Cabaret London reviews – what did the critics make of the West End production?

Reviews have dropped for the new West End production of Cabaret in London – what did the critics make of it?

Featuring music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb with a book by Joe Masteroff, Cabaret has proved a hit ever since its premieres on Broadway and in London’s West End in the 1960s.

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Jessie Buckley and Omari Douglas, a brand new West End production is currently playing at the Kit Kat Club at Playhouse Theatre.

The production will be directed by Rebecca Frecknall with design by Tom Scutt, choreography by Julia Cheng, musical supervision and direction by Jennifer Whyte, lighting design by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Nick Lidster, casting director Stuart Burt and associate director Jordan Fein.

Following its official opening, what did critics make of the show?

Cabaret London reviews

The Guardian – 4/5
“from the moment we are ‘Willkommened’ by Redmayne, it is clear he is in control of his material and electric in his part. As the soiled soul of Berlin, Redmayne’s Emcee mirrors the movement from light to dark; he is a comically twisted Rumpelstiltskin at the start, uncoiling to a figure resembling a terrible evil fairy or angel of death by the end.” – Read the full review

London Evening Standard – 5/5
“Wow. Rebecca Frecknall’s new revival of Kander and Ebb’s musical set in interwar Berlin is a stunning, breathlessly exciting theatrical happening. It feels loyal to the 1966 original yet astonishingly contemporary, and properly immersive.” – Read the full review

The Independent – 5/5
“Redmayne is excellent, contorting his sinewy body and singing with a closed-throated vibrato and hammed-up German accent.” – Read the full review

The Telegraph – 5/5
“This is it. This is the one. At the end of the year, Rebecca Frecknall’s production of Cabaret – starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley – stands revealed as 2021’s kill-for-a-ticket theatrical triumph.” – Read the full review

Daily Mail – 4/5
“It may be a little parsimonious in its pleasures, but this eagerly anticipated new staging of Cabaret certainly looks good, sounds good – and runs like clockwork.” – Read the full review

The Times – 4/5
“Eddie Redmayne may be the star — and he’s mesmerisingly good too — but he really shares top billing with the venue itself. In Rebecca Frecknall’s revival of the classic Kander & Ebb musical, the Playhouse’s interior has been transformed into a sumptuous, in-the-round space with tables for those closest to the compact, bare stage.” – Read the full review

WhatsOnStage – 5/5
“With its starry cast and a director who has made her name rethinking classic plays, this Cabaret always promised to be the show of the season. It is that. It’s also a show for our times.” – Read the full review

Cabaret plays Kit Kat Club at Playhouse Theatre, London currently booking through 14 May 2022. (Casting for performances from 21 March 2022 will be confirmed in the future.)

Book Cabaret London tickets here »

The standard performance schedule is Monday-Saturday at 7:30PM with 2:30PM matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays.