Goodspeed stages the iconic musical 'Cabaret' for the first time

"And the dancing! The choreography by Lainie Sakakura mixes louche sexiness with occasional broken-doll jaggedness. It's perfect for Cabaret."

The Day by Kristina Dorsey June 5, 2022

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Cabaret Swirls with Magic and  Menace at Goodspeed Musicals 

"spot on choreography of Lainie Sakakura"

The Middletown Press by Bonnie Goldberg 2022

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Audiences Will Enjoy Goodspeed’s “Cabaret”

"The best thing about this production is the choreography by Lanie Sakukura."

Two on the Aisle by Karen Isaacs, June 12, 2022

 

Goodspeed makes a grand, intimate return with ‘A Grand Night for Singing’

"choreographer Lainie Sakakura shines with ingenuity and progressive spirit. There’s a lot of casual, natural movement in the show that slyly grows into full ensemble dances."

Hartford Courant by Christopher Arnott Oct 7,  2021

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Goodspeed reopens with Rodgers and Hammerstein hits

"Lainie Sakakura’s dance numbers sizzle"

The Westfield News by Mark G. Auerbach 2021

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'A Grand Night for Singing' at Goodspeed Musicals

"The show was charmingly choreographed by Lainie Sakakura; the dancing adds much to the look of the scenes in which it is included."

The Patch by Nancy Sasso Janis 2021

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A Review: "Cabaret" Goodspeed Musicals

"The frenzied, high kickin' choreography, influenced in part by Bob Fosse's aggressively edgy dance maneuvers from the 1972 Oscar-winning film and the subsequent 1998 Broadway revival, is solidified here by choreographer Lainie Sakakura, a creative auteur well versed in the challenging mechanics of theatrical staging and the rhythmic mindset and philosophy that is "Cabaret." Here, dancers stand. Dancers kick. Dancers pose. Dancers spread their legs wide open. Dancers bump and grind. Dancers flirt and gyrate. Dancers touch each other openly and erotically. Heads droop. Heads turn. Bodies twist. Arms, legs and feet move imaginatively to the beat of the music. It's all pretty wild and decadent stuff that unfolds in the manner and style of the musical's 1930's setting where anything goes and anything can happen and does. As "Cabaret" evolves, every one of the dances is sexy, playful, eye-catching, high-spirited and gritty.  For "Willkommen!" "Don't Tell Mama," "Two Ladies" and "Money," Sakakura creates an electric blueprint of fun and dazzle that celebrates and digs deep into the musical's reworked conceit and its flavorful decadence. "Mein Herr," is turn, unfolds with the signature style and thrust of the 1972 film adaptation, celebrating the slither, pounce, prey and wild abandon of Bob Fosse, which, in this revival is created by special permission with the Verdon Fosse Legacy to mirror and reconstruct the uniqueness of the late choreographer's work from that Oscar-winning film. It is stunning."

From the Desk of Jim R, Take 2 by James V. Ruocco May 30, 2022