Emma Stone made her Broadway debut by nailing the role of Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" this month, with several reviewers applauding the Hollywood actress' fiery performance and on-stage command.
Stone replaced Michelle Williams in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of the 1998 production, which also stars Alan Cumming as the Emcee, and she won praise from many corners.
"Ms. Stone, in a scintillating Broadway debut, brings a heady whiff of the gin-soaked desperation of that decade to her portrayal of an ambitious, hard-partying and not very talented singer in Weimar Berlin,"
The New York Times' Ben Brantley wrote. "Ms. Stone's version has the avid eyes and angularity of early vintage (Joan) Crawford and a dance-till-you-drop energy that's all drive and no gears."
Joe Dziemianowicz, the New York Daily News' theater critic, even dubbed Stone's arrival to the play an upgrade from the Oscar-nominated Williams.
"Sorry, Michelle Williams. Your Sally was so wispy that the role became smaller than life," Dziemianowicz wrote. "Not Stone. She's so vivid and can't-take-your-eyes-off-her compelling that Sally looms large — as she should. Stone planned to play Sally when the musical opened eight months ago, but couldn’t do it because of scheduling."
"Better late than never — much better. So much so that even if you've seen this production, it feels newly invigorated," he continued.
But Jesse Green, of Vulture.com, was not impressed with Stone, even though he credited her with being much better in Act 2 than she was in Act 1.
"(Stone) looks terrific as the none-too-bright young thing in William Ivey Long's pastel frocks and diaphanous lingerie," Green wrote. "But then it starts, and she starts, and they are not together. Madly rushing the Charleston tempo and getting pitchy on the big notes, she seems both overexcited and underprepared."
"That Stone is so much stronger in Act 2 than Act 1 — perhaps she just had a bad case of nerves — bodes well for improvement over the course of her incumbency."
Stone has been receiving strong reviews for the movie "Birdman" as well, including talk of a potential Oscar nomination, according to The Huffington Post. Stone plays opposite Michael Keaton as his daughter and personal assistant as Keaton portrays a washed-up actor trying to stage a comeback.
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