Cabaret - Joint Musical

This year’s musical, Cabaret, took place at St. Helen's School and was a huge success. The talented cast transported you to Nazi Germany, and the final tableau of the performance left a lasting, haunting image of life during the Nazi rule.

The transformation of the hope, joy and excitement of life in Weimar Germany, paled into a bleak image of fascist dictatorship and nationalistic hype, believably and effectively performed by the Merchant Taylors' and St. Helen's cast.

Jonah Surkes as Ernst Ludwig, truly became the Nazi officer, vividly portraying the power of propaganda and hatred. His cold and straight performance of 'Tomorrow Belongs to me' with Fraulien Kost (Alice Lassman) was spine-tingling and left one reeling throughout the interval. Sam Baumal as Cliff Bradshaw, provided the voice of reason which wove itself memorably throughout each scene, challenging and rationalizing the changes that were occurring. You watched his character grow through his relationship with Sally Bowles (Jina Rahimi) and as Germany become increasingly indoctrinated with the Nazi regime.

Dan Allum-Gruselle poignantly enabled us to remember the ridiculous notion of racism and prejudice, playing the part of German-born Jew, Herr Schultz, unwilling to lose hope in his country. The comic relief he presented alongside Fraulien Schneider (Kirstin Smithers), especially in their duet 'It Couldn't Please Me More', was welcome in this dark tale. 

A special mention must go to Katja De La Fuente who gave an outstanding performance of the Emcee, her threatening stares and sharp switches between deadly serious and manic laughter kept alive the true sinister nature of Nazi Germany. The supporting cast, included Freddie Collings, James Murphy, James Withers and Ben Peart were excellent, ensuring that this show was without slackness or weak points.