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LIFE & LEISURE

March 20, 2002

THEATER REVIEW: Norwell's 'Cabaret' is Broadway-worthy

By SUSAN DANIELS
The Patriot Ledger

As the Emcee in ''Cabaret,'' The Company Theater's production which runs through
April 7 at their Norwell site, John King is pervasive. Whether spotlighted center stage
while performing one of his five featured songs or craftily observing the action from
stage right as he snakes his body around the bars of a spiral staircase, his presence is so
palpable that it continues to hover over the proceedings even after he has left the stage.

Enacting the role created by Joel Grey in the 1966 John Kander and Fred Ebb musical,
King personifies the decadence associated with Berlin during its pre-World War II era.
Dressed in black shorts, shoes and socks held up by garters, white suspenders that
crisscross his naked chest and loop around his genitals, heavy, theatrical makeup, and
red glitter covering his nipples, he is the epitome of lasciviousness.

Conducting the action at the Kit Kat Club and elsewhere with the skill and precision of a
maestro, King not only crosses gender lines in his extraordinary performance, but his
unctuous Emcee bridges the sleek sophistication of upper-crust Berlin with the political
and social degeneration that is creeping into good German homes.

Why this man is not performing in professional venues is mystifying.

His talent is so big and well-rounded - yes, he sings, dances and acts - that he is easily
the equal of his thespian brothers in Boston and New York.

Complementing his performance is Caroline deLima as Sally Bowles, an American
transplant with aspirations of becoming a film star and whose lust for life is superseded
only by sex. As the flamboyant headliner at the Kit Kat Club, deLima delivers a
splendid performance in the role performed by Liza Minnelli in the 1972 multi-award
winning film.

DeLima, too, is a triple threat and knows her way around a song like a homing pigeon
zeroing in on its destination. Whether singing solo the torch song ''Maybe This Time''
or leading the club's Kit Kat Girls in the provocative number ''Mein Herr,'' deLima, a
recent graduate of Indiana University, is a standout and probably will have a bright
future on the musical stage.

Overall, the remaining cast members are talented, turning in solid performances,
especially Bob Emery in the role of the gentle Herr Schultz, an elderly Jew whose
cordial behavior and sense of decency offer a stark contrast to the underside of 1930s
Berlin; and Christian T. Potts as Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling bisexual English writer,
friend and sometimes lover to the insatiable Sally Bowles.

The choreography by Sally Ashton Forrest faithfully reproduces the feeling of the
original production, as well as the 1999 Broadway revival, which went on to win most
of the major awards. She demonstrates a deft touch with the staging of the musical
numbers, especially the ones at the Kit Kat Club and the reprisal of ''Tomorrow
Belongs To Me,'' where Herr Schultz stands isolated from the rest of the cast as they
goose step to the haunting lyrics - an indelible theatrical foreshadowing of what lies
ahead.

Under the skillful direction of Zoe Bradford and Jordie Saucerman, as well as the
wonderful-sounding orchestra conducted by the talented musical director, Michael
Joseph, ''Cabaret'' unfolds along the lines of a professional production, despite a few
sound glitches opening night.

Their remaining creative team, consisting of Shirley Carney, Franklin Meissner Jr., and
Bob Grazioso as costume, lighting and set designers, respectively, faithfully evokes the
depraved nature of the story.

This is a ''Cabaret'' whose images stay with you long after the foreboding closing
scene: The Emcee, dressed in concentration camp pajamas, stands alone downstage in a
swirl of atmospheric smoke as his body jerks to a silent hail of bullets.

CABARET - At The Company Theater in Norwell through April 7. Tickets, $20-$25.
Call 781-871-2787.

Copyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger