CABARET | THE KIT KAT CLUB, LONDON ★★★★★
On a balmy autumnal evening, London’s West End welcomed two very special new principals to the hit musical Cabaret, at the Kit Kat Club, more commonly known as the Playhouse Theatre.
Grammy Award winner Reeve Carney, who has turned off the dark as Broadway’s original Spider-Man and been to hell and back as Orpheus in Hadestown, is back on stage in the UK right now, reunited with his Hadestown co-star, Eva Noblezada. The couple, who recently tied the knot in New Orleans, are arguably the strongest pair to play the pivotal roles of Emcee and Sally Bowles since Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley first welcomed audiences to director Rebecca Frecknell’s ground-breaking reimagining of Kander & Ebb’s musical in 2021.
Now, Gala Nights are always special occasions, this one, however, proved extra special. Let’s rewind to the moment invited guests and celebrities began to sashay along the red carpet in all their finery towards what was once the Stage Door of the Playhouse Theatre, but is now the entrance to ‘The Kit Kat Club’. Armed with guest wristbands, my longtime collaborator Sabina Smith and myself joined them for one of the biggest West End Galas of 2025.
Traversing the red carpet, separated from onlookers by plush velvet ropes, their excitement is palpable. Will they spot a famous face? There are certainly plenty in attendance, including musical theatre star Ryan Kopel, fresh from the UK Tour of Dear Evan Hansen, film and stage actor Rory Kinnear, Star Trek’s Simon Pegg and Shameless legend, David Threlfall.
And so, with our wristbands given the nod by the doorman and a Kit Kat Club sticker obscuring the camera on our mobile phones, it’s time to descend into Berlin’s most decadent club, wending our way along the theatre’s service corridors and passages, all brick walls, electric cables and low lighting, a shot of Schnapps proffered by way of a welcome completes the illusion.
By now totally disorientated we somehow find ourselves in the foyer, where the pre-show cast, a raggle-taggle bunch of entertainers, cavort and perform salaciously on the bar. It’s a scene-setting experience that has the place buzzing and it’s not long before all the beautiful people are being ushered through to the auditorium to take their seats where the show is about to begin.
Played in the round, with seats situated in what was once backstage, we’re seated behind a row of cabaret tables, each one replete with a internal telephone – should any of the celebrities at these tables catch the eye of an admirer on another table, all they have to do is pick up the phone and dial them. Pre-show and throughout the interval, conversations are indeed exchanged on the vintage telephones, linking guests across the expanse of the stage.
Based on John Van Druten’s play I Am A Camera, which itself was based on the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret transports audiences back to 1929 and the last days of the Weimar Republic, where the hedonistic Kit Kat Club is the last bastion of individuality and creative freedom.
‘Carney and Noblezada, arguably the strongest principals since Redmayne and Buckley…’
Fully immersive and occasionally interactive, settling down in this Kit Kat Club sends a frisson of expectation down the spine. A chilling study of the rise of Nazism and the fall of Germany into far-right totalitarianism, the full impact of the period is never more evident than by the hush that falls over the theatre with the first appearance of a swastika, its symbolism a scar on the collective consciousness.
Narrated by the Kit Kat Club’s resident Emcee, played with sinister detachment by Carney, we meet the Berliners and foreigners preparing for the coming storm. There’s Kit Kat Club headliner Sally Bowles, the quintessential English Rose with a raunchy, headstrong twist. It’s a sensuous, petulant, and painfully fragile turn from Noblezada who works well opposite an impressive Baker Mukasa’s as Clifford Bradshaw, an aspiring American novelist.
Then there’s the always reliable Ruthie Henshall who dazzles as boarding-house owner Fräulein Schneider. Funny, smart and tragic in equal measures, she shares great chemistry with her intended, fruit-seller Herr Schultz, a strong, heart-rending performance from Robert Hands.
Establishing its core message that ‘people are people’ the cast deliver Kander and Ebbs’ celebrated numbers with a visceral energy. From the iconic Willkommen to a raunchy, orgiastic Two Ladies, the lightly comic It Couldn’t Please Me More (A Pineapple) to the chilling Tomorrow Belongs To Me and not forgetting the surreal absurdity of If You Could See Her (The Gorilla Song), there’s something for everyone.
A unplanned guest appearance from drag queen and Big Brother favourite Danny Beard, alongwith a few other unsuspecting audience members encouraged up of stage to join Kickline, at the top of Act II, allows another moment’s respite from the the darkness of the tale, however, it’s Noblezada who casts her spell over every scene she appears in, and if she delivers a devastating rendition of Maybe This Time, her rage-fuelled Cabaret is simply breathtaking and lifts the whole production to another level.
A well-deserved standing ovation greets the obviously elated cast for their curtain call… and then it’s time to party, which if you’ve never been to a Gala Night, means cocktails and Moët & Chandon Champagne served in vintage saucers. Cheers!
After a brief interlude to allow the theatre to be repurposed for the after-show entertainment, those sporting a wristband are ushered back for drinks and canapes are served by The Playhouse’s Front of House team who, despite the hour, are on great form. Later, a trip to the bar for one last Möet finds the foyer bustling as the cast assemble for group photos. It’s all very spontaneous, Carney and Noblezada eschewing centre spot to slip into shot at the side of the gathering.
They’ve dispersed back into the throng by the time the clock strikes midnight, and while it might be time for those of us with early trains to catch to leave, for the cast and the rest of their guests the night is but young. A fitting welcome back to London for Carney and Noblezada, who ensure that what started as a five star production four years ago, continues in the same vein.
Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada’s final performance will be Saturday 24 January 2026. Book here.
