Washington Post - Recommended
"...the heart of the story belongs to the least flamboyant character - the young American writer Clifford Bradshaw, new in Berlin and looking for inspiration. Bradley Foster Smith as Clifford shows a fine blend of shy tenderness and, when necessary, anger. It all unfolds through Cliff's eyes. His misadventures with the Kit Kat's gin-soaked headliner Sally Bowles (Maria Rizzo), with his own sexuality, with the emerging Nazi Party, with the residents in the boardinghouse of Fraulein Schneider (Jane Petkofsky) - all these snapshots eventually reveal to him the coming apocalypse."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...What I witnessed this night was a production that was absolutely breathtaking because it was less about flashy set pieces and intense lighting – and more focused on the amazing talents of every member of the outstanding cast – all working together to tell the story of Clifford Bradshaw’s visit to Berlin."
Washington Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...One of the finest musicals ever written, "Cabaret" appeals to die-hard theater fans and novices alike -- no one can resist the siren beckoning us to come hear the music play, and here, Coakley and Innocenti focus on astute acting and clever stagecraft to deliver an interesting, if not wholly satisfying, production."
MetroWeekly - Somewhat Recommended
"...Oh, sure, you'll be charmed by the standards written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, from ''Wilkommen'' to ''Maybe This Time'' to the bittersweet title number. Also still compelling is Joe Masteroff's book, based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. (That's Christopher, mind you, and not the New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood, as the inside page of the Keegan program erroneously notes.) But directors Christina A. Coakley and Michael Innocenti mostly coast on the show's laurels, especially those of the successful 1998 Broadway revival. While Innocenti's set is suitably rustic, it's not exactly alluring in a seedy kind of way. It also doesn't help that Bradley Foster Smith is unconvincing in his portrayal of fledgling American writer Clifford Bradshaw, woefully lacking in charisma and charm. It's hard to see what keeps Sally, for one, by his side for so long."
Washingtonian - Recommended
"...The more straightforward acting is solid, if uneven at times, but the production is at its best when it’s steeped in all its rouged, writhing, spotlit glory. Scanlan commands a troupe of male and female Kit Kat Club dancers, decked out in clingy underthings and armed with a mastery of vulgar pantomime and come-hither stares, and it’s when that group takes the stage that the performances shine brightest. Part of that draw, perhaps counterintuitively, seems to be the lack of shiny showgirl glitz. The women perform in gauzy white bustiers and bloomers instead of black sequins; bruises, evidence of hard living, show through pale skin and torn stockings. Skinny men gyrate in tattered vests and powdered faces. Songs like “Money” are the most captivating because they fuse the flashy sex appeal and choreography with a genuine rawness and pain."
BrightestYoungThings - Highly Recommended
"...However foreign it may seem, “Cabaret” has something to offer all of its patrons (or at least those older than 16 as recommended by the Keegan Theatre’s website). But, don’t take my word for it; check it out for yourself. Come to the “Cabaret.”"
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"...Directors Christina Coakley and Michael Innocenti have successfully provided DC with a piece of genuinely excellent theatre. The Keegan Theatre's production of Cabaret is well-timed, indeed, as it lines up with the 1972 film's 40th anniversary. However, this production embraces the musical's more sinister roots making it quite different than the, for lack of a better word, light-hearted nature of the film. Upon walking into the theatre, it became clear Coakley and Innocenti chose to base their production on the Studio 54 1998 Broadway revival. Regardless of approach, their production is refined, mesmerizing, and a refreshing take on a musical that can admittedly be repetitive in its presentational nature. The production's innovation in storytelling went hand-in-hand with Coakley and Innocenti's crisp staging, Rachel Leigh Dolan's beautiful choreography, and most of the casts' truthful and spot-on performances."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"... Keegan Theatre’s Cabaret could not look more authentic than within the confines of the historic Church Street Theatre. With bare brick and dark lighting, the feel is decidedly subversive, as were the German cabarets of the pre-Nazi Weimar Republic. Scandalous by American standards, the Weimar’s loosening of censorship laws and its tolerance of homosexuality made it a Mecca, so to speak, for both the morally adventurous, sexually curious traveler and for the politically active fomenter of radicalism."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
Tuesday, temperatures in Washington rose unseasonably high, and that night The Keegan Theatre fairly sizzled with one of the hottest interpretations – and darkest — of the musical Cabaret audiences are likely to see. From the very first drum roll and that unmistakable oom-pah pulse of composer John Kander, audiences sat expectantly in the dark waiting to learn how far this ensemble would take this well-known material.
