Michelle Williams, of "Dawson's Creek" fame and a three-time Oscar nominee ("Brokeback Mountain", "Blue Valentine", "My Week with Marilyn"), made her Broadway debut last night, April 24, in the Roundabout Theater's revival of "Cabaret". Kander & Ebb's classic musical, about a doomed romance between a naive chanteuse and an American visitor to Berlin during Germany's turbulent Weimar period, began previews March 21 at the Roundabout's Studio 54 space.

This "Cabaret" is essentially a remount of Sam Mendes' landmark 1998 staging for the Roundabout, which starred Alan Cumming as the Emcee. Cumming, in fact, reprises that role in the revival, which is again be staged by Mendes and co-directed with choreography by Rob Marshall. Audience interest has proved so high that even before any reviews were out, the show announced an extension to Jan. 4, 2015.

Perhaps best known via Bob Fosse's film version, "Cabaret" debuted in 1966 with Jill Haworth as Sally Bowles and Joel Grey as the Emcee. A 1988 Broadway revival brought back Joel Grey alongside Alyson Reed. The Roundabout's first version, which starred the late Natasha Richardson, began on Broadway at the Henry Miller Theater (dubbed the Kit Kat Klub for the show and years later renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theater) before moving to Studio 54 mid-run.

Although actress Williams is making her first Broadway appearance, she has some New York stage credits, including being a cast replacement in "Killer Joe" and appearing in a 2002 New Group staging of Mike Leigh's "Smelling a Rat". In May, word leaked out that she was offered the lead in an upcoming film version of the classic musical, "South Pacific", directed by Michael Mayer.

Cumming, the host on TV's "Masterpiece Theater", has been busy on Broadway; his solo "Macbeth" finished at the Ethel Barrymore Theater last July. Also in the "Cabaret" cast, the ubiquitous Danny Burstein (recent revivals of "Follies" and "South Pacific"), Linda Emond and Aaron Krohn.

Chat room scuttlebutt before the show opened hinted that although it’s exciting to have Cumming back emceeing, Michelle Williams might not be up to the level of her predecessors. So did the Broadway critics wilkomm the new-old “Cabaret”, or would they have rather been sitting alone in their rooms?

Variety’s Marilyn Stasio appreciates the “dangerous vibe at the Kit Kat Klub,” where the band has “a killer style” and Brian Ronan’s sound design “projects into the house with stunning clarity.” She has issues with Williams, however, noting that she lacks “girlish sexiness” and projects the innocence “of an actual English schoolgirl.” Williams navigates Sally Bowles’ vulnerability but just doesn’t seem comfortable in the character’s skin. For his part, Cumming remains “so very, very good at being so very, very bad.”

David Rooney, of the Hollywood Reporter, has no similar qualms about the revival, which he calls a “thrilling production, which is even sharper this time around.” Cumming’s “career-defining role remains a knockout… His songs are, without exception, superb.” The “shattering” Williams surprises us with “the assurance with which she handles the song-and-dance requirements. Her voice is not the strongest, which is right for the role, but she aces her sassy club numbers.” Ultimately, director “Mendes and [choreographer Rob] Marshall have precision-tooled the production so that its hard, diamond edges glisten with sweat and sparkle.”

“Cumming is better than ever,” raves Newsday’s Linda Winer, “and that freshness is so infectious, it spills over into a landmark production that closed in 2004 but feels, with one uneasy exception, as confident – and about as dangerous – as if it has been running ever since. The exception, alas, is Michelle Williams… [who is] timid, bland and covered up in costumes that make her seem almost chaste.” Nevertheless, “this remains a riveting production of a great musical.”

NBC New York’s Dave Quinn admits that what was edgy nearly two decades ago can lose a little of its raw surprise. However, “just because this `Cabaret’ doesn’t carry the same shock value as it once did doesn’t mean we should strip this production of its worth.” For Quinn, the revival is “a seductive piece of theater, beautifully designed and with stellar performances throughout.” Age has added a new depth to Cumming’s performance, so that when his Emcee “peers in on the action from the shallows, it feels less observant and more foreboding.” Meanwhile, Michelle Williams is “stunning and heartbreaking” in a “tour-de-force performance” as Sally.

Time Out New York’s Adam Feldman agrees, welcoming this “magnificent beast” of a musical home with five stars. “This Cabaret is a superb production of one of the great Broadway musicals of all time—an exhilarating, harrowing masterpiece,” he writes. “Cumming’s bouncy downtown energy keeps `Cabaret’ from seeming like a period piece, and…Michelle Williams is credibly lost as Sally Bowles. …Though too young for their roles, Linda Emond and the loveable Danny Burstein are forceful and touching.”

However, for Huffington Post writer David Finkle, magic did not strike again. Although Alan Cumming “is every juicy leer as good now as he was then,” Finkle feels Michelle Williams is miscast or at least misdirected. “She sings more than well enough,” but her age, accent and “timidly upbeat” approach feel wrong for the role. In fact, the whole show lacks the electricity Finkle had hoped for and feels like “fogged déjà vu” for anyone who saw the original.

The Wrap’s Robert Hofler also has issues with the revival’s lack of spark, especially between Williams and Bill Heck’s Clifford. He also finds Cumming’s performance so “self-referential” that it “softens the character considerably.”

Mark Kennedy, of the Associated Press disagrees, saying this “revival of a revival [is] as thrilling as ever, a marvel of staging that hasn’t lost its punch.” Michelle Williams “does an excellent job, playing both scared and daffy superbly and singing with real heart.” As Cliff, Bill Heck lacks nuance, but “Cumming is as lascivious as ever, and “the addition of Linda Emond as the landlady…and Danny Burstein as her Jewish suitor…are strokes of casting genius.”

OVERALL: Nearly all the critics are glad – and a few ecstatic – to have the Kit Kat Klub up and sleazily running again, with most agreeing that age has given Alan Cumming even more command of his Emcee role. Not unexpectedly, Michelle Williams scores a split decision, with some finding her perfectly balancing faux toughness and vulnerability and others seeing her as play-acting rather than inhabiting Sally Bowles.