Wilkommen!

Revival of Cabaret is more frank than the original

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Columbus-"Wilkommen! Bienvenue stranger... Come to the cabaret, old chum! Come to the cabaret!"

Starting May 23, audiences will have a chance to be welcome to the sexiest production of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret ever to hit the stage. Directed by British wonder boy Sam Mandes (Oscar winner for American Beauty), this show has been receiving rave reviews and tons of awards ever since it was revived in 1998.

The Broadway revival has won four Tony awards the original in 1967 received eight while making legends out of Liza Minelli and Joel Grey

The current tour stars Lea Thompson (of Caroline and the City) in the role of Sally Bowles, and Jon Peterson in the role of the

emcee.

Unlike previous productions, this revival lays bare the truth like never before, bringing together this story of sex, sleaze, and the SS in Nazi Germany with unmitigated candor, portraying the ebb and flow of a very turbulent and traumatizing time.

Peterson, a transplant from London, is having the time of his life in the raucous and rambunc-

tious role of the iconic

Emcee. Born and raised in England, Peterson moved to the United States a year and a half ago and plans to stay, "at least until I am old, and then I may crawl back home to die," he said with a touch of wry British humor.

Peterson, who spoke to me during the tour's stopover in Detroit, was extremely affable, funny, and obviously delighted to talk about the show, his role and his life.

The United States gives him "a whole new world to explore," Peterson said, and although he is currently living out of a trunk, he plans to settle in Los Angeles. "It's not the movies as such that makes me want to move, it's the weather," he explains, "because New York is just too hot or too cold.”

While Peterson claims that he enjoyed growing up in England for the most part, he finds that "the mentality here in America is more my mentality. In England, everyone is always complaining about everything, but here people just get on and do it."

Peterson has been active in the theatre since he was seven years old. He started dancing and his talent led him to the Royal Ballet School in London, where he trained vigorously. At times, this became sheer tor-

ture.

That rigor and discipline would come in great use when Peterson performed in Cats.

"That show was such hard work, and I don't think I will ever be challenged in that way," he recalls. "Doing that show eight times a week is beyond the physical grasp of most people."

Peterson is a 37 year old veteran of the British and West End musical. He's played Rolf in The Sound of Music with Petula Clark, Paul, the gay character in A Chorus Line, twice, Mr. Mistoflees and Skimbleshanks in Cats, among a plethora of others. In the 1980s he also appeared in many pop music videos including Duran Duran's Wild Boys.

The emcee in Cabaret is much more than just a wild boy. He is the magician who makes the play move forward and turns the pages of history as we voyage through Berlin in the 1920s and 1930s. He is sex personified, and he is both good and inexorably evil. He is, in many ways, the holistic embodiment of Europe during those times, and as such, the emcee is not merely a man, he is an unforgettable icon. The emcee is every musical actor's theatrical wet dream come true.

This revival, co-directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall, has chosen not to downplay the sleazier and darker sides to the story, originally penned by gay author Christopher Isherwood.

"This production is just so honest," Peterson said, "and it tells you what really happened."

Peterson noted that in this version, "the injustices are so much clearer and the lessons are so much easier to learn. The misfits that

were attracted to places like the Kit Kat Club, like the homosexuals, the transvestites and others, went there to create a world of their own."

Away from the oppression of the mainstream society they found a safe haven in their own spaces. But with the onset of Nazism, the clubs and the people went underground, and according to Peterson, "they became self-perpetuating hells."

"But it wasn't their fault,” he added, "it was the fault of the people that oppressed them, and of course, the gays and transvestites were the first to be rounded up with the rise of Hitler."

Peterson's leading lady in this show is played by Lea Thompson and he can't stop saying great things about her.

they say," he replied. “I bring a lot of integrity to the role and give it my best and I don't try and please everyone any more."

"They can piss off!" he exclaimed with a huge laugh.

Peterson stays in shape, and his 5'9" frame is powerfully built and packed with the taut musculature of a dancer.

"When I stopped dancing, I still wanted to maintain my body because of the ground in neuroses of staying in shape that I acquired in ballet school."

It was at the Royal Ballet School that Peterson came out at the age of 15.

"There was a lot of pressure on me at that time," he explained, “and being there was like being in a concentration camp, you couldn't escape anywhere. We even had teachers who physically beat us up. There was this one guy who would wind people in the stomach and slap them around on the head."

Jon Peterson

"She's my pal," he gushed, “she's like my best friend, my kid sister. I have worked with a lot of stars, and many of them, although they are great, will never let you forget that they have a passport to everything that's good in the world, but not so with Lea." Peterson also said that she is incredibly talented and a real pleasure to work with every night.

Peterson is aware that he is trying to fill some big shoes with the role of the emceethose of Joel Grey and Alan Cummings. I asked if he worried about people's expectations.

"I honestly don't give a damn as to what

This tough environment caused Peterson and his fellow students to get into drugs as an escape.

"The drugs helped me drop my inhibitions, and coming-out just happened," he explained.

At first being out was tough for him, because he didn't want to be gay.

"I didn't want to be an outcast, I wanted to have a family, be accepted and all that stuff," Peterson said. "I was one very frightened boy who was gay, and believed he was going to hell and all that other garbage they make you believe."

By the time he was 18, Peterson had been through his trial by fire, and in some ways, "I was glad I did the drugs and went through what I did, because I got it all over with before it damaged me."

He never officially has come out to his parents, but "it's sort of been by osmosis and they know but we don't discuss it," he said.

"I know it is the coward's way out," he continued, "but I am who I am and I don't need their approval."

Peterson is over that urge to please in many aspects of his life, and he seems to be enjoying being exactly who he is. Last June, he got out of a relationship and says that he is glad to be single right now.

"I don't need that right now, you know, going out with cute guys and then getting jealous if someone looks at them, and all that relationship stuff,” he argued.

In the near future, Peterson plans to stick with Cabaret until "they shoot me." "I would be a real fool to cut this gig short, because it's so great and I love every minute of it."

Peterson's unique look and voice are perfectly suited for Cabaret, but he's not sure that he could do shows like Les Miserables or Miss Saigon, because "they are always looking for clones in terms of looks and voice, and I just don't fit those traditional molds."

Call 614-224-7654 or any Ticketmaster location for tickets. Cabaret, will be strutting its stuff at the Palace Theatre in Columbus, May 23 to 28. Showtimes are Tuesday through Friday evening at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday at 2:00 and 8:00p.m.; and Sunday at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.