Just curious, as there have been so many actresses to play the role of Sally Bowles on both Broadway, touring and regional productions- does anyone have a standout performance that was there favorite?
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
Agree with Jayinchelsea. I saw the original production 3 times and I thought that Jill Haworth was perfect. I never understood why Walter Kerr gave her the most outrageous pan I think I have ever seen in an otherwise very positive review.
I thought Natasha R. was terrific, but i did not feel as sorry for her as i did for Jill H.
While I always loved Liza Minelli's singing of the title song, it was for the show business rather than Sally Bowles per se. I loved the way Jill Haworth did it.
I did not see Judi Dench, but I certainly remembering her incredible press when I had never even heard of her.
I think Michelle Williams is a wonderful actress, but I just did not like her interpretation of Sally. That said, I thought she did a great job on the title song and, in general, I might have loved her performance if they cut all her dialogue...just did not like the interpretation; it probably enhances my opinion of her overall as a risk taker, because it was a risky interpretation...it just missed for me.
Final comment: I love the Cabaret movie, but I had not seen it in several years when I saw it recently. I actually did not enjoy Liza M's performance other than in the musical numbers...I thought it was pretty much the same performance as in Sterile Cuckoo and a little too cloying. Otherwise, loved the movie as much as usual.
I really loved Susan Egan. I saw her twice. I also saw Molly Ringwald once and enjoyed her too but was not as good as Susan. Now I didn't see her live but I have the DVD/Video of Jane Horrocks and she in my opinion is the most awesome. I just find her to be brilliant.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
I've only seen Michelle Williams and Heather Laws (2003) perform the role in this production. I know she is pretty divided around here, but I found Michelle Williams to be absolute magic in the role.
I've seen countless bootlegs from when this production was around the first time. From that footage, I would have loved to have seen Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Gershon. Janes Leeves came off too steely, and Molly Ringwald is an incredibly stoic actress in anything she's ever done. And how is there no video of Brooke Shields? (Again, this is not based on first hand viewing experiences.)
Regardless, I would sell my mother to the gypsies to go back in time and see Natasha Richardson.
I know this is a minority opinion but I adored Jennifer Jason Leigh. I thought she was what Sally would be like. Not the greatest singer and a hot mess. I was mesmerized by her performance.
I quite liked what I saw of Jennifer Jason Leigh. Seems like many who saw her live said her performance felt small, like she was still playing to a camera instead of a full audience. From the clips I've seen, I can see what they're talking about, but I think her performance really worked. Her singing was really no worse than many other Sallys I've seen/heard, but it fit the character rather well.