Audio recording of “Don’t Tell Mama,” “Maybe This Time,” and the titular number “Cabaret” have all been posted to Tumblr (we’d post them here if it didn’t mean so much guff for our legal department) where I’d suggest you listen to songs in the order that I’ve presented them (how they appear chronologically in the show) and not in the order that they’re listed on the website.
An important thing to remember while critiquing an actress who is playing Sally Bowles is that Sally, despite her insistence otherwise, is not supposed to be a good singer. She’s a delusional drunk who is set on fame even though, in actuality, she is quite talentless. (Fun fact: Liza Minnelli was a major miscast, albeit a miscast that we should always be grateful for.)
The song “Cabaret,” which occurs after Sally has gone through major personal trauma and is desperately trying (and failing) to keep her delusions intact, should be hot mess—and Stone (no condescension here) pretty much nails it. There are, however, very few things that can excuse a weak performance of “Maybe This Time,” a song that occurs inside Sally’s mind, which is the one place where she should be the perfect singer.
Stone’s rendition of “Maybe This Time” is unfortunately weak and thin. There are a couple possible explanations for this: One, director Sam Mendes wanted it this way (the song was delivered similarly when I went to see Michelle Williams in the role back in September) or two, Emma Stone is new to Broadway and hasn’t quite learned how to fill a room with her voice yet.
But that can change over time! She sounds great on “Don’t Tell Mama” and accurately distraught on “Cabaret,” so it seems wholly possible that she could grow into “Maybe This Time.” Maybe next time.
H/T Vulture, image via Getty.
