Live theater

Despite having been involved in theater for years, I'd never seen a stage version of Cabaret till yesterday. Well, this was worth waiting for. There was a twist that the director came up with that still gives me a lump in the throat if I think about it. (I can't reveal it, because they may revive the production at a later time--and I hope they do.) For those who aren't familiar with the show, it's essentially a juxtaposition of the anything-goes morality in the clubs of Berlin in the 30's and the rise of the Nazi party. The contrast between the relative innocence of the characters and the coming darkness is powerful. And, as many musicals are structured, the first act is mostly an introduction of the characters and their relationships--you are only hit with the impending horror at the end of Act One, then Act Two turns darker.

We entered the theater, a space in which the audience seating wraps around three sides of the stage, to find the most appropriate set I'd ever seen in the space. I was immediately transported to prewar Germany. the pre-show consisted of the "boys and girls" of the Kit Kat Club serving people at tables around the edges of the stage and bantering with the audience, so we already knew a little about them before the lights went down. Once the show began, the Emcee became our guide through a wonderful evening of dancing, singing, acting, music, lighting and sound. Every phase of the production was top notch, and it fit perfectly in the small space. I've seen other shows in that theater that were meant to be bigger--a production of A Christmas Carol, for example, fit into the space well enough, but really deserved a bigger venue. Cabaret fit in as if the place was made for it--as if the space was, in fact, the Kit Kat Club.

I marveled, as I left the building, at how powerful live theater can be. The last time I felt that I'd seen something that could only be this effective in a live setting---that would have been diminished onscreen or on TV---was when I saw The Lion King on Broadway. Yes, I've seen other equally stirring shows since, but that show and the one I saw yesterday belonged absolutely to the stage.  If I watched a DVD of yesterday's show, I wouldn't have the same intense experience, because I wouldn't be so immersed in the space. So I may regret that I attended the last performance and can't go back again, but I can embrace the experience I had that one time. No matter how amazing our technological entertainment becomes--3D TV, videogame headsets, surround sound headphones--there will always be a place for live theater. And while I love a lighthearted, upbeat show, musical or otherwise, as much as anyone, I will still be amazed and overjoyed when the next stirring, dramatic piece of theater rips my heart out and slaps me in the face. I was exhausted on the way home, and yet felt so alive...more so, perhaps, because, even with the lights, sound mixing and other technologies that went into it, what truly moved me was simply other people in the same room as I, taking me to places thousands of miles and decades away.