Cabaret: The New Broadway Cast Recording Various Artists

11 yrs ago I bought this CD while living in a small town in Wisconsin and was happy with the new directions the play took. The film is one of my favorites and was relieved that two versions of the same piece could live side by side in my head. A few months later I moved to NYC and saw the production at Studio 54 and to see my only favorite musical in the building that represents the USA's version of naughtiness was a fun intro to my new hometown. Natasha Richardson gives her best on this recording but in person is where you felt her performance shine more, and while Liza made Sally her performance for the ages, Natasha's presense on the soundtrack is a reminder to anyone who saw it live what a great actress she was telling a story of a woman who will never be a great actress. Later, I saw her in "Closer", again, in person she drew me. In the 11 years since, I lost the CD, New York and the world changed I developed my career on the stage as a comic and then this week we lost Natasha. I was performing at a comedy club in Times Square and the lights dimmed on Broadway for one minute in her honor and thought about my first memory of NYC seeing her at Studio 54, I went home, logged on to Itunes and am now downloading this while writing. A soundtrack is there to remind us of the movie or play we saw but as time goes it reminds us of the period in our lives we were at when we first discovered the piece. Thank you Natasha for the first great memory of a city that has given me so much and this recording will always be a part of my life.

I find Alan Cummings version of the Emcee as infinitely better than that of Joel Grey. Perhaps it's the sentimentality of the original that Broadway Baby speaks from. However, I long for Liza when I hear Natascha Richardson in this recording. Liza is Sally Bowles no doubt. But it is definitely worth it to hear Alan's take on the Berlin Boi...

I walked into hearing this soundtrack knowing only the movie and being a die-hard Liza/Joel fan. I listened to the first few minutes of "Wilkommen" and nearly threw the CD across the room. I wanted no part of it. None of it sounded right.

Now, several months after I was introduced to it, I can barely listen to the original movie cast anymore. Cabaret is a risque, dirty, vicious show, with the Emcee as an andryogenous (sp) and sexually charged character... and while I still commend Joel Grey's acting and portrayal (as he created the character), Alan has a much better hold on the darker side of the character. Each version of Cabaret is a seperate and different interpretation, and I believe that Alan's holds to the idea of the show with a bit more strength. (Though I can see the argument against it.)

That being said, Natasha Richardson does not compare in the least to Liza Minelli. As a previous poster has said, Sally may not have to be a brilliant singer, but she has to have some strength - which I believe Richardson lacks.

All in all - very worth the money you'll spend. And give it a few chances. He'll grow on you.