"Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!" yells Emcee before the opening number of "Cabaret."
Emcee, played by Michael Brown, steals the show with his renditions of "Two Ladies" and "Money," which earned him a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 1,700 people inside Gammage Auditorium on Wednesday night.
"Cabaret" is the musical story of American writer Cliff Bradshaw, played by Ryan Cutlip, who travels to Berlin and falls in love with struggling nightclub performer Sally Bowles, played by Amy Downing.
The couple struggle through the crumbling Nazi-Germany era by adopting the Kit Kat Klub's carefree attitude to forget about the growing tensions of Nazi politics.
Throughout the show, the auditorium fills with smoke as Emcee and the rest of the cast casually light up cigarettes and sip drinks to create the ambiance of the Berlin cabaret.
Brown plays the German master of ceremonies at the sultry cabaret and interjects with his immoral attitude and sexual satire throughout the musical. He even upstages the two lovers with his portrayal.
"So - life is disappointing? Forget it!" Emcee says. "We have no troubles here! Here life is beautiful. ... The girls are beautiful. ... Even the orchestra is beautiful."
The show features a scantily-clad orchestra that works with an award-winning score, which is still considered one of the top numbers among musicals.
The revival won four Tony awards in 1998 for its reconstruction of the captivating story of the Kit Kat Klub.
The musical's original production in 1967 earned John Kander and Fred Ebb a Tony for "Best Composer and Lyricist of a Musical" on its way to becoming the "Best Musical of the Year."
The national tour of Kander and Ebb's "Cabaret" runs through March 2, and tickets are 50 percent off for students for the Saturday afternoon and Sunday shows.
Reach the reporter at benjamin.honingford@asu.edu.
