Corti's 'Cabaret' dazzles at Drury Lane Theatre

In his revival of "Cabaret" for Oak Brook's Drury Lane Theatre, director/choreographer Jim Corti has smoothed some of the rough edges of this famously (provocatively) bleak show. The result is a kinder, gentler version of the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical about the wrecked romances and unrealized aspirations of the willfully ignorant - or just plain unaware - members of a society racing headlong to its ruin. Corti's stylish, sexy version isn't the blow to the solar plexus (and I mean that as a complement) that 2008's Stratford Festival production was, but it most definitely dazzles.

And while the menace may not be as pronounced as it is in other productions, it is ever-present in this still potent tale of survival.

Set in Germany during the early 1930s in the decadent days that preceded Hitler's ascent, the masterfully structured, consummately composed "Cabaret" unfolds as a dream that descends into a nightmare. The savvy Corti underscores the former in the way he bookends the production with the image of the musical's central character asleep on a train. As for the latter, the score expresses the nightmare brilliantly in the gripping "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" (more chilling in its lyrical incarnation than in its dissonant reprise) and "What Would You Do?" sung by Rebecca Finnegan, who steals the show with her quietly wrenching performance as the landlady who goes along to get along.

Inspired by John Van Druten's "I Am a Camera," the play inspired by Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories, "Cabaret" centers on expatriate American author Clifford Bradshaw (a quiet, intuitive performance from Jim Weitzer, whom Corti places front-and-off-center for much of the action). Cliff sets out for Berlin hoping the wanton, wild city will cure his writer's block. He wakes after his journey to a delightfully debauched world of liquor, sex and revelry presided over by the likably boyish Emcee, played with wily sincerity by the wide-eyed, fair-haired Patrick Andrews, whose revelatory performance proves a compelling alternative exists to the aggressively ironic tone adopted by actors who've played the role.

"We have no troubles here," insists Andrews' Emcee during the famed opening number "Willkommen," "here life is beautiful."

It is indeed beautiful. Set designer Brian Sidney Bembridge's upscale Kit Kat Club is a sleek and shiny venue flanked by looming iron structures and hauntingly lit by Jesse Klug. Add Tatjana Radisic's gorgeous feathered and bejeweled chorus girl costumes and chic flapper-inspired gowns and you have show that looks as sumptuous as a Broadway in Chicago production.

Cliff's introduction to Berlin comes from Nazi sympathizer Ernst (Brandon Dahlquist as the picture of affable evil). His romantic education comes from the brazen, beguiling, blissfully unaware British transplant Sally Bowles, an aspiring star whose physical charms exceed her vocal prowess, played by the prodigiously talented Zarah Mahler. A dynamic singer/dancer, Mahler's acting felt a bit impersonal until the show's eponymous number where she found emotional resonance. To be fair, balancing Sally's worldliness and vulnerability without succumbing to cliché is no easy task. I expect when Mahler locates that balance hers will be as formidable a performance as that of the supporting players, including Finnegan's deeply felt, pristinely timed performance as Fraulein Schneider, the fiercely pragmatic landlady who chooses security over love.

In fact, all the supporting characters are top-notch. David Lively delivers a subtly drawn, unfailingly decent Herr Schultz, the German Jew blind to the growing fascism; and Christine Sherrill is a crafty, calculating Fraulein Kost, the prostitute who closes ranks with the Nazis.

Yet the Kit Kat Club's reverie is short-lived. As the storm approaches, Sally ignores it and Schultz denies it. Shifting to survival mode Schneider adapts while Kost collaborates and Cliff escapes, dreaming his way back to America as the world ends.

"Cabaret"

Rating: 3½ stars

Location: Drury Lane Oak Brook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace

Showtimes: 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 1:30 and 8 p.m. Thursdays; 8:30 p.m. Fridays; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 6 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 11

Running time: About 2 hours, 30 minutes with intermission

Tickets: $29-$38, dinner packages extra

Parking: Free lot adjacent to theater

Box office: (630) 530-0111 or drurylaneoakbrook.com

Rating: For adults

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=1&type=video&item=253">Clip from 'Cabaret' at the Drury Lane </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>