One Paragraph Review: “Cabaret” at Paramount Theatre in Aurora
Joseph Anthony Byrd (foreground) plays the Emcee and Kelly Felthous (back) is Sally Bowles in Paramount Theatre’s Cabaret. Katie Spelman directs this groundbreaking Kander and Ebb musical about the patrons and staff of a 1930s Berlin nightclub, the Kit Kat Klub, who are chasing their own dreams of what freedom means as the Nazis rise to power. Cabaret runs February 7-March 18, 2018 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com or call (630) 896-6666. Photo credit: Liz Lauren
We know what happens after the curtain goes down on Cabaret now showing at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora. So everything that happens on the stage is that much more poignant. The ending is perhaps the most powerful curtain call on the Aurora stage, and the emotion is palpable. But let’s talk about the beginning, and the spectacle, and the bawdy fun. Cabaret is an amazing tour de force. It will leave you shaken. It will also leave you with “Wow. It’s great to be alive.” And, ultimately, that’s why Cabaret is still a powerful show. It resonates with us because life is amazing and full of all of the feelings, and that’s why the grim reality stings so much. It’s like you just want to scream to the characters on stage, “Someone! Stop this from happening! Can’t you see?!” When life happens, it’s hard to see what’s right in front of your face sometimes. Some can handle it and some can’t. The darling and playful Sally Bowles (Kelly Felthous) eventually hardens to it. She could be a young Fräulein Schneider (Hollis Resnik) even; the latter looks after herself no matter the consequences and that is beautifully foreshadowed in the beginning with the snappy “So What?” number. The showy Kit Kat Klub stands through it all with a delightful Emcee (Joseph Anthony Byrd) to guide you to a good time. Clifford Bradshaw (Garrett Lutz) isn’t so easily fooled. But it was all fruit bowls, sailors, and pasties for a little while. And, boy, is it delicious.
Cabaret runs February 7-March 18, 2018 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com or call (630) 896-6666.
