Life Is A Caberet!

This is one I have been meaning to see, but didn't think I would, as I wasn't sure whether or not the UK would get a release - but thankfully it did, and I have managed to just finish the entire series, available on BBC iPlayer. I am talking here about the FX series Fosse/Verdon, following the lives of a legendary Broadway couple: director/chorographer Bob Fosse and 2 time Tony winning actress Gwen Verdon, based on the book 'Fosse' by Sam Wasson.

The show explores their career and complicated relationship through the 60s, 70s and (just into) the 80s - from Fosse directing the film adaptation of Sweet Charity, to that very show's National Tour and everything in between, including the film adaptation of Caberet, Pippin and All That Jazz (that was the actual name of a semi-autobiographical film Fosse made; I'm not referring to Chicago's opening number here).

When I finally heard it was getting a UK airing like POSE, I was ecstatic! But THEN, JUST as it was about to start airing, my recoding box broke; then I got distracted by a lot of anime recommended to me (notably Food Wars, Rising of the Shield Hero, and Shimoneta - all excellent, completely different to each other, and ones you should definitely check out!!)…… Yeah, I get distracted easily.....

I digress - and I got to watch it eventually; the whole season in fact

And no spoilers XD

What attracted me to the show wasn't just the subject matter, nor that Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams (The Greatest Showman) were playing the title roles, but that the creative team is quite frankly INSANE!!
Among its producers and creators, are Lin Manuel Miranda (spot him making a cameo somewhere), Thomas Kail, Stephen Levenson, Alex Lacamoire and Andy Blankenbuehler. Between them, they have created shows such as In The Heights, Hamilton, Grease: Live and Dear Evan Hansen..... HOLY CRAP!!!!

It's garnered much critical acclaim too, gaining a total number of 16 Emmy nods!!

As for the series itself, I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but it's like Fosse's work itself - sexy and dark. Like I said beforehand, Fosse and Verdon certainly had a complicated relationship, but despite that, they still have some tender moments between the 2 of them. Rockwell and Williams truly become the characters and play off each other masterfully - during their first meeting, as Verdon auditions for Fosse for Damn Yankees, you can see the electricity between them.

Out of the supporting cast, the one I must mention is original Fiyero and Freddy Benson, the fantastic and sarcastic Norbert Leo-Butz who played Fosse's best friend, playwright Paddy Chayefsky. In that supporting cast, several big theatre names feature as characters from the late Hal Prince and Neil Simon to Liza Minelli and Chita Rivera.

What's also really neat is how they used the music from their shows as almost a soundtrack of their own lives, such as Pippin's Simple Joys in episode 4 to show Bob's numbness and dissatisfaction. His life was literally what the title song of Cabaret describes (which is why I picked that for the title) - booze, drugs and living your life all out - although this is at the expense of the relationships with everyone close to him.

For drama fans, I would recommend trying it, but it is an absolute must-watch for theatre-history aficionados.
It's not afraid to show the stress behind the glitz and glamour, the sweat underneath stage make-up. That can make it a hard watch sometimes, and they can often rely on the mumble (what it is with dramas and not being able to understand a word they say) - but it doesn't take away too much from the payoffs, which shows how now famous numbers in musical theatre were created and realised, including Mein Herr and Nowadays.

It's definitely not a perfect drama, and perhaps needs bits tightening up, but it's a decent series if you're in the mood for a good showbiz drama.