Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...With all that backstory, one could be forgiven for assuming that this current tour, which, like Sally, doesn't have plans to stick around long (it closes Feb. 21) is a copy of a copy of a copy, with all the pallor and fuzziness that implies. But the good news is that Mendes and co-director/choreographer Rob Marshall have kept the original vision of the revival (this does get difficult!) in their sights. Some of the elbow jabs may not land with the same heft as they did 18 years ago, but there isn't anything here that feels like a cheap knock-off, either."
Chicago Sun Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Mendes has blurred the lines between these layers, at times suggesting we are inside the mind of the writer who lived in Berlin in 1929 and 1930, and subsequently turned his experiences there into a book of stories. (Of course this is just what Christopher Isherwood did in "Goodbye to Berlin," with a subsequent dramatization by John Van Druten.) But this element of retrospective fantasia, combined with a needlessly heightened level of sexual explicitness (which only dulls the impact), too often robs the show of its real shock value, as well as its heart."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Sexual preferences are more nakedly presented than they were in the show's previous iterations. Would-be chanteuse Sally Bowles is more starkly desperate. Decadence is more tawdry. And the consequences of being on the wrong side of Nazism are made far more explicit. Everything's telegraphed. Everything's heavy-handed. And the effect is powerful."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...But in this interpretation, the show belongs to the Emcee. Randy Harrison, best known for the Showtime series Queer as Folk, fills Cumming’s combat boots quite impressively, looming impishly or menacingly over the proceedings when he’s not seductively Willkommen-ing us to leave our troubles outside. But the haunting lesson of Cabaret is that forgetting your troubles doesn’t stop them from growing."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...As a part of Roundabout Theatre Company's 50th Anniversary Season, Broadway in Chicago has teamed up with them to launch a national tour of Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall's revolutionary revision of Kander & Ebb's Cabaret, now in a solid production at the PrivateBank Theatre (the old Schubert)."
Chicago On the Aisle - Highly Recommended
"...If there are two words not commonly associated with touring Broadway shows, they are daring and courageous. Both apply in stunning fashion to "Cabaret," a not-to-be-missed experience presented by Broadway in Chicago at PrivateBank Theatre."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The emcee is the face of Cabaret, and Randy Harrison is an excellent one. This production shows lots of sex without making it look very sexy-Robert Amodeo's make-up design is a little on the grotesque side, the male cabaret performers look like they think they're barely being paid enough to be gay-but Harrison is actually quite charming. His rendition of "Money" is bitterly satirical, and he's a true drag diva in "I Don't Care Much." Contrasting his warmth is the chilling Nazi anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," a truly frightening moment at the end of Act I which the directors use Harrison to subvert right before the lights go down. This was the most controversial decision in the show among those I talked to, but I was glad for it."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...It's no doubt that Roundabout Theatre's production of Cabaret has won four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. This show has always been on my must see list based on the accolades and excellent word of mouth. As this is a limited two week engagement, I encourage you to run out and get your tickets now to the Kit Kat Klub."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Cabaret, the theatrical adaptation of Joe Masteroff’s book, is one of the darkest musicals that I have ever seen. Human sexuality, abortion, Nazism, and the holocaust are all treated in varying degrees and every subject is given its due gravity: the latter three are never the subject of Jokes."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Chicagoans will find the Kit Kat Klub ablaze with talented performers and musicians, generating enough heat to counteract the cold February winds blowing outside. This is a production truly deserving of the Broadway in Chicago moniker. It reflects the excellence of the Roundabout Theatre and reminds audiences of the greatness that Kander and Ebb created in their musical about a city called Berlin, a nightspot called the Kit Kat Klub and a girl named Sally Bowles. She sings that "everybody loves a winner." Well, Sally must've been thinking of this superb, sensational production, because a winner it is!"
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The Roundabout revival is a triumph of spot-on casting, insightful directing, and creative physical design. The Schneider-Schultz subplot is especially felicitous in enriching the storyline. But Rosen and Goss are the best pair of “Cabaret” lovers I’ve ever seen. For the first time I wanted to know what happened to Sally after the end of the musical, but maybe I don’t really want to know. Bradshaw will return to the United States and likely write the novel that captures those heady and fearful Berlin days, much like Christopher Isherwood did in his autobiographical “Berlin Stories” that inspired the John Van Druten play “I Am a Camera” that inspired the musical. What happens to Sally after Bradshaw departs? We don’t really want to know."
The Fourth Walsh - Highly Recommended
"...Underneath the sexual romp, CABARET is a thought-provoking musical. We see the Nazis interrupt Berlin’s playful escapades. With the benefit of hindsight, we know this is the origin story of a historical atrocity. We observe anti-Jewish propaganda being infiltrated. People pick sides for survival. Neighbors and lovers separate. Yet, the enduring music hints of resilience through bad times."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...This production's audience is gradually introduced into the world of the Kit Kat Club a few minutes before "curtain" as the dancers and musicians stroll on stage, warming up in character. At lights up, Randy Harrison's white-faced, jack-booted Emcee beckons everyone inside with a finger gesture that borders on the obscene. And as the night progresses, that border is systematically and repeatedly crossed."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The high production values translate well to the more dramatic scenes, which highlight the Nazis rise to power. As Clifford Bradshaw observes, Berlin pre-World War II is like a city without parents. The children party, but it is only a matter of time before the adults put an end to it all. In this case, however, the rule of law is exerted by murderous Nazis. You know it is not going to end well, but you just cannot turn away. If only life was really like a cabaret."
