Word: lenya
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...Lotte Lenya. The name conjures up visions of the Berlin Theatre Ensemble, of the plays of Bertolt Brecht and the music of Kurt Weill...
...would you believe Joe Masteroff, John Kandor, and Fred Ebb? These three are responsible for the book, music, and lyrics to Cabaret, in which Miss Lenya struggles through turgid material of a sort usually left to the likes of Molly Picon...
...first act--90 minutes of tedious exposition, interrupted at nitervals by flashy cabaret numbers signifying nothing, plus two musical attempts to represent the unrest which will shortly usher in Nazism. Some of the scenes and some of the songs are briefly engaging, particularly the "Pineapple" number sung by Miss Lenya and Jack Gilford, and Jill Haworth's opening carabet song. But nothing jells. The book seems to have been written as padding for an inspired score, and the score as the same for an exceptional book...
...second act is better. Something happens in it. The landlady (Miss Lenya) decides not to marry her Jewish tenant (Mr. Gilford) because of the climate of anti-Semitism. The cabaret girl (Miss Haworth) refuses to leave Germany with the American writer (Bart Convy) and, thinking their relationship at an end, gets an abortion. There follows a melodramatic confession scene in which Miss Haworth broadly hints at what she has done, but scrupulously avoids the word for it. Mr. Convy zips off to Paris, Miss Haworth goes back to work, and Hitler comes to power, with all that that entails...
Virginia Morris, the object of his bristling affections, strutted and slutted with a cynical sort of gusto. Though gifted with no greater vocal ability than others in the cast, she carried her songs with her eyes and Lenya-esque phrasing. Susan Levenstein--her daughter--made the most of a single joke, played the piano when necessary, and displayed her garters to advantage...