Willows plumbs depths of 'Cabaret'

By Pat Craig
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

With the opening of its production of "Cabaret" on Friday, Concord's Willows Theatre has moved from producing good, solid theater to producing inspired theater.

Certainly the Kander and Ebb musical, with its sexually ambiguous themes, gender-bending and pointed foreshadowing of the Nazi horrors to come, is a show that packs an emotional wallop. Since its debut in the mid-'60s, the show has remained cutting-edge in one way or another. And because it seems to inspire heightened creativity in those who take on the project, the show typically has an edginess one hardly expects from a 40-year-old play.

Too often, though, producers short-change audiences by focusing on the sexuality and depravity and ignore the disturbing undertones that shoot through the piece.

But that is where the Willows production shines. That isn't to say director Andrew Holtz has ignored the more obvious elements (he's pushed the envelope as far as anyone around these parts in terms of scantily clad actors and lust-and hormone-fueled sexuality). Beyond this, however, is a sophistication and sharpness that not only brings out the eventual consequences of the sexual excesses used to escape the impending national horror, but also manages to transform this horror into achingly touching and very human drama.

The material was all there in the Christopher Isherwood story, the nonmusical play and film "I Am a Camera," and the various incarnations of the musical. What Holtz did in assembling this production was return to the various sources to build a hybrid "Cabaret" that tells the story in an intelligent and emotionally honest way -- or at least as emotionally honest as anything in the fleshpots of pre-Hitler Berlin could be.

Couple this with an astonishingly powerful cast and production values that rival any you'll see in all but the mega-budgeted theaters, and you get a sexually charged, intensely entertaining evening of theater with what may well be remembered as a watershed Willows production.

Almost lost in this is Holtz's decision to cast a young woman, Mindy Stover, in the traditionally male role of the emcee. The casting of Stover, a tiny powerhouse of a performer, heightens the sexual ambiguity and the sense of a wildly spinning moral compass driving the entertainers at the Kit Kat Club, where much of the musical's action takes place.

But the real focus of the Willows version is on two couples, British Kit Kat headliner Sally Bowles (Kristin Stokes) and American author Clifford Bradshaw (Geoffrey Kidwell); and the older couple, apartment owner Fraulein Schneider (Barbara Grant) and Jewish fruit merchant Herr Schultz (Stu Klitsner).

Both relationships are ill-fated, Schneider and Schultz's because of the anti-Jewish wildfire that is starting to run through Germany, and Bowles and Bradshaw's for myriad reasons ranging from sexuality to fundamental philosophies.

The performances are stunning, particularly that of Stokes, whose presence and charm are outdone only by her enormous singing voice.

What else? Sets, by Peter Crompton, are stunning. Lights, by Jon Retsky, add a near-cinematic surreality to the piece. Costumes, with a subtle touch by Melissa Torchia, create both the excesses of the Kit Kat entertainers and the spirit of those outside the club. John Butterfield's choreography has an understated feel and a sly playfulness that augments the overall tone of the show.

It's not a play for the kids, so leave 'em at home -- you deserve to see something truly stunning.

Pat Craig is the Times theater critic. Reach him at 925-945-4736 or pcraig@cctimes.com.