Stage's ‘Cabaret' dazzling

BY CAROL FURTWANGLER

Post and Courier Reviewer

When a theater company attempts a show as familiar and popular as 'Cabaret,' that company had best make a Big Splash.

That is exactly what Mary- beth Clark did, brilliantly directing a dozen multitalented dancers and a leading cast of six of the most effective performers ever seen in Charleston.

Charleston Stage's latest singin' and dancin' extravaganza proved a showcase for every element of stagecraft. Barbara Young's glitzy and funky costumes, Julian Wiles' lighting, Lindsey Lamb's choreography and Wiles' and Stefanie Christensen's scenic design all caught the spirit of 1930s Berlin, degenerate, decadent, its populace indulging in all manner of sin, as the Weimar Republic faded and the Nazi party rose to power.

Not a character was less than ideally realized, and not a voice was other than outstanding. Musical director Amanda Wansa and her six-piece orchestra were consummate professionals. Brian J. Porter made the Emcee's role his own,

sashaying about in purple leather pants and oh, the shoes. Justin Tyler Lewis made an endearing Cliff, while Sarah Claire Smith's rendition of Sally Bowles was spot-on. Kyle Barnett played a friendly-turned-menacing Ernst, while Jan Gilbert as Fraulein Kost showed her excellent grasp of comedy and drama. Demetre Homer as Herr Schultz evidenced the calm of Jews before the horror of the Final Solution.

Charleston Stage's last Mainstage production at the Sottile is well worth your support.