Play review

It was pretty hot in the Four County Players' theater Friday evening and it didn't have anything to do with the furnace.
The talented Barboursville-based community theater group opened "Cabaret" to a packed audience in a raucous, risqué, stirring and sobering performance that had to be one of their finest recent productions -- and that's saying something.
The scene is a night club in Berlin, Germany, as the 1920s are drawing to a close. The Master of Ceremonies (wonderfully, wonderfully executed by Dan Stern) welcomes the audience to the show and assures them that, whatever their troubles, they will forget them at the Cabaret. Indeed, for much of Act I, this is true. The Kit Kat Girls, played by Emma Leigh Duncan, Kate Adamson, Melissa Renee Neeley, Rebecca Wishon, Jessica Wilbert and Kathy Beall, are effective distractions. Even the scene changes are worth watching as the delicately clad young ladies remove and replace props on stage.
Our story tracks the life of American writer Clifford Bradshaw (Gary White) and the characters he meets in Berlin. There's the seemingly genuine and well-intentioned Ernest Ludwig (Don Gaylord), who befriends the young American and helps establish him in Berlin. There's the good-natured Fraulein Schneider (Linda Zuby), Bradshaw's boarding house host and her doting beau, fruit shop owner Herr Schultz (Francis Dean). Rounding out Bradshaw's intimates is nightclub singer Sally Bowles (Stephanie Finn), who instantly -- and we mean instantly -- takes a liking to the young American who is equally fond of her.
The Berlin Bradshaw finds upon arrival is far different than what it becomes by the time he leaves.
From the moment the Master of Ceremonies sincerely, humorously and even raunchily welcomes us to the Cabaret, we can see how Bradshaw and Bowles are swept up in the spirit of the vibrant capital city. Meanwhile, offsetting their youthful indulgence, Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz enjoy a wholesome, budding romance that nicely contrasts the licentious young couple.
But it's all too good to last.
Bowles' and Bradshaw's relationship flounders as he seeks direction and she shuns it. And what should be a celebratory moment at the engagement party of Schneider and Schultz turns forebodingly dark as the tide of Nazism rises leaving the Jewish German Schultz vulnerable.
Act II, much like the changes in the lives of the characters, is a solemn contrast to the good times we all enjoyed in Act I. We may still be able to forget our troubles at the Cabaret, but we're likely to find them in every dark corner of the club and in full force just outside the door.
In Christopher Spangler's director's note, he writes, "Over the course of two acts, we reach tremendous highs and devastating lows. We enjoy titillating performances, peer into the lives of unforgettable characters and witness moments leading to some of the darkest times in human history." Indeed.
This was Four County Players at its finest. The actors and actresses turned in fantastic, compelling performances rich in emotion and complexity. From Spangler's direction, to Geri Carlson Sauls' choreography, from producer Tracie Steger Skipper to set designer Daniel Hager, from Amy Goffman's costume designs to Greg Harris' musical direction, everything indeed "is beautiful" at the Cabaret as the Master of Ceremonies suggests.
"Cabaret" runs weekends through March 20. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinee performances on Sunday, Sunday, March 14 and Saturday, March 20 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and all Friday performances are only $5. This is a production for adults only. Four County Players will not sell tickets to children for this show.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the box office at 540-832-5355, or visit www.fourcp.org.