Cabaret

WAAPA’s Cabaret, the swansong from Third Year Music Theatre and Music Students, and designed, built and crewed by Production and Design Students, is intimate and gritty  and raw, but performed with precision and polish.

Cabaret sounds great under the guidance of Music Director David King, excellent singing is backed by a nine piece orchestra, all students, apart from David King on piano, with expert sound design by Georgia Snudden.

This show also looks amazing. Nikita Bernardo gives us a beautifully shabby set that captures the griminess of the Kit Kat Klub - lit with aplomb by lighting designer Jolene Whibley. Pia Dewar has given us top-notch era appropriate costume design, with some great feeling for character.

The role of Master of Ceremonies was shared by two performers. I saw Gus Noakes, who was energetic, enigmatic and oddly endearing, anchoring the show beautifully. Some audiences would have seen Sammy Allsop.

Wonderful to see Lachlan Obst in an important role, after he sat out (for some complex reasons), in this cohort’s production of Into the Woods. A really likeable, relatable and layered Clifford Bradshaw, his performance drew us into this story beautifully. He worked impressivelly with Emily Svarnias, a Sally Bowles with lovely complexities and a wonderful spikiness.

Endearing and heartbreaking performances from Hannah Jones and Sam Maloney as Fraülein Schneider and Herr Schultz, creating a believable Autumn romance. Anita Karabajakian is a delightfully cheeky and sexy  Fraülein Kost, while Kyle Hall charmed the audience into loving him, before he revealed the true colours of his character, Ernst Ludwig. Paige Fallu shone in a number of small roles - making the most of limited stage time.

The Kit Kat performers showed off the most impressive parts of choreographer Natalie Allen’s fun and dynamic choreography - with strong performances and teamwork from girls Zoe Crisp, Emma Haines, Chloe Malek, Brittany Morton, Amber Scates and Juno Sertorio and boys Jesse Simpson and Noah Goodsell. The ensemble was completed with high energy performances from Kyle Colburn, Tom Lerk and James McAlpine.

A very well acted production that did not shy from the darkness of this story. While this was not a particularly celebratory production, this strong showcase was a fitting farewell to an interesting and promising year group. I look forward to following their success.

Kimberley Shaw

Photographer: Stephen Heath