In here life is beautiful.

My dude bff, Ben, turns 30 today and since I a out of the city, I surprised him with tickets to see Emma Stone (one of his long time actress crushes) in Cabaret on Thursday. I was a bit nervous that she would be out since she was out on Sunday but luckily she was in that night. We sat the bar stools in the orchestra – pretty much the same seats that I sat in when I first saw the show in 2000. Great seats – barely any obstruction (though admittedly there is a little).

I could hear a bit of sickness in Emma’s voice that night but she was really solid, fantastic even. She’s gotten more into the character since I saw her in her first week. She’s a great dancer too. Alan Cumming was on fire, as usual, and Linda Emond and Danny Burstein were incredible too. I adore them both.

Emma Stone is a great asset to this production and I only wish she were staying at the rest of the run. Ben was even more in love with her afterward.

Emma is in Cabaret through early February. Catch her while you can.

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Cabaret, part deux… aka Cumming a Second Time.

On Saturday the 15th, Kristen and I went to see one of Emma Stone’s first shows as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. I’d broken down and listened to a couple of MP3’s from her first performance and it was a bit shaky but it sounded like she had potential. 

Long story short: She blew us away. She had a totally fiesty, gritty, and strong take on the character which was very different than Michelle William’s. She was totally into and blowing the roof off the title number (Cabaret). She was just brilliant.

I’m going back to see her again soon.

Cumming was great too, as per usual. As was Danny Burstein and Linda Emond. They’re both just so fantastic. 

Like I said, Stone was amazing and I’m going to go see her again ASAP. 

I’d heard all good things about this revival of Cabaret so I was really thrilled to have the chance to see it a couple of weeks ago. I’d last seen it in 2003 when I was a senior in high school and Adam Pascal was starring as the Emcee. I found that cast a little lackluster. I love the music to Cabaret but the show is highly depressing. But to see Alan Cumming in the role that helped him rise to be the superstar he is today? Sign me up.

I could go on and on about how fantastic and surreal and life altering it is to see Cummings’ performance as the Emcee live onstage, but I won’t. If you haven’t seen him yet, you should, and if you have, you know what I’m talking about.

Michelle Williams gave a very performance as Sally Bowles. Her voice got the job done, and her performance during the song “Cabaret” was incredible. I’m very, very happy I got to see her.

Danny Burnstein was my other favorite as Herr Schultz. He’s always great and you empathized with him more and more as the show continued. Linda Emond was also great as his almost-wife, Fraulein Schenider.

Maybe it was because my seats were better this time than they had been previously, but I caught a lot of subtleties that I’d missed the last time. The show is still depressing as ever but it’s also fantastic. 

I already have tickets to see Emma Stone next month as Sally Bowles with @kmpilecki and I’m stoked. I’m still really glad I got to see this cast as well though.